Simon Chapman

Green Army: Persons of Interest

I am a cigarette with a life attached.

— Raymond Carver (1938 – 88)

Simon Chapman (1951)

Smoking kills 19,000 Australians a year, more than 4,000 before retirement age, more than those who die from breast, cervical and skin cancer, AIDS, suicide, alcohol and road crashes combined.
(p 192)

Globally, an estimated 4 million people die each year from tobacco-related illness, compared to 2.7 million from malaria and 2.8 million from AIDS.
After malnutrition (5.9 million in 1990) and violence and injury (5.8 million), tobacco claims more deaths than any other single cause.

(Smoke Signals, 2016, p 141)


Simon Chapman [Director of Research, School of Public Health, University of Sydney]:
[According to] internal tobacco industry documents [the price of cigarettes] is the single greatest determinant of smoking in the community. …

[They also] show that the main purpose of [cigarette additives] is to make smoking more palatable for young people.
[A] lot of work has gone [into reducing] 'throat grab' [‒ that initial coughing you get when you first start smoking.]
[Menthol] acts as a sort of a gentle local anaesthetic in the throat, which makes [smoking] easier, particularly for young women, who tend to favour menthol cigarettes …

Robert Proctor:
[Smoking] is not like drinking …
[It's] like being an alcoholic.
Only about three per cent of people who drink are addicted, whereas 80 to 90 per cent of people who smoke are addicted. …
[Smoking] is not a recreational drug …

[The] cigarette pack itself [is] the last bastion of advertising.
The cigarette pack [is] like a micro-ad …
[Cigarettes are an undifferentiated product, they're] basically all … the same.
[From a marketing viewpoint, the packaging is the] product. …

Simon Chapman (1951):
[If you] open any tobacco industry trade magazine [there is] page after page of advertisements from packaging companies, talking about how packaging is front and centre of branding …
[The package] is the centre of the advertising effort.

There's been a lot of experimental evidence by people showing young people different versions of packs and asking them which ones that they would prefer.
[They] always say that they don't like the plain-packaged ones, they want the nice looking packs …
[It's] a no-brainer.
[The] next generation of kids will grow up never having seen a packet of carcinogenic products packaged in a beautiful box.

(Plain packaging of cigarettes, ABC Rear Vision, 19 October 2011)

Would you like to know more?

E-cigarettes

Banks E, Yazidjoglou A, Brown S, Nguyen M, Martin M, Beckwith K, Daluwatta A, Campbell S & Joshy G

Among non-smokers, there is currently strong evidence that use of e-cigarettes is harmful to health overall, with multiple health harms and no health benefits identified in this population. …
There is no available evidence as to how e-cigarette use affects clinical mental-health outcomes. …
There is strong evidence that e-cigarettes increase combustible smoking uptake in non-smokers, particularly youth …

Use of e-cigarettes results in inhalation of a complex array of chemicals originating from:

• the e-liquid,
• chemical reactions in the heating coil and the device itself.

These include:

• nicotine,
• solvent carriers (propyleneglycol, ethylene glycol and glycerol),
• tobacco-specific nitrosamines,
• volatile organic compounds,
• phenolic compounds,
• flavourings,
• tobacco alkaloids,
• aldehydes,
• free radicals,
• reactive oxygen species,
• furans, and
• metals.

Toxicological studies indicate that exposure to these substances can result in adverse health effects. Nicotine is highly addictive and there is evidence from basic human and animal studies that it adversely affects:

• cardiovascular measures, and
• brain development and functioning. …

Nicotine e-cigarettes are highly addictive, underpinning increasing and widespread use among children and adolescents in many settings. …

There is conclusive evidence that:

• e-cigarettes and their constituents cause poisoning, injuries and burns and immediate toxicity through inhalation, including seizures …
• their use leads to addiction, and that
• they cause less serious adverse events, such as throat irritation and nausea.

There is conclusive evidence that the use of e-cigarettes can cause [EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury)] among smokers and non-smokers … with

• half of cases related to THC in conjunction with vitamin E acetate, and
• 14% in patients reporting the use of nicotine-delivering products only …

(Executive Summary, Electronic cigarettes and health outcomes: systematic review of global evidence, Report for the Australian Department of Health, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Canberra, April 2022, pp viii‒xiv, emphasis added)

Wind Turbines

There is currently no published scientific evidence to positively link wind turbines with adverse health effects. …
The evidence on shadow flicker does not support a health concern. …
[Wind] turbines of contemporary design … produce very low levels of infrasound. …
The risk of blade glint from modern wind turbines is … very low.
[The] closeness of the electrical cables counters the electromagnetic field [generated by wind turbines], as does shielding with metal armour. …
[Evidence is limited, therefore] it is recommended that relevant authorities take a precautionary approach and continue to monitor research outcomes.

(NHMRC Public Statement, July 2010)

Table 3 (Adapted): Typical A-weighted sound levels for different sources
Activity	Sound pressure level (dBA)
Busy general office	60
Car travelling at 64km/h at 100m	55
Typical wind farm (at moderate wind speed 7 m/s)*	40 ± 5
Background noise in rural area at night	30 ± 10
*Based on sound level measurements taken from multiple resident locations near two Victorian wind farms, at distances 500–1,000 m from the nearest turbine.

(p 8)