The Cigarette: A Political History

The Cigarette: A Political History by Sarah Milov

Politics have long been intertwined with tobacco. The tobacco program helped to provide sufficient income for the farmers. This was needed to help provide an adequate supply in the consolidated industry. The oligopoly of cigarette companies had been fighting government intervention and helped to use the regulation to their own benefit. They continued to exercise significant influence in policy. The government encouraged spreading American-style cigarettes throughout the world. They curried favor with the politicians to ensure that the tobacco program remained intact. When health concerns became associated with cigarettes, the companies welcomed government restriction on advertising filters. They later combatted negative research on cigarettes with their own research to sew confusion. The tobacco politicians helped reduce negative regulation. Tobacco companies also aligned with unions to prevent restrictions on workplace tobacco. Even as it became difficult to stop cigarette restrictions, tobacco companies fought the "worse" regulations to get things that would limit their impact. (Even the tobacco settlement was not as bad as it good have been.)