NCJ Number
176729
Editor(s)
J A Schaler,
M E Schaler
Date Published
1998
Length
357 pages
Annotation
After presenting papers on historical perspectives and policy considerations in tobacco use and regulation, this anthology presents papers that justify tobacco regulation for the public's health and papers that view smoking as a personal choice that must be protected from coercive regulation.
Abstract
The first two chapters on policy analysis set the stage for analyzing the smoking controversy. These chapters are followed by historical analyses that expose the "evil" nature of the tobacco industry, because these views are instrumental in the proposals for and implementation of tobacco-control policies. These analyses are balanced with a comparison of tobacco regulation proposals with alcohol prohibition, as well as an historical analysis that details the Nazi public health campaign against tobacco that bears striking similarity to contemporary efforts. The controversy is then framed from metanalytic and sociological perspectives offered by two sociologists. Arguments against the tobacco industry and in support of government regulation contain David Kessler's and others' argument for FDA regulation of tobacco, documentation of the "criminal case against the tobacco industry," litigation against the tobacco industry as cancer prevention, and an analysis of tobacco industry tactics. Overall, the arguments support tobacco regulation to protect public health. Papers that oppose tobacco regulation focus on the validity of using questionable scientific studies to justify restrictions on personal freedom, smoking as a human rights issue more than a public health issue, the implications of property rights for cigarette smoking, the questionable justification for regulating second-hand tobacco smoke, and the smokers' rights to health care. Chapter notes and 33 suggestions for further reading