Global Shift in Smoking

While a growing number of Europeans and Americans are snuffing out their last cigarette, an increasing group of Third World inhabitants are giving up their meager income to take their first puff. What accounts for this global shift in smoking?

Information campaigns in the Western world exposing the harmful effects of cigarette smoking have changed people’s attitude toward the use of tobacco. As a result, a recent study conducted by the American Cancer Society and other health organizations shows that over the past 20 years the number of smokers in the United States has continued to decline.

In contrast, smoking in Third World countries is spreading like wildfire. The reason? According to WHO (World Health Organization), the primary cause is the aggressive advertising campaigns conducted by “unscrupulous tobacco industries.” These agencies are putting up smoke screens to disguise the fact that, worldwide, one million persons a year die because of smoking-related diseases. The Dutch magazine Internationale Samenwerking (International Cooperation) reports that the tobacco industry has spent two and a half billion dollars on advertising in 1984 alone​—almost seven million dollars each day! Ads like “‘Varsity’: For That Fine Clear Head Feeling” or “‘Gold Leaf’: Very Important Cigarettes for Very Important People” convince people in developing countries that smoking is linked to progress, emancipation, and sportsmanship and “symbolizes prosperity.”

In addition, tar and nicotine content of cigarettes sold in the Third World are purposely at a higher level than those sold in Western lands, states the book Roken welbeschouwd (Smoking​—All Things Considered). Why? In this way, people get hooked faster so that when the tobacco companies gradually lower tar and nicotine levels, smokers are forced to buy more cigarettes to satisfy their craving for nicotine. The result? Surging cigarette sales. Yearly tobacco consumption in those countries is up 2.1 percent. Yet, the response of Third World governments remains ‘halfhearted.’ Why? For many governments, tobacco production provides a source of income.