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Socially Responsible Tobacco Companies

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Socially Responsible Tobacco Companies
What would a socially responsible tobacco company look like? It could certainly not be defined as such if it did not address the harm its products cause. It would be engaged in research and development seeking to develop less harmful versions of it product that would remain acceptable to its customers.

It would have a clear code of conduct about how it seeks to market it's products and to whom it would aim to tackle corruption and smuggling. It would ensure tobacco farmers worked in good conditions. (Baker, p1)

As recently as 1994, the companies' chief executive officers all swore before Congress that they did not know that smoking caused disease or believe it was addictive. Their scientists and lawyers knew and had been telling them so for
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Several ingredients in tobacco cause narrowing of your blood vessels which can lead to high blood pressure. In addition to upping your chances for having a heart attack or stroke, nicotine contained in cigarettes is considered highly addictive. (www.wordig.org) With this in mind how can cigarette companies deny their responsibility and negligence in selling these highly addictive substances to the general public?

Tobacco remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, with an annual death toll of more than 400 000--all, in theory, preventable. The poor, the less educated, and the disenfranchised smoke more than their better-off counterparts. Consequently, they suffer a disproportionate burden of tobacco -related illness and death. They are also the most exploited victims of predatory marketing practices that capitalize on their lack of education and other
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The MSA compensated states for costs incurred in providing treatment to those who suffered smoking-related illnesses. It provided funding for potential use in tobacco control to prevent young people from starting to smoke and to help current smokers quit.

The World Health Organization has suggested that tobacco -related morbidity will be the leading cause of preventable death for adults worldwide by 2030. Over 10 million US residents have died of tobacco-related illness since the 1964 Surgeon General's Report.(Healton

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