Tobacco Use in India Has Halved since the year 2000

Good news! Unfortunately, the article does not explain why and Google search fails on this subject.

I am not sure you can say something similar about China. On my recent visit to China, I noticed that smoking in public is still very frequent and prevalent among Chinese adults (mostly men, but women too). "China is the world's largest consumer and producer of tobacco, with nearly 300 million adult smokers—accounting for roughly one-third of the global total. While the adult smoking rate is around 23.2%, over half of all adult men smoke, compared to fewer than 2% of women." (Google search)

"... Some countries have seen a decline in smoking among men, but a rise among women. This is not the case in India: tobacco use has fallen substantially for both sexes. ..."

Tobacco Use in India Has Halved This Century - Human Progress

Tobacco use in India has halved this century

China National Tobacco Corp.: The Deadliest Company in the World

This is shocking! Communism kills!

There is no doubt that too many Chinese people are smoking and smoking almost everywhere at anytime! I have seen it with my own eyes while visiting China. This is very regrettable and unfortunate!

"... Outsized impact: ... one company stands out as the single commercial entity linked to the most global deaths: China National Tobacco Corp., better known as China Tobacco—a state-owned company that for decades has controlled ~97% of China’s cigarette market in a country that consumes nearly half the world’s cigarettes. 

 

Staggering toll: Tobacco use in China caused ~59–78 million deaths from 1990 to 2023, or 2 million people annually, per data from the Global Burden of Disease study run by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. 

China Tobacco is tied to ~57 million of those deaths—a toll surpassing fatalities linked to war, drugs, or traffic worldwide, even adjusting for the highest plausible death estimates from those other industries.   

The company also wields significant influence over China’s public health policy, systematically undercutting anti-smoking efforts. 

Intervention possible—and unlikely: Because of China Tobacco’s centralized role, direct policy change could avert millions of early deaths over decades.  

But the government’s dependence on billions in tax revenue from the industry means the company “is likely to retain its spot as No. 1 in the world for years to come.” ..."

Global Health NOW: Identifying ‘The Deadliest Company in the World’; and On the Front Lines of an Emerging Drug Crisis

Big Tobacco’s Legislative Coups. Really!

For at least the past 50 years and more, the tobacco industry has been a welcome target! Most of it is propaganda and demagoguery!

Smokers have been persecuted and treated almost like outcasts or  criminals in many Western countries!

Let vices be vices! Humans are not perfect!

Sin taxes are a sin!

"Aggressive tobacco industry tactics have beat back legislation against its products and garnered support from multiple countries in the past two years, according to a report released this morning that tracks industry interference.  

 

Tactics: Industry has won favor by paying for junkets (such as visiting Philip Morris International’s facility in Switzerland), promising investment and jobs, and showcasing corporate social responsibility projects that draw attention from its negative impacts.  

Big Tobacco wins:  

• Legislative leaders in 14 countries have filed pro-industry bills or delayed passage of new anti-tobacco laws, per the report by the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control and STOP, an industry watchdog. 
• 20 countries have signed memorandums of understanding with tobacco companies to tackle tobacco smuggling. 
• 10 countries have delayed or rejected tax increases.

..."

Global Health NOW: Big Tobacco’s Legislative Coups; and Senegal’s Disease Sentinel

Global tobacco use is continuing its decades-long fall according to WHO

Good news!

"... Positive trendlines:  

• Prevalence of tobacco use among those 15+ was 19.5% last year, dropping from 26.2% in 2010, and 33.1% in 2000. 
• Men in Southeast Asia using tobacco plummeted to 37% last year from 70% in 2000.

...

• 24.1% of adult Europeans used tobacco in 2024—the world’s highest prevalence, Health Policy Watch reports.  
• In Bulgaria, nearly 36% of people smoke— Europe’s highest prevalence.

..."

Global Health NOW: Tobacco Use Falls, Industry Pivots; Aid Cuts Hit Yemen Amid Measles Crisis; and Conversion Therapy Goes Before the Court

WHO global report on trends in prevalence of tobacco use 2000–2024 and projections 2025–2030

Tobacco is still public enemy no. 1

Why don't we try to get rid of unhealthy busybodies and government paternalism!

