Youth for Tobacco Control calls for intergenerational responsibility from tobacco industry

On the occasion of International Youth Day, this Friday, August 12, the organization International Youth for Tobacco Control (IYTC) and several international and national anti-tobacco organizations have published a joint statement against the tobacco industry. The theme of this day in 2022 is intergenerational solidarity and the IYTC is therefore calling on the tobacco industry.

International Youth for Tobacco Control is committed to protecting young adults, children and the next generation from lifelong addiction caused by the tobacco industry. It emphasizes that there is a fundamental conflict of interest between the tobacco industry and public health, including the health of future generations that will depend on the policies adopted today.

A long list of grievances against the tobacco industry

The statement denounces the involvement of tobacco manufacturers in the recent youth vaping epidemic, resulting from aggressive marketing of these new nicotine products through channels favoured by young people (social media) using, for example, sports sponsorship, particularly motor sports. The risk of addiction following so-called recreational use among young people must be at the heart of any policy decision regarding new tobacco and nicotine products. The tobacco industry must not be allowed to profit from these products.

IYTC highlights the environmental threat posed by tobacco and nicotine products, including the accumulation of toxic single-use plastics in the oceans, and the tobacco industry’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and public relations efforts are designed to distract from the devastating environmental impacts of its activities. For example, planting a few trees or cleaning up beaches is a way of improving its image among policy makers and countering tobacco control measures, which is far from the major damage caused to the planet by the industry.

Recently, tobacco companies have acquired pharmaceutical companies (vaccines) or those promoting recreational drugs (cannabis). This is a way for them to diversify their activities in order to cope with the decline in the consumption of traditional cigarettes and to give an image of "respectable" companies. This search for honorability does not, at the same time, prevent the continued exploitation of child labor in tobacco fields.

Holding industry accountable for its actions

The organisations call on governments to take action against tobacco companies for the past, present and future harm caused by the manufacture and use of tobacco products and to demand accountability from the tobacco industry, which could take the form of, for example, revoking the licences of tobacco retailers found to be in breach of the law, providing compensation for harm suffered, financial guarantees for future harm, and measures that could be achieved through litigation, for which governments should facilitate access to legal action for young people and levy additional taxes on tobacco and nicotine products.

Since it is the younger generations who will live off the planet's resources, IYTC calls on the tobacco industry to pay for the many environmental damages it causes. Finally, to prevent future pollution, governments must ban cigarette filters, a single-use plastic, which would also help reduce the appeal of cigarettes and prevent young people from starting to smoke.

Keywords: International Youth for Tobacco Control, IYTC, youth, future generation, tobacco-free generation, responsibility, tobacco industry, new products, environment

©Tobacco Free Generation

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