HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chapman, S Articles by Liberman, J Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chapman, S Articles by Liberman, J Related Collections Economics of tobacco use and control

Ensuring smokers are adequately informed: reflections on consumer rights, manufacturer responsibilities, and policy implications

¹ School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia;
² VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, The Cancer Council Victoria, Victoria, Australia

Correspondence to:
Professor Simon Chapman
School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Building A27, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; simonchapman{at}health.usyd.edu.au

The right to information is a fundamental consumer value. Following the advent of health warnings, the tobacco industry has repeatedly asserted that smokers are fully informed of the risks they take, while evidence demonstrates widespread superficial levels of awareness and understanding. There remains much that tobacco companies could do to fulfil their responsibilities to inform smokers. We explore issues involved in the meaning of "adequately informed" smoking and discuss some of the key policy and regulatory implications. We use the idea of a smoker licensing scheme—under which it would be illegal to sell to smokers who had not demonstrated an adequate level of awareness—as a device to explore some of these issues. We also explore some of the difficulties that addiction poses for the notion that smokers might ever voluntarily assume the risks of smoking.

Keywords: tobacco; smoking; licensing; addiction

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. M Carter and S. Chapman Smokers and non-smokers talk about regulatory options in tobacco control. Tob. Control, October 1, 2006; 15(5): 398 - 404. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B J Fox Framing tobacco control efforts within an ethical context Tob. Control, August 1, 2005; 14(suppl_2): ii38 - ii44. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]