The Tobacco Conspiracy
A history of the tobacco industry's lies and scams. From the US in 1953 to Africa today, the controversy between individual responsibility and corporate greed is portrayed in a lucid, undaunted manner.
From scientific frauds to working with organized crime, tobacco companies show their hidden agenda more clearly than ever in this theatrically released documentary.
More than three years of investigating all over the world has allowed Nadia Collot to decipher the attitudes of an industry that, in spite of many prevention campaigns still expands its power at the cost of public health. Three aspects of industry behavior are studied:
1. Scientific subversion: proof of the manipulation of scientific evidence and buying out of scientists to maintain controversy over the health issues related to smoking, but even more so today, related to environmental tobacco smoke.
2. Ideological subversion: whether it be through clever and disguised product placements on screen or TV, creating its own biased health messages, implementing subtle and ingenious marketing tactics or using political lobbying manoeuvres, the tobacco industry has gone to unbelievable extents to do what it says it never will.
3. Economic strategies: to develop as fast as possible, to infiltrate closed-market countries, to better reach the young and the poor, smuggling is one of the ways the industry has chosen to organize its international growth.
Anyone who spends 6-7 dollars on a pack of cigarettes/tobacco products is making him/herself, and indirectly their close ones, poorer by 6-7 dollars each and every time s/he smokes/consumes a pack of cigarettes/tobacco products, and makes the tobacco industry and traders richer by 6-7 dollars at the cost of his/her health and potential emotional setback for his/her family. Each and everyone who is profiting from the tobacco industry and trade is building their castle on someone else's grave and this includes the executives, stockholders, lobbyists, wholesale and retail traders who facilitate the sale of tobacco products. You as a consumer of tobacco products are allowing them to build their castle your grave and your family members' grave.
This is a brilliant documentary, an eye-opener, it focuses on the most important issues of the unprecedented fraud and mass murder by the tobacco industry. All this is proven by 90 millions of internal documents. A welcome addition are some fo the best eye-opening videospots from around the world. People that still defend the tobacco industry are either paid by them or completely brainwashed and dumb. The have viciously conspired for decades to sell a product that kills one out of two of their consumers, and of course they target children as young as they can. Remember Ardi Rizal from Indonesia? The big lie is actually not that cigarettes are not harmful, the big lie is that they are a legal product! It's really incomprehenseble how corrupt most governements have been in this respect for such a long time.
none of you seem to get the point.
no-one cares if YOU smoke!
I DID smoke until today - smoking is a giant pit that the 5% want the other 95% to fall into, you get into it, you cant get out.
cigarettes are legal because:
- government can make money off addiction
- government can make money off of killing you (indirectly)
- government can watch the population decrease
- government can tax you on it to make more money off of killing you and addicting you to this drug!
I don't understand most of the peoples comments here as it seems most people have just come here to vent about smoking
you either smoke or you don't
and if you do (like I did until this day) then I hope you too soon see how the small percentage tricked you into giving them more money, less people.
it is a conspiracy - and no not a theory - facts are facts - cigarettes and alcohol are legal even though we all see the devastating effects both can have.
just need to open our minds
Tobacco DOESNT kill... its the PLASTIC and BLEACH they add to the papers as well as the ARSENIC and AMONIA they treat most tobacco brands with.. tobacco can PROTECT against cancer... as well as dementia and it even increased nicotinic receptors in the brain which leads to INCREASED INTELLIGENCE.. these people selling plastic papers and chemically treated tobacco are evil and are demonising a wonderful plant by actually making it harmful. They should be tried and executed for mass murder!
who the hell wrote the script for the "heads of tobaco companies" meeting?
oh lordy...
How unhealthy are fumes from cigarette production????
Why smoke when you can kill your self a lot cheaper and less pain with a bullet
I used to smoke myself and was made to stop by my dr due to near stroke
Pack a day for 23 years and quit overnight using an electronic cigarette. Since the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries, with the FDA operating as their whore of official proclamation, seem to be losing the battle against the e-cig, I expect to see a big $$ co-opt in the near future.
Nicotine is a heavy and highly addictive drug... 22 years smoking and inhaling the dangerous fumes from cigarettes and rollies... Have failed to quit several times. six weeks down the line and I'm already wondering why...
