Jump to full article: CNSNews, 2002-09-27
Intro: Activists protesting the International Monetary Fund this week in Washington, D.C., are diversifying their anti-capitalist agenda: They say the IMF is responsible for the rising smoking rates in developing nations across the globe.
But according to an IMF report, some countries are economically dependent on tobacco farming. . .
The IMF does not subscribe to Essential Information's theory that raising tobacco taxes is the only way to reduce smoking rates across the globe.
According to study featured in the IMF's quarterly magazine Finance & Development, "Taxation is a blunt instrument."
The study claims that higher taxes on cigarettes may deter young people from ever purchasing cigarettes, but those taxes would also hurt poor adult smokers who have been smoking for years.
And, contrary to the opinion of Essential Information, worldwide governments are urged to consider non-tax measures as an effective way of reducing the public's demand for cigarettes and increasing public health. Those non-tax measures promoted by both the IMF and the tobacco companies include tobacco advertising bans and anti-smoking ads; warning labels on tobacco products; restrictions on smoking at schools, on the job, and in public places; and increasing access to no-smoking programs.
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