"Smoking Cessation Setbacks

The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, conflicts, and other crises have disrupted global smoking cessation efforts, per an ASH Canada report endorsed by 57 campaign groups and released ahead of World No Tobacco Day on Saturday, reports Reuters via the Economic Times.

 

Missed target: Governments have missed the 30% reduction goal set in 2015, meaning that ~95,000 people above the targeted 1,112,400,000 are still smoking, based on a Reuters analysis.

 

Action plan: The report’s authors urge governments to redouble efforts on tobacco control policies such as tax increases and smoking bans. ..."

Global Health NOW: Smoking Cessation Setbacks; Hollowing Out American Public Health; and The Amazon’s River Clinics

The High Cost of Vietnam’s Cheap Cigarettes. Really!

Same old propaganda and demagoguery warmed up again and again by the globalists! Same old remedies, i.e. higher taxes! Those one trick ponies!

Are the high death estimates exaggerated? Most likely!

Why not encourage more people to quit etc.! Why not reward people, who gave up smoking?

"Vietnam’s tobacco products remain cheap and widely accessible compared to other countries, leading to high usage and health impacts. 

Low tax, high usage: Vietnam’s tobacco retail tax rate is just 36%, half WHO’s recommended rate of 70–75%. 

Affordability means cigarettes are easily accessible to first-time users and even children. 

Health burden: Tobacco use causes ~104,000 deaths annually there.

 

Reform needed: Vietnam’s health leaders are urging regular tax hikes to align with international standards."

Global Health NOW: Zambia Drags Heels on Mercury Amalgam Ban; May Recap; and Cigarettes in France: From Romanticized to Restricted

Pipe smoking. How to get high on tobacco!

Does a cigarette make you look prettier or uglier?

Tobacco 21 policies could avert more than half a million premature deaths. Really!

Raising the minimum age from 18 to 21 was unconstitutional and injust!

Splitting the minimum age of buying a handgun (age 21) and a long gun (age 18) is similarly dubious and a lousy political compromise!

But 18 year olds are allowed to vote!

"Yale study estimates raising the age for tobacco sales to 21 could avert more than 525,000 deaths, more than double prior estimates

In 2020, the federal minimum age for buying tobacco products was officially raised from 18 to 21 as an increasing number of states and localities across the country sought to raise the age for tobacco purchases to protect the health of young adults. ..."

Tobacco 21 policies could avert more than half a million premature deaths < Yale School of Public Health

US Teen Tobacco Use Falls to 25-Year Low according to the CDC 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey

Good news! Children and teenagers try many things, but seldom get hooked.

One may wonder what are they using or experimenting perhaps instead of tobacco products?

"Roughly 8% of U.S. teens report using tobacco products — the lowest rate since 1999, according to 2024 federal estimates released on Thursday. ..."

From the abstract:

"Use of tobacco products in any form is unsafe, and nearly all tobacco product use begins during adolescence. CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) analyzed data from the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey to determine tobacco product use among U.S. middle school (grades 6–8) and high school (grades 9–12) students. In 2024, current (previous 30-day) use of any tobacco product was reported by 

10.1% of high school students (representing 1.58 million students) and 

5.4% of middle school students (representing 640,000 students). Among all students, 

e-cigarettes were the most commonly reported tobacco product currently used (5.9%), followed by 

nicotine pouches (1.8%), cigarettes (1.4%), cigars (1.2%), smokeless tobacco (1.2%), other oral nicotine products (1.2%), heated tobacco products (0.8%), hookahs (0.7%), and pipe tobacco (0.5%). 

During 2023–2024, among all students, the estimated number who reported current use of any tobacco product decreased from 2.80 to 2.25 million students; e-cigarette use decreased (from 2.13 to 1.63 million students); and hookah use decreased (from 290,000 to 190,000 students). Among high school students, current use of any tobacco product decreased from 12.6% to 10.1% of students, and e-cigarette use decreased from 10.0% to 7.8%. Among middle school students, no statistically significant changes occurred. Evidence-based strategies can help prevent initiation and promote cessation of tobacco product use among U.S. youths."

Teen Tobacco Use Falls to 25-Year Low - Human Progress

Teen tobacco use falls to 25-year low (original news release)

Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2024 (CDC news release)

When former government attorneys switch Sides on the Tobacco Fight. Really!

Nothing new! This issue has been known and discussed for several decades!

It is also well known that the turnstile works in both directions!

