Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g7rbq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-25T14:11:00.977Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Politics of Health: The Case of Smoking Control*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2009

Michael Calnan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The policy of the United Kingdom government towards the control of smoking has been characterized by a non-interventionist approach such as persuasion and industrial self-regulation, as opposed to more direct intervention through fiscal policy or control over tobacco production and sales. The effectiveness of the policies adopted by the UK government is difficult to assess, although there has been a reduction over the last ten years in the proportion of smokers in the population. However, evidence from other countries shows that a more comprehensive programme including direct legislation controlling tobacco advertising has a much stronger impact on tobacco consumption. The determinants of the UK government's policy position are analysed and the evidence suggests that this policy position is determined in part by the power of the vested interests in the maintenance of tobacco production, as well as the confusion of interests within the government itself.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , July 1984 , pp. 279 - 296
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Action on Smoking and Health (1982), The Economics of Smoking, Fact Sheet No. 3, London.Google Scholar
Atkinson, A. and Skegg, J. (1974), ‘Control of smoking and price of cigarettes — a comment’, British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine. 28, 45–8.Google Scholar
Atkinson, A. and Townsend, J. (1977), ‘Economic aspects of reduced smoking’. Lancet, 2, 492–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailey, M. (1984). ‘UN halts attack on “beer wars” adverts’, The Observer, 5 01, p.13.Google Scholar
Bjartvert, K. (1977), ‘The Norwegian Tobacco Act’, Health Education Journal, 36, 3–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bynner, J.M. (1969), The Young Smoker, The Government Social Survey, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Calnan, M. (1982a). ‘Government policy and primary prevention’, in Alderson, M. (ed.). The Prevention of Cancer, Edward Arnold, London, pp. 101–80.Google Scholar
Calnan, M. (1982b), ‘Non-governmental approaches to the control of cancer’, in Alderson, M. (ed.) The Prevention of Cancer, Edward Arnold, London, pp.210–26.Google Scholar
Capell, P.J. (1978), ‘Trends in cigarette smoking in the UK’, Health Trends, 1, 49–53.Google Scholar
Cawson, A. (1982), Corporatism and Welfare, Heinemann, London.Google Scholar
Central Statistical Office (1979), Social Trends, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Cox, H. (1984), ‘Smoking, tobacco promotion and the voluntary agreements’, British Medical Journal, 288, 303–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, H. and Smith, R. (1984), ‘Political approaches to smoking control: a comparative analysis’, Applied Economics (in press).Google Scholar
Daube, M. (1979), ‘The politics of smoking: Thoughts on the Labour record’, Community Medicine, 1, 306–14.Google ScholarPubMed
Department of Health and Social Security (1976), Prevention and Health: Everybody's Business — A Reassessment of Public and Personal Health, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Department of Health and Social Security (1978), Eating for Health, Prevention and Health, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Department of Health and Social Security (1980), Inequalities in Health, Report of a Research Working Group, DHSS, London.Google Scholar
Doll, R. and Peto, R. (1981), The Causes of Cancer, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google ScholarPubMed
Doyal, L. and S.S. Epstein (1983), Cancer in Britain, the Politics of Prevention, Pluto Press, London.Google Scholar
Ferguson, P. (1976), ‘Cigarette ban won't kill the press’, Marketing, 22, 22–3.Google Scholar
Friedman, K. (1975), Public Policy and the Smoking-Health Controversy: A Comparative Study, Lexington Books, D.C. Heath, Lexington. USA.Google Scholar
Fujii, E. (1980), ‘The demand for cigarettes: Further empirical evidence and its implications for public policy’. Applied Economics, 12, 479–89.Google Scholar
Gatherer, A., Parfit, J., Porter, E. and Vessey, M. (1979), Is Health Education Effective? Heath Education Monographs 2, London.Google Scholar
Gray, N. (1977), Lung Cancer Prevention, Union Internationale Contre le Cancer, Geneva.Google Scholar
Harriman, E. (1983), ‘Smoking machines do not puff hard enough’, New Scientist, 20 10, 1959.Google Scholar
Jacobson, B. (1981), The Ladykillers: Why Smoking is a Feminist Issue, Pluto Press, London.Google Scholar
Labonte, R. and Penfold, S. (1981), ‘Canadian perspectives in health promotion: A critique’, Health Education, 04, 4–8.Google Scholar
McGuiness, T. and Cowling, K. (1975), ‘Advertising and the aggregate demand for cigarettes’, European Economic Review, 6, 311–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKennell, A.M. and Thomas, R. (1967), Adults' and Adolescents' Smoking Habits and Attitudes, Government Social Survey, HMSO. London.Google Scholar
Marks, L. (1982), ‘Politics and postures in smoking control’, British Medical Journal, 284, 291–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medawar, C. (1979), Insult or Injury? An Enquiry into the Marketing and Advertising of British Food and Drug Products in the Third World. Social Audit, London.Google Scholar
Muller, M. (1978), Tobacco and the Third World: Tomorrow's Epidemic, War on Want, London.Google Scholar
O, M.'Donnel (1983), ‘The scandal of the tobacco industry’, The Guardian, 29 06, p.11.Google Scholar
Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (1983), OPCS Monitor, Government Statistical Service, London.Google Scholar
Opinion Research Centre (1975), Sale of Cigarettes to Children in England and Wales, ASH, London.Google Scholar
Opinion Research Centre (1981), Sale of Cigarettes to Children in England and Wales, ASH, London.Google Scholar
Peto, J. (1974), ‘Price and consumption of cigarettes and a case of intervention’, British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine, 28, 241–5.Google Scholar
Peto, J. (1976). ‘Taxes, smoking and health’, Lancet, 1, 30.Google ScholarPubMed
Popham, G. (1981), ‘Government and smoking: Policy making and pressure groups’. Policy and Politics, 9, 331–47.Google Scholar
Raphael, A. (1983), ‘A government health warning’, The Observer, 4 12, p.10.Google Scholar
Robson, J., Black, D., Clark, D., Curran, R., Ferose, R., Gillingham, F., Horder, J., Laws, J., Strong, J. and Taylor, P. (1982), ‘Sponsorship of sport by tobacco companies’, British Medical Journal, 284, 395–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roemer, R. (1982), Legislative Action to Combat the World Smoking Epidemic, WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
Royal College of Physicians (1964). Smoking and Health, Pitman, London.Google Scholar
Royal College of Physicians (1971), Smoking and Health Now, Pitman, London.Google Scholar
Royal College of Physicians (1977), Smoking and Health, Third Report, Pitman, London.Google Scholar
Royal College of Physicians (1983), Health and Smoking, Pitman, London.Google Scholar
Russell, M. (1973), ‘Changes in cigarette price and consumption by men in Britain, 1946–71’, British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27, 1–7.Google ScholarPubMed
Turner, J. (1980), ‘MPs behind a smokescreen’, New Society, 52, 287–8.Google Scholar
Wikler, D. (1980), ‘Persuasion and coercion for health’, in Dowie, J. and Lefrere, P. (eds). Risk and Chance, The Open University Press, Milton Keynes, pp. 199–234.Google Scholar