Improper government policies related to tobacco can lead to increased consumption among the poor, erosion of tax revenues, and, worryingly, a surge in criminal activity that can be difficult to control. Recent articles have exposed inherent conflicts regarding smoking in South Africa. We view the signals there as being explosive, seriously underplayed in the media, […]

It was an era in which we became accustomed to daily death tolls broadcast on TV; work, school, and play shifted to virtual space; and masks served as both a life-saving accessory and confounding controversy. On many fronts, the era was marked by despair, not only from the virus proper, but also from the isolation […]

Launched in September of this year, the Tobacco Transformation Index is a comprehensive evaluation of the world’s 15 largest tobacco companies. The first tool of its kind, the Index documents companies’ sales, investments, and strategies related to the transition away from combustible cigarettes and other high-risk tobacco products—with the ultimate goal of accelerating the reduction […]

Smoking remains a major public health challenge in Rhode Island. While Rhode Island has one of the lowest reported youth smoking rates in the US at 4.2%, and smoking rates have declined from 17.4% to 14.4% from 2011-2016 for adults and 13% to 4.2% from 2009-2019 for high school students, roughly a quarter of RI’s […]

Tobacco is a sector for which it is common for investors to exclude or underweight the stocks. Anti-tobacco groups encourage this stance. For example, Tobacco Free Portfolios aims to reduce and ultimately eliminate all investment in tobacco. In this context, an underweight position holds an insufficient amount of a particular security compared to the weight of that […]