Tobacco Advertising Pros And Cons

The issue of the Indian Government possibly banning tobacco ads is cause for much ethical concern, and compelling arguments are made by both sides. Those in favor of the ban have many valid concerns, such as the health risks associated with long term tobacco use. Those opposed to the ban have strong arguments as well, such as the issue of should the government be able to tell people what they can or cannot do in regards to risking their health. Through is paper I will do my best to summarize the views of each side, as well as discuss how this issue creates a conflict of interest for the Indian Government. Finally, I will present my personal opinion about whether or not I believe the Indian Government should go forward with the ban on tobacco
The ayes section of the case study had statistics from World Health Organization showing that tobacco use was the cause of over 3 million deaths in 1990, and over 4 million deaths in 1998, and these figures were expected to keep on rising. Those in favor also pointed out that tobacco advertising is often focused on young people, and that the advertisements encouraged children and young people to try cigarettes in hopes that they would start smoking. If more people start and continue smoking inevitably, there will eventually be more healthcare costs. The conflict of interest that surrounds this issue is that the tobacco industry is one of the biggest employers in India, so if tobacco advertising is banned, and tobacco sales drop, 26 million people could potentially be out of work. Those in favor of the ban cite a study based on tobacco consumption
One potential conflict of interest would be that if the government did ban tobacco advertising, would the government have to stop allowing subscriptions to foreign magazines and sports channels that so many people are fans of like Formula One, because these channels and magazines would continue to have tobacco sponsorships and to air tobacco commercials? If the government continued to allow people access to these foreign channels and magazines is the tobacco ban really going to be effective, since the people will still be viewing tobacco advertisements on a regular basis. The biggest conflict of interest for the government when considering a tobacco ban, is that the tobacco industry is such a big part of India’s economy, if the advertising ban works, and people stop smoking completely, (those opposed to the ban believe that it would only reduce the number of people who smoke cigarettes, since the other more dangerous forms of tobacco are not advertised), potentially millions of people could be out of work. If this happens, hopefully those in favor of the ban are correct in believing that people would spend their money on other goods and services that would create jobs in other industries, otherwise the ban could be the catalyst that eventually leads to an economic recession. The situation the government officials are