Government paternalism is another topic associated with tobacco!

"Switching Sides on the Tobacco Fight 

As the FDA fights an “epic struggle” against the tobacco industry over next-generation nicotine products, the agency is contending with a particularly galling dynamic: lawyers who have shifted alliances. 

Nearly two dozen FDA lawyers have left the FDA’s tobacco regulation arm to advise, litigate for, or work with the tobacco and vaping industry over the last 15 years, according to a review by The Examination.

Insider advantage: The lawyers often helped craft and defend the same regulations the industry is fighting—giving them a powerful upper hand in litigation.

“It seems like every time we get sued in the tobacco industry, a former FDA lawyer is leading the lawsuit,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf told an oversight organization last year."

Global Health NOW: Lebanese Hospitals on Alert; Malaria Becomes ‘Ancient History’ in Egypt; and Switching Sides on the Tobacco Fight

Smoking in cars with kids is banned in 11 states, and West Virginia could be next. Really!

When government paternalism goes amok! Who is going to enforce such do gooder laws!

"Smoking in cars with children is banned in 11 states, and lawmakers are pushing to join them in West Virginia, where more adults use cigarettes than anywhere else in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The state Senate on Monday passed a bill calling for fines for anyone caught smoking or possessing a lit tobacco product in a vehicle when someone age 16 or under is present. The bill passed on 25-8 vote and now goes to the House of Delegates, where similar legislation has failed and it faces an uncertain future. ..."

Smoking in cars with kids is banned in 11 states, and West Virginia could be next | AP News

Credits: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Global Health NOW

The Company Fueling China's Tobacco Addiction

The Communist Party of China likes profits too! The bigger, the better!

"Despite China’s repeated commitments to tackle its tobacco addiction, smoking rates have barely budged in the country over the last 20 years.

The biggest reason: China National Tobacco Corp., the largest tobacco company in the world, holds a monopoly over tobacco products—and significant sway over the government, per a joint investigation by The Examination and other media partners supported in part by the Pulitzer Center. 

The company generated $213 billion in profits and taxes in 2022 for China’s government, nearly equal to the country’s defense budget. ..."

Global Health NOW: mRNA Discoveries Net a Nobel, The Company Fueling China's Tobacco Addiction; and Rat Rights

WHO reports progress in the fight against tobacco epidemic

The World Health Organisation with the help of such billionaires as Michael Bloomberg manufactures another global epidemic! These abhorrent  busybodies at the WHO and their many acolytes!

Among other things, the WHO advocates raising taxes on tobacco products. Would this not incentivize governments to allow more tobacco use to generate more revenues and get hooked on these higher revenues? It is a fact that in particular low income people are  hit hardest with higher taxes on tobacco consumption! Do not higher taxes on tobacco promote more illicit tobacco products sold by criminals on the black market? In conclusion, raising taxes on tobacco products is one of the stupidest measures!

"More than four times as many people are now covered by at least one WHO-recommended  tobacco control measure as compared with 2007. The six MPOWER measures are monitoring tobacco use and preventive measures; protecting people from tobacco smoke; offering help to quit; warning about the dangers of tobacco; enforcing bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and raising taxes on tobacco. ...
However, progress has not been even across all MPOWER measures. Some measures like raising tobacco taxes have been slow to move and 49 countries remain without any MPOWER measures adopted. ...
Michael R. Bloomberg, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies, said “More than 1 billion people around the world still smoke. And as cigarette sales have fallen, tobacco companies have been aggressively marketing new products – like e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products – and lobbied governments to limit their regulation. Their goal is simple: to hook another generation on nicotine. We can’t let that happen.” ..."

WHO reports progress in the fight against tobacco epidemic Highlights threats posed by new nicotine and tobacco products. Many countries are making progress in the fight against tobacco, but a new World Health Organization report shows some are not addressing emerging nicotine and tobacco products and failing to regulate them.

Witches Were Less Hunted Than Smokers!

Posted: 9/11/2014

Smokers have been banned almost from any public spaces. They were stigmatized and ostracized!

Taxes on tobacco were raised by government to prohibitive levels fostering crime and smuggling! The poor were hurt!

Private property rights and individual freedom were seriously violated when bars and other private establishments were ordered by government to prohibit smoking.

Does anybody wonder why incandescent light bulbs were banned? What will be next?