Scientists never say, I believe :D. I believe nicotine is not addictive ... lol
yada yada yada ok smoking is bad for you.funny though. the government heavily taxes this dangerous product. It is the only consumer product taxed to unbelievable proportions. But then the governments who support the smoking bans use this revenue to invest the taxes collected then support the industry by investing in the stocks of the tobacco industry. This money is then filtered into govrnment pension funds. Hmmmm. Ismell a rat! Sure some of it gets put into the health fund to aid in the hospitals for smokers but lets not forget. Smokers also pay for health care to. We do work just like you none smokers do and we also support the health care from the taxes the governments collect on the product which filters into the health care system.Funny thing I have family that work in the medical field in hospitals as rns. In all the years working in different enviroments they cant recall ever dealing with a paitent affected with smoking related diseases. But they have seen many alcoholics, drug overdoses both pharmiacutical and illegal drug use.The addictive properties of tobacco use is powerful. I know. I have been smoking for 40 years and had many failed attempts at quiting. Breaking a heroin addiction is easier. Doctors know this too.Yes smokers make the choice of lighting up. But as many of us were drawn to it by advertising actors promoting brands in the 60s and 70s it was the in thing to do. Peer presure also adds to the choice.You tend to follow the crowds when all around you are doing it. The only way to get us the users of the product to quit is to make the manufaturing of the product illegal.That will never happen because of the revenue collected on the product.The government has banned many harmfull chemicals and carcinagenics in order to protect us and the enviroment. That said why is tobacco excluded from the list of harmfull chemicals?
I can agree with one tobacco company position, it is the fault of the government and consumer. The government for not having stricter regulations and the consumer for not using common sense. You cannot blame the beer, wine and spirit companies for being a drunkard and then dying of cirrhosis. Its time for people to begin taking responsibility for their choices. I mean who markets meth or crack as being a 'cool' drug and yet you have people falling over themselves to get addicted. I think they go way too far to try and regulate the use of cigarettes in hollywood films, this is pc nanny state gone terribly wrong. Either they ban cigarettes straight out or shut the hell up and leave the corps alone. Its hypocrisy all of this. All because they cannot get people to stop smoking for themselves.
You know, I don't really care if you live or die if you smoke. It's the enormous costs encountered as you die slowly. I object to paying for your medical costs. You do have a choice. I used to smoke heavily and have quit now for over 30 years. Believe me, if I can do it, you can as well. From personal experience I have watched smokers die from emphysema, lung cancer, losing limbs..and it isn't their death thats the issue, other than personally..it's the enormous medical costs. Non smokers should not have to pay for smokers slow, painful, costly deaths.
Government is in confllict in regards to cigarette and alcohol sales. They benefit hugely from the taxes collected from these sales. They say quit, but what if everyone did? I think our country would be in financial trouble. I have no idea what the amount actually is, but I'm certain it is significant.
Lots of costly problems with smoking and drinking, and I don't have any easy answers. As in everything, there are pros and cons. I wonder if the health costs would equal the taxes?
You know, I don't care if you live or die..that's not the point. It's the huge medical costs to care for you smokers as you slowly die that bothers me. The medical costs of taking care of someone who has lung cancer directly related to smoking is huge, or emphysema, or losing a leg, lung - whatever, and I know this from personal experience - that's the real problem. The people who don't smoke should not have to pay for those who do..which is what ultimately happens.
As for government conflict of interest..horrendous. They've been urging you to smoke your face off because they need the money. If people insist that smoking, drinking etc. is their right, then do tax the shit out of alcohol and cigarettes. But what bothers me is the conflict of interest. Government says..stop drinking, smoking etc., but what would our economy look like without the huge interest paid out from the sales of cigs. and alcohol? The government says stop, but is complicit in keeping you smoking and drinking.
The tobacco industries are corporations and all corporations will do whatever it takes to make profit. How are the companies that produce prescription medications different in any way from the tobacco industry, in the sense that they will lie and do whatever it takes to make a profit, even if it kills people and produces products they know for a fact are unhealthy? All companies will lie, cheat, steal, do whatever it takes to stay in business and make a profit. They will do this especially if they feel they are being attacked by the government. Yeah tobacco is very bad for you. So is alcohol, fast food, car exhaust, pollution, corn syrup, industrialized meat and a ton of other things companies produce. Why don't we go after them too, with the same vigilance we have gone after the tobacco industries? Stress is also scientifically proved to be incredibly bad for your health and companies definitely produce that in droves, but no one seems to care about that. What is the cost of all these things to taxpayers in terms of the people who need healthcare because of them? For just alcohol alone the cost is astronomical. Don't worry, we will get around to attacking and putting an insanely high tax on something you enjoy eventually, because its bad for you and the USA knows whats best for you.
All of these cigarette companies should switch over to manufacturing pot.
They wouldn't be killing anyone, and they'd still be making a crazy amount of profit.
Allot of the videos in the conspiracy section should be in the History section :p
@ Vlatko
Just because the word "Conspiracy" appears in the title of this documentary doesn't mean it should be listed here, in the Conspiracy section. This piece belongs in the History section.
I remember well those senate hearings in 1994 when the 7 tobacco CEO'S declared under oath that they 'believed nicotine is not addictive',because they showed it on the news here in the uk,and it made me so angry that i actualy found the strength to kick the habit after what was by then a 14 year old habit.I had failed many times previously.Sadly after 6 months i had a weak moment when out with friends and relapsed.That was my golden opportunity and i blew it.bugger.Here we are in 2011 and another 17 years have passed and i smoke more than ever.
