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The tobacco industry is a master of deceit15

The tobacco industry is built on manipulation and lies.161718 Big Tobacco spends billions each year on slick PR campaigns, political lobbying, and funding their own research to give their deceptions credibility they don’t deserve.1920 This deceitful industry claims vapes can help people who smoke cigarettes quit, all the while creating a youth vaping epidemic by targeting kids with flavors.21  Not only that, teens who vape are three times more likely to use cigarettes.22

All these tricks are nothing new: For decades, the industry has manipulated the nicotine levels in tobacco products to increase addiction.23 And when lung cancer was linked to smoking, they created “filters” to scam people into thinking their cigarettes were safer.2425

The industry has no intention of going extinct. They may have mutated into another form, but they’re still deceitfully peddling addiction, disease, and death.262728

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Story of Inequity

When manipulative and deceitful marketing is disguised as empathy and support,25 it’s easier to hook communities of color and low-income populations.

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Relevant content and resources

Tobacco industry’s damage

The tobacco industry currently spends billions each year on slick marketing tactics1 and political influence2 so they can profit off death and disease.
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Even for people who don’t use tobacco, there can be deadly consequences.3
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The industry calls kids their “replacement customers.”4 Big Tobacco sentences them to a lifetime of addiction and disease.
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This racist and unjust industry has strategically targeted certain communities with deadly products and manipulative messaging.5
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No one’s safe from the environmental damage6 and health risks7891011 from toxic tobacco waste and its plastic pollution.12
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lady in a garden wearing a head scarf

Hold the industry accountable

California has already protected people from other harmful products,1314 and it’s time to hold the tobacco industry to the same standards.
Raise your voice against the tobacco industry
  1. Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report for 2020. Washington, D.C.: Federal Trade Commission. 2021.
  2. OpenSecrets. Industry Profile: Tobacco. Opensecrets.org. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/industries/summary?cycle=2021&id=A02. Accessed March 16, 2022.
  3. Office on Smoking and Health (US). The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US); 2006.
  4. RJ Reynolds. Younger Adult Smokers: Strategies and Opportunities. https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/docs/rkvk0045. 1984 February 29.
  5. Anderson SJ. Marketing of menthol cigarettes and consumer perceptions: a review of tobacco industry documents. Tob Control. 2011;20 Suppl 2(Suppl_2):ii20-ii28. doi:10.1136/tc.2010.041939.
  6. Break Free From Plastic. Branded Vol. III: Demanding corporate accountability for plastic pollution. 2020.
  7. Poma A, Vecchiotti G, Colafarina S, et al. In Vitro Genotoxicity of Polystyrene Nanoparticles on the Human Fibroblast Hs27 Cell Line. Nanomaterials (Basel). 2019;9(9):1299. Published 2019 Sep 11. doi:10.3390/nano9091299.
  8. Zarus GM, Muianga C, Hunter CM, Pappas RS. A review of data for quantifying human exposures to micro and nanoplastics and potential health risks. Sci Total Environ. 2021;756:144010. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144010.
  9. Jacob H, Besson M, Swarzenski PW, Lecchini D, Metian M. Effects of Virgin Micro- and Nanoplastics on Fish: Trends, Meta-Analysis, and Perspectives. Environ Sci Technol. 2020;54(8):4733-4745. doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b05995.
  10. Ziv-Gal A, Flaws JA. Evidence for bisphenol A-induced female infertility: a review (2007-2016). Fertil Steril. 2016;106(4):827-856. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.06.027.
  11. Campanale C, Massarelli C, Savino I, Locaputo V, Uricchio VF. A Detailed Review Study on Potential Effects of Microplastics and Additives of Concern on Human Health. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(4):1212. Published 2020 Feb 13. doi:10.3390/ijerph17041212.
  12. Belzagui F, Buscio V, Gutiérrez-Bouzán C, Vilaseca M. Cigarette butts as a microfiber source with a microplastic level of concern. Science of The Total Environment. 2021;762:144165. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144165.
  13. Governor Newsom Signs Legislation Making California First in the Nation to Ban Toxic Chemicals in Cosmetics [press release]. gov.ca.gov. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/09/30/governor-newsom-signs-legislation-making-california-first-in-the-nation-to-ban-toxic-chemicals-in-cosmetics/. Published September 30, 2020. Accessed March 23, 2022.
  14. Landmark California law bans 'forever chemicals' in products for infants, children [press release]. ewg.org. https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2021/10/landmark-california-law-bans-forever-chemicals-products-infants. Published October 5, 2021. Accessed March 23, 2022.
  15. Brownell KD, Warner KE. The perils of ignoring history: Big Tobacco played dirty and millions died. How similar is Big Food?. Milbank Q. 2009;87(1):259-294. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00555.x.
  16. Brownell KD, Warner KE. The perils of ignoring history: Big Tobacco played dirty and millions died. How similar is Big Food?. Milbank Q. 2009;87(1):259-294. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00555.x.
  17. Truth Initiative. The 5 ways tobacco companies lied about the dangers of smoking cigarettes. https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/tobacco-prevention-efforts/5-ways-tobacco-companies-lied-about-dangers-smoking. Published December 21, 2017. Accessed August 12, 2023.
  18. Advocacy Institute. Smoke & Mirrors: How the Tobacco Industry Buys & Lies Its Way to Power & Profits. Washington, D.C.: 1998.
  19. Federal Trade Commission. Cigarette Report for 2021. Accessed August 15, 2023. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p114508cigarettereport2021.pdf
  20. Schick SF, Glantz SA. Old ways, new means: tobacco industry funding of academic and private sector scientists since the Master Settlement Agreement. Tob Control. 2007;16(3):157-64. doi: 10.1136/tc.2006.017186. "
  21. Goldenson NI, Shiffman S, Hatcher C, et al. Switching away from cigarettes across 12 months among adult smokers purchasing the JUUL System. Am J Health Behav. 2021;45(3):443-463. doi: 10.5993/AJHB.45.3.4
  22. Pierce JP, Chen R, Leas EC, White MM, Kealey S, Stone MD, Benmarhnia T, Trinidad DR, Strong DR, Messer K. Use of E-cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products and Progression to Daily Cigarette Smoking. Pediatrics. 2021;147(2):e2020025122. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-025122.
  23. Truth Initiative. How Big Tobacco made cigarettes more addictive. Published January 23, 2018. Accessed March 24, 2022. https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/harmful-effects-tobacco/how-big-tobacco-made-cigarettes-more-addictive
  24. Proctor RN. Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 2011.
  25. Harris B. The intractable cigarette 'filter problem'. Tob Control. 2011;20 Suppl 1(Suppl_1):i10-i16. doi:10.1136/tc.2010.040113.
  26. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: Nicotine Addiction: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, Center for Health Promotion and Education, Office on Smoking and Health, 1988.
  27. CDC. “Health Effects of Smoking and Tobacco Use.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Apr. 2020, www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/health_effects/index.htm#:~:text=Smoking%20causes%20cancer%2C%20heart%20disease.
  28. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014
  29. Brownell KD, Warner KE. The perils of ignoring history: Big Tobacco played dirty and millions died. How similar is Big Food?. Milbank Q. 2009;87(1):259-294. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00555.x.