Why Alcohol and Tobacco are Being Sold even though they are Harmful Homework Help

Why Alcohol and Tobacco are Being Sold even though they are Harmful

The continued sale of alcohol and tobacco in the face of deaths and health hazards brought about by their use has for a long time raised more questions than answers. Alcohol and tobacco addicts risk contracting cancer and death due to drinking and driving Alcohol and tobacco manufacturing industries have embarked on extensive communication campaigns geared towards sensitizing members of the populace on the dangers of alcohol and substance abuse. However, critics question their motives (Kathryn and Hastings 3-4).

Campaigns funded by alcohol and tobacco consumption tend to revolve around illegalities of their consumption, not the health hazards. Alcohol and tobacco industries are not highly committed in their motives in making people quit those drugs. On the contrary, their anti-substance abuse campaign messages to children discourage them from their intake, but give them a node, should they become adults. It is done with the primary motive of maximizing profit (Kathryn and Hastings 3-4).

Similarly, the alcohol and tobacco firms are not committed to stop their sale and distribution. Instead, they encourage their use (Kathryn and Hastings 3-4). Their campaigns, commonly referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), favorably incline people towards taking alcohol and tobacco (Rundle-Thiele et al 7-8). The sole purpose of CSR, under the pillar of Public relations is not to benefit the society, but to paint a good image of themselves so as to improve their sales (Jones and Hoek 9-12).

Finally, alcohol and tobacco industries operate on the assumption that human beings are rational, and as such should be left to make their own choices (Rundle-Thiele et al 7-8). To this end, one is often believed to be responsible for the illnesses that have befallen him due to the choice he/she made. They propagate this notion, embroiling people on that debate as they make supernormal profits. These organizations do so by promoting individual behavior change. To conclude, it is futile of us to wait for change from such organizations, for they already know that substance abuse is dangerous but continue to sell them (Hoke and Jones 8-10).