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Article: Peddling cigarettes abroad: the new opium war: (export and import of tobacco products)(Editorial)
- Article from:
- World Watch
- Article date:
- July 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Worldwatch Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When public health officials, tobacco control activists, and Chinese government authorities meet in late August at the 10th World Conference in Tobacco or Health in Beijing, they will be sitting on a ticking time bomb: China has the largest cigarette market in the world, and with the largest number of smokers, it will see an estimated 2.5 million of its people die of cigarette-caused disease by 2020.
Before blaming the Chinese, however, officials and activists would do well to focus their criticism on the other side of the Pacific. Last year the World Health Organization voted on a proposal for an international tobacco control convention; of the 80 member states ...