A new study says China has the largest number of tobacco users
in the world. And analysts say efforts to curb the habit are
being hindered by the country's state-owned tobacco enterprises.
The British-based medical journal Lancet said Friday in a report
on global smoking rates that around 300 million people, about 28
percent of the population, use tobacco products in China,
despite new restrictions on public smoking. The study's lead
author, Dr. Gary Giovino, says China's government-owned
cigarette companies, an important source of revenue, are even
encouraging the deadly habit with advertisements in elementary
schools. “The China National Tobacco Company has supported
elementary schools in China, dozens and dozens of them. And they
use their support to promote propaganda about tobacco use, and
they are basically telling students that genius comes from hard
work and tobacco helps them to be successful. That to me is
mind-boggling, that a government would tell its children to use
tobacco to be successful when