Peddling Poison — www.greenwood.com

Book flyer
MS Word
International
MS Word

Peddling Poison The Tobacco Industry and Kids

Clete Snell

ISBN: 0-275-98239-4

ISBN-13: 978-0-275-98239-3

DOI:

188 pages

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 7/30/2005

List Price: $46.95 (UK Sterling Price: £32.95)

Availability: In Stock

Media Type: Hardcover

Also Available: Ebook

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

Subjects:

Series Title: Criminal Justice, Delinquency, and Corrections

Reviews:

[S]nell has compiled a well-organized, concise overview of the issues surrounding the US tobacco industry's interest in young consumers. After an introduction in which he presents statistics on teen smoking and details the efforts of tobacco companies to induce young people to smoke, Snell devotes most of the book to describing community and government efforts to combat the industry's campaign. This discussion focuses on the FDA's investigation of the tobacco industry in the 1990s, individual and class action lawsuits over the past 50 years, and anti-smoking programs and organizations that Snell sees as models. Not all of the events he chronicles--such as the lawsuits--pertain directly to youth, but the author consistently relates this information back to the subject of children by revealing the impact such events had on the fight against adolescent smoking. Snell does not claim to be even-handed, and he is not; the tobacco industry is clearly the villain in this story. Nevertheless, he does a fine job of presenting the challenges and successes of those who seek to protect the young against the dangers of tobacco. Recommended. General and undergraduate collections.
—Choice 5/1/2006

Description: The social acceptance of tobacco use obscures the fact that it is the single greatest preventable cause of death in the U.S., and approximately 80% of those who use tobacco products began using them before the age of 18. Indeed, tobacco companies in the past routinely targeted youth in their marketing and advertising, hoping to hook kids young and keep them with their original brand. Snell explores the tobacco industry's campaign to attract youth smokers and provides an overview of the FDA's investigation of the tobacco industry and how those investigations revealed the industry's deceptions and their specific intent to target youth. As a result, many anti-smoking advocacy groups and youth-led programs have sprung up to educate other youths about the deadly nature of tobacco addiction and the industry's marketing strategies. Parents, teens, teachers, and community and policy leaders here find an engaging, thoughtful, and informative discussion of a problem that has vexed this country for decades.

As a result of the Master Settlement with the tobacco industry, many states have developed comprehensive programs that have resulted in a substantial decline in youth tobacco use. While national efforts at tobacco regulation have largely failed, local tobacco control efforts have mostly been successful. Snell shows that the future of youth tobacco policy depends on the continued funding of tobacco prevention programs at the state and local level and illustrates that there is considerable evidence that the tobacco industry is shifting its marketing approach to minority populations and developing nations.

Table of Contents:

Youth Tobacco Use: The Health Effects, Trends in Smoking Rates, and Reasons Why Kids Use Tobacco
Marketing Tobacco Products to Youth
The FDA Investigation of Big Tobacco
Tobacco Litigation and the Master Settlement
Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs
Youth Tobacco Prevention Organizations
The Future of Tobacco Control

About the Author: Clete Snell is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Houston-Downtown.


All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999-2009 ABC-CLIO 130 Cremona Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93117, 805-968-1911