Gov'ts Profit from Deadly Tobacco: Betraying Citizens?
Welcome to Ope Vox, your trusted source for news that matters to folks like us. Today, we're diving into a global issue with lessons right here at home – governments profiting from tobacco while preaching health. Let's get into it.
Around the world, at least 17 countries like China, Egypt, and Japan own stakes in tobacco companies, producing over half the world's cigarettes. This creates a stark conflict: governments tasked with protecting health instead gain from a product killing over 8 million people yearly. Despite a WHO treaty to shield policies from industry influence, many nations ignore guidelines, boosting sales. But outliers like Thailand show strict controls can cut smoking rates sharply.
Now, let's explore the background. Think of your lungs as a car's air filter – smoking clogs them with tar, a sticky black substance from burned tobacco, leading to diseases like emphysema, where breathing feels like gasping through a straw. Nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco, hooks the brain like a fish on a line, making quitting tough. Globally, WHO data shows tobacco causes 8 million deaths annually, including 1.3 million from secondhand smoke. In the US, CDC reports 480,000 deaths yearly – more than car accidents, guns, and drugs combined. For seniors, risks soar: smoking doubles heart attack odds, as cholesterol (that fatty stuff in blood) builds up faster, clogging arteries like rust in pipes. PubMed studies link it to cancers (lung, throat), COPD (chronic lung disease), and strokes. In state-owned setups, like China's CNTC making nearly half the world's cigarettes, sales rose 2018-2023 despite global drops, per reports. Privatization studies from World Bank show it often hikes consumption – post-Soviet nations saw booms after selling monopolies without controls. Nordic alcohol monopolies offer a flip: state control there curbs drinking below EU averages by limiting outlets and hours, cutting health harms – a model for tobacco?