The Cigarette Papers

The Cigarette Papers

The Cigarette Papers

The Cigarette Papers is a collection of internal documents from the tobacco industry that were made public in the 1990s. These documents provide a detailed look into the practices and strategies of tobacco companies, particularly Philip Morris, in their efforts to promote and defend the use of cigarettes despite growing evidence of their health risks.

Background

The documents were originally obtained by Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). They were sent anonymously to Glantz in 1994 and subsequently became the basis for the book The Cigarette Papers, published in 1996. The book was co-authored by Glantz, John Slade, Lisa A. Bero, Peter Hanauer, and Deborah E. Barnes.

Content

The documents reveal a wide range of activities by tobacco companies, including:

• Efforts to undermine scientific research linking smoking to health problems such as lung cancer, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• Marketing strategies aimed at young people and other vulnerable populations.
• Lobbying efforts to influence public policy and regulation.
• Internal research on the addictive properties of nicotine.

Impact

The release of The Cigarette Papers had a significant impact on public health policy and tobacco regulation. It provided crucial evidence in numerous lawsuits against tobacco companies and contributed to the Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, in which major tobacco companies agreed to pay billions of dollars to states and adopt significant restrictions on their marketing practices.

Legacy

The documents from The Cigarette Papers are now part of the UCSF Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, which contains millions of pages of internal tobacco industry documents. This library is an important resource for researchers, policymakers, and public health advocates working to reduce the harm caused by tobacco use.

See also

• Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement
• Tobacco control
• Public health
• Nicotine addiction
• Philip Morris USA
• Stanton Glantz

External links

• [Link to UCSF Legacy Tobacco Documents Library]