Investigative report shows the involvement of the tobacco industry with vaping promotion at FCTC COP 9
Investigative report shows the involvement of the tobacco industry with vaping promotion at FCTC COP 9 as part of anti-regulation policy advocacy ,A November 3, 2021 report by Le Monde and the Netherlands ’ Investigative Desk reveals that fake consumer organizations are promoting e-cigarettes under the guise of defending individual freedoms. This report investigates the World Vapers’ Alliance and other supposed ‘grass-roots’ organizations which are fronts for the influence of big corporate interests including Big Tobacco. Unlike earlier industry funding which was easier to trace, anti-regulatory advocacy is being funded by a complex collection of interconnected organizations which hide behind their grass-roots status and hidden funding. “Le Monde and The Investigative Desk have identified seventeen Atlas Network partner organizations engaged in lobbying or propaganda for “tobacco harm reduction” and vaping. They found that almost all of them have received money from the tobacco industry, including twelve in the last five years.”
Over decades, corporate kingpins like the Koch brothers have been weaponizing philanthropy to promote their brand of libertarianism. Libertarianism “advocates minimal control of business and industrial activities, especially in the environmental field.”
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control COP9 will be held online from the WHO headquarters in Geneva, starting November 8th. “The pro-vape libertarian movement has changed tactics and is now trying to sneak in through the backdoor. Its idea: to get “tobacco harm reduction” experts and vapers into the official delegations” at the COP meeting.
“COP9 will open in a few days, and initiatives are multiplying. A deluge of missives has been sent to national delegations and the WHO. A letter to US President Joe Biden asks the US delegation to advocate for tobacco harm reduction.” The twenty or so signatory organizations include organizations from the pro-vaping network identified in this report. https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2021/11/03/vaping-the-real-dollars-behind-fake-consumer-organisations_6100848_3224.html
Comment: Business interests including tobacco interests keep pushing their brand of societal disregard for environmental and health protections.
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Stephen Hamann
