Smoke & Mirrors: The Canadian Tobacco War

This book provides an insider view of the Canadian tobacco war, a century-old conflict that began to escalate in the 1980s. It explains how Canada emerged as a global leader in the public health crusade to regulate the powerful tobacco industry and details the bitter campaigns to maintain high tobacco taxes, ban tobacco advertising, eliminate tobacco company sponsorships, require plain packaging of tobacco products, mandate clear health warnings about tobacco, and prohibit smoking in public places and workplaces. It reviews the Canadian tobacco industry, the strategies used by the tobacco companies and their opponents, the efforts by the tobacco industry to penetrate markets in the third world and in former Communist countries, and the adverse economic, social, and health effects of tobacco growing and use. The book concludes with recommendations for actions to control tobacco use and improve public health.