Knowing the cause of an evil and not being able to eradicate it despite having the means to do so, is the summary of indirect confrontations tainted by hypocrisies resembling strategic staging between public services of poor countries in particular, and the tobacco industry which is a real multinational which exercises a considerable share of influence in these countries whose sovereignty is particularly always undermined by external influences generated by globalization which gives multinationals a power which allows them to impose themselves everywhere in the world, and always find a way to legitimize what is not simply because there are large sums of money at stake. You can indeed find yourself in faced with a product that you do not want because you have in your possession tangible proof of its dangerousness, and being unable to prohibit its marketing because of unbridled consumerism orchestrated by an industry which promotes growth and constancy of a lucrative activity whose dangerousness is relegated to the background in a world where, as the poet and essayist Charles Péguy (1873-1914) said, “money is master without ration or measure.”

The impact of its influence is such that it makes it possible to circumvent restrictive barriers to the point of normalizing the existence of an activity which continues to disregard the health of the human species because if indeed in normal times you cannot sell a product that causes health problems and even death, exceptions to the rule in some very favourable environments, favour direct and serious confrontations in particular between the branch of the United Nations for health, and tobacco industry lobbies which continue to demonstrate their capacity to normalize a public health danger in a set of ecosystems where in normal times and based solely on tangible facts, such a scenario would be unthinkable.

We still remember the confrontation between a European country and a very large brand of alcoholic product whose managers or producers wanted to market the original version of their product which, according to the country in question, contained a component potentially dangerous for long-term health according to the health security agency of the country in question. it took 12 years and more precisely in 2008 for the revised version based on expert opinions to be replaced by the original version already marketed at that time in 25 of the 27 countries of the European Union without any tangible proof of the dangerousness of the product. This example simply to clarify that: each sovereign country has the capacity to react and that with political will, we cannot allow anyone to sell what they want where they want without approval from experts on health issues based on proven scientific studies. This example of actions and reactions based on facts carefully analysed so as to produce a reasonable result based solely on facts, is what is most normal in normal societies which allow the marketing of morally acceptable products on the basis facts, unlike tobacco and cigarettes in particular which despite tangible evidence of its dangerousness, continue to be marketed.

A mixed and evocative opinion

The gold of a vox pop inspired to the editorial staff of a television channel by scientific studies having proven the veracity of the dangerousness of tobacco for human health, several consumers were asked the question of knowing if they know that tobacco kills. Most responded that they were aware, unlike one consumer who responded by saying: Really? Well, kill us! This answer is particularly interesting because currently, unlike at that time, on cigarette packets are mentioned this: “smoking kills” or “smoking seriously harms your health and that of those around you.” But if we are aware of this reality, why continue marketing? The powerful tobacco industry has found a way to give itself legitimacy in a form of veiled hypocrisy which continues to cause deaths around the world numbering several million each year and which suggests that it is a series of premeditated assassinations. Indeed, if these were only conspiracy theories that have no scientific basis, one could say that this is far-fetched reasoning. But in this specific case, the facts are known to everyone; but despite this, the tobacco industry continues to prosper, particularly in Africa where we find the majority of low- and middle-income countries. Areas very threatened by lack of jobs, underemployment, and precariousness. Environments where a large part of young consumers in general have found a daily companion to resist the daily difficulties of life in this silent killer most often consumed in the form of cigarettes.

Consumption and its consequences

More than 8 million people around the world die each year due to tobacco consumption, including more than a million non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke. According to an article from the World Health Organization published in July 2023, 80% of smokers are in middle- or low-income countries. We are facing a silent pandemic which contributes to discreetly reducing the world population while producing large profits for a powerful industry which has even made a habit of taking refuge behind charitable organizations to legitimize an absurdity which further contributes to weaken the strength of a youth sometimes lacking guidance, due in particular to an industry which continues to make money with great disregard for the health of the populations, the vast majority of whom are part of countries protected by a complete anti-tobacco legislation which apparently is of no use given that, it is money that runs the world.

The murderer is there, everyone sees him, he carries out his activities, he even does charitable works, but nothing can be done to him despite the palpable evidence of his guilt. We may increase taxes but there are more and more consumers. Anti-tobacco media campaigns which are nonetheless successful, are undermined by constant consumption supported by the all-powerful tobacco industry which promotes the consumption of a product that is addictive and dangerous for the health of all consumers to whom we even offer alternatives to reduce, or even gradually eradicate tobacco dependence thanks in particular to electronic cigarettes which themselves are dangerous to the extent that to truly quit smoking, you really have to intend to stop and agree to be accompanied by health specialists who perhaps will not obtain satisfactory results in the short term, but have the ability to get patients to stop smoking gradually, and not let them find eternal consolation in a product that is itself addictive in the sense that we can afford to doubt the sincerity of producers in wanting to get consumers to stop smoking in the long term because, we know that tobacco kills, but we call for responsibility of everyone while continuing to commercialize it, to do charitable works, create jobs and increase dependencies. A situation which makes the choice to stop even more difficult because persistence despite the dangerousness is an assumed and veiled desire to allow an industry to flourish while contributes to increasing social unhappiness and constantly inventorying escape measures to legitimize the harmful activity of an industry which must contribute to create and finance detoxification centres, particularly in Africa where smokers are very often described as "thugs" and " losers" when they are all simply victims of an industry which has the unspoken objective of further encouraging massive consumption of cigars, cigarillos, shisha (water pipe) and others whose consumption, particularly by young people, makes the situation even more worrying. They have fun in sessions of excitement and exhilaration in night circuits, sometimes with great disregard for government measures to prevent irresponsible behaviour of young people who also have their say in helping to eradicate these harmful products and not remain victims of an activity that pleases a group of individuals who see nothing wrong with the fact that young people constantly consume a harmful product as long as it benefits them money.

Just as the cessation of consumption immediately reduces the risk of illness and death, the cessation of marketing will contribute to further reducing the rates of disease prevalence and process of depravity of some young people more concerned about consuming narcotics and commit aggression rather than work honestly. The marketing of cigarettes promotes juvenile delinquency and social insecurity. We cannot prohibit the consumption of narcotics in schools and allow packs of cigarettes to be sold in the streets. It is a real contradiction which not only puts schools in danger but also the future of young people who know that if they cannot consume within schools, they can do so outside and that is a choice which suits an industry which does everything possible to guarantee the consumption of a product which it knows to be harmful and which it takes advantage of the state of dependence which these products create in its consumers to make them even more addictive to a substance while calling for a hypocritical responsibility which denotes a real desire not to stop marketing a very lucrative product which must be kept on the market at all costs by promoting in particular electronic cigarettes to attract new consumers looking for new sensations to show to them the good side of a thing which does not even have one since the choice to smoke is equivalent to being part of a logic of dependence which can only be broken by the choice to seek support as soon as possible, so as not to being the new victim of a serial killer who commits murders on a daily basis in plain sight.

English|French

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