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"Shows how the tobacco industry works behind the scenes . . . to subvert public health and how courageous action by public health advocates beat them back."—C. Everett Koop, former Surgeon General of the United States
"This motivating narrative about the victories over Big Tobacco and their political minions by a smart, tough and relentless group of citizens and voluntary agencies in the nation's largest state teaches many lessons for future struggles against the tobacco industry and other corporations that control governments in order to sell harmful products. For citizens who want strategy, inspiration and civic wisdom, for students who want to study how people can win against massive odds, for public health workers who need the courage of their convictions and the resolve of their objectives, Tobacco War by Glantz and Balbach is as complete a menu and map as there is in print."—Ralph Nader
"The man who 'belled the cat' in the 1980s with his annual accounting of tobacco-industry campaign contributions has produced a definitive case study of how special interests manipulate and distort the political process. It should be required reading for all state politicians, if for no other reason than to remind them that there is someone out there watching what they do."—Steve Scott, political editor, California Journal
"Tobacco War is a fascinating, absorbing, and thoroughly documented description of the struggle between the people of California with the tobacco industry and its allies. It is must reading for anyone who wants to know how to win this fight. The final chapter, 'Lessons Learned,' is a gem. The book is not only a wonderful textbook in public health, public policy, and politics, but a great read for the general public."—Philip R. Lee, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health in the Johnson and Clinton Administrations
About the author
Stanton A. Glantz is Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Among his books are The Cigarette Papers (California, 1996), Tobacco: Biology and Politics (1999), and Primer of Biostatistics (1997). Edith D. Balbach is Director of the Community Health Program at Tufts University.
Summary
Charts the dramatic and complex history of tobacco politics in California. This book covers the activities of a small band of activists who, in the 1970s, put forward the radical notion that people should not have to breathe second-hand tobacco smoke. It follows the movement through the 1980s.
