An anti-smoking group has released two videos accusing cigarette companies of purposely targeting mentally ill people and U.S. soldiers.
“As the number of smokers drops, the industry is finding it harder and harder to find those replacement smokers,” Robin Koval, chief executive of Truth Initiative, told William Wan of The Washington Post. “So the industry is targeting people based on their challenges in life, on who they are. It’s shocking and appalling.”
The group released the advertisements on Aug 24. They are also available on their website and on social media,
One says 40 percent of cigarettes sold in the U.S. are to people with mental-health issues, including depression, anxiety and substance-use disorders. The other says 38 percent of military smokers start after enlisting.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 36 percent of people with a mental illness smoke, and 24 percent of all active-duty military personnel are smokers. Nationwide, only 15 percent of adults and 6 percent of teens are smokers, both rates at an all-time low. Kentucky's smoking rates have also declined, but continue to be significantly higher than the national average, at 26 percent and 17 percent respectively.
Wan writes that in addition to the military and those with mental illness, many other groups also continue to have high smoking rates, including Native Americans and minorities, people who live in rural areas and people with low incomes.
The ad that focuses on mental illness and smoking cites internal tobacco-industry documents that discuss ways to target the mentally ill population, adding that tobacco companies even distributed free cigarettes to psychiatric facilities at one point, saying they would help steady patients' nerves.
The one about the military cites a tobacco industry document that targets young military servicemen. Truth Initiative's website also refers to a series of industry initiatives, including sending free cigarettes overseas to troops as late as the 1990s (the U.S. Department of Defense no longer allows this); sending troops Marlboro racing-team caps and playing cards, among other things; and leading a Christmas-card campaign that features cards that resembled Marlboro ads.
Wan writes that "tobacco companies for the most part have not responded to the growing accusations that they are targeting vulnerable populations," but notes that in response to a separate Washington Post article on the socioeconomic divides in smokers, Altria, the country's largest cigarette company, told Wan it uses the same marketing approach across the nation.
He writes, "The company pointed to more than $112 billion that tobacco companies have handed over to help smokers and encourage smoking prevention as part of the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement." Actually, states have not used most of that money for tobacco prevention; Kentucky gets about $93 million a year from the settlement but spends only $2.5 million on tobacco prevention.
“As the number of smokers drops, the industry is finding it harder and harder to find those replacement smokers,” Robin Koval, chief executive of Truth Initiative, told William Wan of The Washington Post. “So the industry is targeting people based on their challenges in life, on who they are. It’s shocking and appalling.”
The group released the advertisements on Aug 24. They are also available on their website and on social media,
One says 40 percent of cigarettes sold in the U.S. are to people with mental-health issues, including depression, anxiety and substance-use disorders. The other says 38 percent of military smokers start after enlisting.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 36 percent of people with a mental illness smoke, and 24 percent of all active-duty military personnel are smokers. Nationwide, only 15 percent of adults and 6 percent of teens are smokers, both rates at an all-time low. Kentucky's smoking rates have also declined, but continue to be significantly higher than the national average, at 26 percent and 17 percent respectively.
Wan writes that in addition to the military and those with mental illness, many other groups also continue to have high smoking rates, including Native Americans and minorities, people who live in rural areas and people with low incomes.
The ad that focuses on mental illness and smoking cites internal tobacco-industry documents that discuss ways to target the mentally ill population, adding that tobacco companies even distributed free cigarettes to psychiatric facilities at one point, saying they would help steady patients' nerves.
He writes, "The company pointed to more than $112 billion that tobacco companies have handed over to help smokers and encourage smoking prevention as part of the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement." Actually, states have not used most of that money for tobacco prevention; Kentucky gets about $93 million a year from the settlement but spends only $2.5 million on tobacco prevention.
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