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Thursday, March 17, 2016

232 New Tobacco Industry Documents and Videos Posted

A total of 232 documents have been added to the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents today.

This includes:

Thursday, February 18, 2016

255 New Tobacco Industry Documents Posted

A total of 255 new documents were posted to the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library today. The breakdown is:

Monday, February 01, 2016

Article Spotlight: Tobacco is "our industry and we must support it"; Zimbabwe and the FCTC

Every month, we highlight a newly published article/post/report along with a few key industry documents used in the paper as a primary source:

Lown EA, McDaniel PA, Malone RE. Tobacco is "our industry and we must support it": Exploring the potential implications of Zimbabwe's accession to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Globalization and Health. 2016 Jan 11;12(1):2-015-0139-3

Zimbabwe is currently the largest tobacco producer in Africa and has a long history of tobacco growing. Zimbabwean government officials have been outspoken critics of the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Despite this opposition, Zimbabwe recently acceded to the FCTC to better protect their tobacco growing interests. FCTC membership obligates nations to implement a variety of tobacco control measures and Zimbabwe has implemented several aimed at reducing tobacco demand but fewer aimed at reducing supply or protecting the environment.

The authors argue Zimbabwe’s decision to accede to the FCTC does not appear to represent a softening of its historical opposition to the treaty. Its status as a Party, therefore, creates opportunities for the government to undermine ongoing efforts to implement and strengthen the treaty. At the same time, however, Zimbabwe’s accession could provide worldwide support for its Ministry of Health to develop stronger tobacco control measures. How Zimbabwe’s participation impacts the work of the FCTC as a whole may ultimately depend on the allegiances of its delegates and the effectiveness of measures to limit tobacco industry interference and enforce compliance.


Key Documents from the UCSF Truth Tobacco Industry Documents:

  • (n.d.) Briefing from Zimbabwe Tobacco Association and the International Tobacco Growers' Association.
    Available: https://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/rhwn0192
    The Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) and the International Tobacco Growers Association (ITGA), are influential in Zimbabwe. The ZTA was founded in 1928 (originally as the Rhodesian Tobacco Association) to “promote and support research and training to ensure the continued development and expansion of the flue-cured tobacco growing industry.”


  • TSF; Zimbabwe Tobacco (1998) In Support of Tobacco Indigenisation Training Programmes Million Zim Dollars Donation from Philip Morris.
    Available: https://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/snlw0080
    The ZTA's offshoot, the Farmers Development Trust, was the recipient of several US$100,000 grants from Phillip Morris.


  • INFOTAB;Bloxcidge, John A. (1988) International Tobacco Growers' Association (ITGA).
    Avaialable: https://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/pxxh0203
    The ZTA and representatives of five other tobacco-growing nations founded the ITGA with funding from transnational tobacco companies.


  • BAT Zimbabwe; Parirewa, Peter (1994). Mughabe on Anti-Smoking Lobby.
    Available: https://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/xzff0194
    Vera, Ivan (2000) Zimbabwe Tobacco Industry Faces New Threat from WHO.
    Available: https://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/yqdn0192
    Zimbabwe government officials and growers’ organizations have been outspoken supporters of tobacco growing and critics of the FCTC, often minimizing the risk of tobacco use.
Thursday, January 21, 2016

2000+ new tobacco industry documents added January 2016

Our first batch of new documents for 2016 totals 2,338 items and includes additions to the following collections:
Friday, January 08, 2016

Article Spotlight: Philip Morris and the Use of Third Parties to Oppose Ingredient Disclosure Regulations

Every few months, we highlight a newly published article/post/report along with a few key industry documents used in the paper as a primary source:

Velicer C, Glantz SA (2015) Hiding in the Shadows: Philip Morris and the Use of Third Parties to Oppose Ingredient Disclosure Regulations. PLoS ONE 10(12): e0142032. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142032

In 1996 Massachusetts proposed regulations that would require tobacco companies to disclose information about the ingredients in their products. This December 2015 paper examines the strategies employed by Philip Morris to stop these regulations from being implemented. The authors used tobacco documents to demonstrate the tobacco companies' historical use of third parties to form coalitions to oppose ingredient disclosure regulations and how these coalitions have prevented regulations by creating the appearance of local opposition to the measures.

Key Documents from the UCSF Truth Tobacco Industry Documents:
  • Chayet N (1996) Ingredient Disclosure. 12 Nov 1996. Available: https://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/tnxp0076
    Document from a communications firm contracted by Philip Morris that warns "food police" could use a similar approach to food "containing caffeine, fat, or whatever else zealous consumer organizations believe is harmful."

  • Salinsky R (1997) M.G.L. Chapter 94, Section 307a, Proposed Implementation Regulations. 20 Feb 1997. Available: https://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/yylp0054
    Richard Salinsky, then president of the Best Petroleum Company based in Massachusetts and member of the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA), argued in a public comment to the Dept of Public Health, that the proposed regulations did not protect consumers because it could create the illusion of safer cigarettes. Stalinsky said, "rather than having an effect of reducing risks to public health, [the regulations] have the opposite effect of increasing such risks by creating a false illusion that some brands of cigarettes are ‘more healthy’ than others."

  • Vermont Ingredients Disclosure Plan. 16 Aug 1996. Available: https://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/qjyh0045
    Philip Morris political strategy for fighting ingredient disclosure in Vermont that mirrored its Massachusetts activities in 1996 and 1997 and provides a more detailed description of its two-phase approach to defeat the bill: (1) building third party alliances (the “educational outreach”), and (2) legislative phase.

  • Project Breakthrough. 1994. Available: https://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/pyhc0003
    RJ Reynolds launched "Project Breakthrough" a campaign to convince Americans that anti-smoking advocates wanted cigarettes to be completely prohibited. The campaign was aimed at spreading the fear that other products could be made illegal including alcohol, beef, pork, private property, logging, fur, cholesterol and motorcycles.

Friday, December 11, 2015

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Thursday, November 19, 2015

Over 1100 New Tobacco Documents Added

1,187 new documents were added to the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents today: