- I believe American Spirit purport to be made from 100% organic
tobacco with no chemical additives. The purpose of many of the additives
in cigarettes is to affect the body in various ways so as to make it
more susceptible to nicotine. Choosing not to put them in is either an
ethical choice or a clever marketing ploy. Seth, Edinburgh, Scotland
- How can any tobacco company be ethical? They target children
worldwide as the next generation of smokers, expand sales in
developing countries with less stringent advertising regulations and
lower public awareness) are desperate to induce even more women
into smoking by associating cigarettes with "caring /feel-good"
factors.
And from an economic perspective (which seems to be the only thing that
counts these days), our increasingly ageing populations simply cannot
afford to lose their expensively educated young people so prematurely.
Sheila Kirby, Esbjerg, Denmark
- I back what Vince says.
People have many ideas of what "ethical" is, and it changes over time.
The American Indian peace pipe has a different ethical tone to it than
the much-maligned Marlboro co.
To me, there's a good side and bad side to all things, and since all
things are connected, we all have links to something "unethical".
Eg: computers run off electricity, which is generally sourced from a mix
of fossil fuels, nuclear and renewables, produced by various companies
for mixed motives, operated by many different people, who have a much
better chance of getting to know each other (and themselves) if they can
access the internet and have these discussions.
Peace
(& yes, I smoke, but not 100% of my time is spent smoking!) René Thomas, Huddersfield, UK
- I am a Mohawk living on a
reservation in NY, USA. People here do make cigarettes but we encourage
young people not to smoke and leave that to a decision made by adults.
I do not apologize for my people trying to survive by making a legal
product. Also, a company here exports cigarettes to the UK called
1st-nation. These are made with ethically sourced tobacco from Malawi
benfitting the underpaid farmers there, and employs Mohawk Natives
living on our reservation. I believe these are the first ever Ethically
Sourced cigarette. Thanks Andre, Akwesasne New York, USA
- 1st-nation have recently launched in the UK and are probably the
closest thing to Fairtrade that we are going to get. They voluntarily pay the farmers a premium and also invest in
agricultural diversity for these farmers.
The various Fairtrade organisations have illogically refused to provide
support to tobacco products, so 1st-nation is working with local Malawi
farming authorities to set their own ethical standards.
Additionally, the brand is priced similarly to other mainstream brands.
Pritesh Mody, London UK
- Tobacco producers started adding a pesticide to their crops in the
1950's. Cancer was never linked to tobacco previous to this pesticide
being added to the crop. Is organic tobacco the answer for those who
choose to smoke? Andrew, South Shields England
