| JOHANNESBURG--While
environmentalists at this Summit demonstrate
for the right to health, clean air, and corporate
accountability,
one Fat Cat is escaping--Big Tobacco. With the
exception of WHO-related events, delegates have
left Philip Morris, British American Tobacco
and Japan Tobacco off the list of villains, even
though
these multinational giants spend millions of
dollars annually promoting a deadly product. Maybe
the
word hasn't gotten around: Tobacco smoke can
rival industrial fumes for its toxic effects. Passive
smoke contributes to sudden infant death syndrome,
childhood asthma, heart and lung disease. Each
puff releases more than a thousand gasses and
chemical
compounds into the air.
Even
my smoker-friends, who have trekked all the way to
South Africa to defend a healthy planet, are not
conscientious about exposing others to passive smoke.
But it's not necessarily their fault. Most people
want to quit. Others just don't know it's lethal.
Take for example Fatima, a young, feminist Everywoman
and an ardent environmentalist. Ever ready to throw
her body in the way of giant machines that destroy
tropical forests, she is Mother Nature's grand champion.
Like a crouching leopard with sharp claws and fearless
eyes, she is driven by sheer will power. You would
think that she would also be an ardent opponent of
Big Tobacco, but she, like many women, has been duped
by tobacco advertising that promotes an image of
the liberated woman.
The
industry records speak for themselves. Tobacco
companies
have been stalking women
for years. Since the early 20th century when
women defiantly marched down the streets of
New York City with cigarettes in their hands,
companies have successfully sold tobacco by
using images of slimness, glamour, modernity
and independence. When I did a quick search
of "feminism" in the tobacco industries'
Minnesota archives more than 30 references
popped up. Betty Friedan topped the list! Hundreds
more documents were listed under "women." British
American Tobacco is everywhere in Africa, sponsoring
beauty contests and sports events, and Philip
Morris has poured money into shelters for domestic
violence.
As rates of tobacco use decline in the West,
new consumers in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa
are a WTO dream come true. With weak defenses,
women are cornered into a habit that can result
in a deadly end. Activists at this Summit should
have their ears up for signs of danger ahead.
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