I'ts catching up with me now though,i feel realy rough,chest pains shortness of breath,persistant cough,guess i'm not going to be one of those lucky 80 year old smokers you here of.I was thirteen when i started,young naive and of course invincible.Oh how i wish the tighter tobacco controls that are around now were in place then.Maybe they wouldn't have recruited me too.
I think i can safely say that my tobacco addiction has ruined my life.It has kept me poor and reduced the fiscal choices open to me,it has totaly buggered up my health and in the last ten years in particular has made physical activity realy difficult.I am only 44.
Whilst realising that the purpose of any business is to make money otherwise what's the point in existing,i do feel a victim of the tobacco business and welcome any measures taken by governments that will hopefully one day lead to the death of this cruel business.How can killing people slowly and horrifically for profit be right?Children are vulnerable as we all know and i am sure no sensible person would advocate pushing drugs on kids so why tobacco?
yes i welcome any tough measures that would spare future generations what i and millions of others go through on a daily basis.Namely a slave to tobacco.I hate that feeling and watching this documentary has made me angry again,maybe it's time to give it another go......
lol at all the comments by the smokers here about second hand smoke "not being so bad" or airosol and car pollution being worse. No wonder the silly comments and hostility given u guys cant use the "oh im just hurting myself" argument smokers so love. P.S. even that doesnt make sense because everyone ends up paying for the medical costs. Plus killing yourself slowly is in general not great for your friends and family to witness. :/
So, I was only 2 minutes into this film, when I ran into a snag. (I love it when docs lay out statistics - because, sometimes, they can be checked). So, I hit pause when I saw numbers that are supposedly statistically verifiable facts.
Okay, i said to self, let's check this out. The Doc says 15 Million smokers die every year - so I asked how many adults die every year? Answer (from 2009 world stats is 56.597 million - but it won't tell me how many of those are children, so back to the drawing board). I went to the daily stats. The Doc says that means 13,000 Smokers Die every day! (Wow, looks high; is it really a high number). Well, I have been reading Health reports and Health stats for over 20 years, and my mind is already saying "I smell a rat" - so let's compare the Daily Death rate, which is 155,500. Turns out 25,000 of those are children. So, don't even need a calculator for this one, minus 25,000 = 130,500 ADULTS Die everyday, world wide, from ALL causes. Now I am immediately thinking "Houston. We have a Problem". Because that means 10% (slightly less actually) of those Adults who Die every day are Smokers. That just doesn't make sense. Surely the percentage of adult smokers is "higher" then 10%, and even if it was the same, it would mean they were no more likely to die from smoking then from anything else. So, I looked it up. Hmmm. Turns out the World wide average of smokers is 22% of the population! ... cutting through all the rhetoric, what that means, smokers do NOT die in higher numbers, per day, or per year, per capita. They 'should' statistically represent 22% of the daily death rate (simple arithmetic); according to the 'stats' presented in the DOC they don't even represent 10%! (maybe smokers are more careful when they cross the road? :) ps. this from wiki answers: " How many people die, world wide? Best Answer: So far, nearly all of them", lol - Okay, take the Corporate Greedy to task - make them pay! But the truth is, what the public bans have been most effective in doing is "blaming the victim". Non Smoker's have made the 'victim/addicts' into the Villains. I never felt truly discriminated against until the first time I stepped outside a building, to have a smoke...
It is crazy how all these people want tobacco banned. If people choose to smoke they will smoke, you can not take peoples liberties away. I understand how smoking indoors in public areas is not ok but that shouldn't even be brought up since smoking is band in almost all public places.
The people who want tobacco banned should also have all of their aerosol sprays taken away since they produce harmful chemicals for humans and the environment. They should stop using gas powered vehicles since they produce carbon monoxide and they should also stop using electricity since most of it comes from gas powered generators.
And people need to stop worrying so much about life expectancy in general. The world is overpopulated as it is there is no need to worry about people's life expectancy. If anything you should be worried about the harmful effects of overpopulation.
As I said to every one that does something to themselves instead of killing yourself so slowly just take a gun shoot yourself dont be a coward and stop using precious resources in the world.... now being said that I cant control pollution neither pesticides and all the crap that goes around but yes I have the choice of what I put in my body now the side effects of smoking are there now some ppl smoked their whole life never happens anything well there is alwasy freaks of nature and certainly all are not the same.
What a bloody croc. they go on about contraband and smuggling already going on now... What the f*$#k do they think is going to happen if they totally ban tobacco sales? And what the h%#ll is this thing going on mostly in French anyway?
Re" second-hand smoke: I grew up in a house where every one smoked, all day, everyday. I remember going to the cinema where the smoke drifted up and competed with the movie. I have smoked myself for more years than I can count and I can still blow up a balloon better than a non-smoking teenager. I can smell a conspiracy theory, probably started by oil companies trying to divert the attention away from their own air-polluting business. Blame all the air pollution on the smoker.... yeh, right!