Tobacco lobby
I recently watched a BBC programme which investigated e-cigarettes and whether they were a positive or negative innovation. In a nutshell, the jury is still out on some aspects of ‘vaping’, in particular, whether some components of the liquid which is heated to create a vapour contain harmful chemicals, and to what extent ‘passive-vaping’ is a risk. But, the programme more or less concluded by saying that e-cigarettes are, on the whole, a much healthier and beneficial option for existing, regular smokers.
What sparked my interest, however, was that during the programme, a world map was shown which detailed where the sale of e-cigarettes was legal, still being debated or illegal. This really struck me. Most of the world has legalised the sale of e-cigarettes. However, of the small number of countries that have banned e-cigarettes, the majority are in Latin America: Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
This got me thinking. Latin American countries are usually quite liberal about what substances they consume, and much more liberal than some of their Asian and African counterparts where vaping is allowed. Alcohol and smoking are all freely tolerated. Even marijuana is legal in Uruguay, and the governments of Argentina, Colombia and Mexico are working to decriminalise its use.
So why the tough stance in Latin America on vaping? In my experience, smoking is a popular pastime in the region and therefore it must be a substantial killer. In Mexico alone, it is estimated that 60,000 people die per annum due to tobacco-related illnesses. Should e-cigarettes therefore be seen as a lesser of two evils?
A quick online search reveals that the governments of these Latin American countries are unconvinced that vaping is a healthy alternative. A health minister in Mexico said last year: “They are products that have not been confirmed anywhere in the world to have the necessary safety, quality and effectiveness to replace the use of tobacco”. But this seems an absurd statement. Even if they are not totally ‘healthy’, it is widely acknowledged they are a damn sight healthier than tobacco smoking. I am not convinced by this excuse.
In my humble opinion, the elephant in the room here is tobacco companies. It would appear that the unspoken truth is that Latin America is strangled by tobacco lobbying. The BBC programme highlighted that some of the tobacco behemoths are investing in e-cigarettes (perhaps as an insurance policy if e-cigarettes become the new paradigm), but they still want people to buy their cigarettes for as long as possible. Cigarettes are cheaper to make, have a quick turnover, are non-reusable (so customers come back for more) and more affordable for people in the region, therefore keeping more of them smoking. As tobacco producers are being kicked left, right and centre in Europe and the USA, regions like Latin America are seen as an easy (or easier) and lucrative market.
In Mexico, the tobacco lobby is particularly strong. In 1981, Carlos Slim, the richest man in the country who has plenty of clout, invested in Cigatam, a joint venture with Philip Morris which produces Marlboro in Mexico. In 2013, Philip Morris bought out the billionaire for $700 million; he remained on the board of the company until 2015. Working on behalf of Philip Morris, and as a very ‘influential’ person, it is reported that in 2004, Slim organised a private meeting between Philip Morris executives and the then president of Mexico, Vicente Fox. It is speculated that during the meeting, it was agreed that planned tax increases on cigarettes would be postponed, as long as the tobacco companies donated money to Mexico’s health sector fund to cover increasing ‘cigarette-related’ health problems. The agreement was known as the ‘peso per pack’ (i.e. the tobacco companies would hand over money for the quantity of cigarettes sold). The International Consortium of International Journalists has reported that between 2003 and 2004, representatives of Philip Morris and British American Tobacco (BAT) attended at least 30 meetings with Mexican regulators, and these meetings were all ‘closed’ to journalists.
Fox’s tenure as president ended in 2006, but little changed afterwards, with Philip Morris and BAT continuing to lobby hard. A Mexican politician claimed in 2006 that tobacco companies had “corrupted the conscience” of legislators when a cigarette tax increase bill was defeated that year. At the same time, another official was quoted as saying that tobacco companies "went all out in their lobbying" to keep the tax increases from going through, and said he would not put it past tobacco companies “to bribe his fellow members of Congress with free trips and holidays”.
Mexico was one of a number of countries that signed a treaty in 2003, overseen by the World Health Organisation (WHO), to curb tobacco consumption by implementing tax hikes and price policies. However, by 2012, the tobacco lobby had managed to block 14 initiatives to decrease cigarette use from going through the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. A Mexican director of the Inter-American Heart Foundation said at the time: “Regrettably, we fell short in our proposals that would have brought us closer to compliance with the WHO's targets…This was in large part because of the actions of a certain group of legislators who put the interests of the tobacco industry ahead of the need to strengthen public policies”. Tobacco companies pedalled a sob story publicly, arguing that tax increases could push them towards bankruptcy (unlikely), which would deliver a knock on effect of job losses within the industry.
The situation has improved in Mexico. There are now strict rules on advertising, packaging and smoking in public places (although a restaurant chain owned by Slim was amongst a number of establishments that successfully pushed back on a total ban in public places). Furthermore, the days when tobacco companies in Latin America misrepresented the serious health effects of smoking, and coerced the media into agreeing with them, are long gone. Direct tobacco lobbying is not so obvious.
However, the blanket ban on e-cigarettes may suggest it is possible that tobacco companies still wield worrying levels of influence within Mexican (and other Latin American countries that have banned vaping). The likes of Philip Morris and BAT will do anything to keep people hooked.
