An Anthropologist at Washington University exposes the real effects of FDA regulation of the tobacco industry. The abstract of the primary research article is written in clear language and includes this potent insight:

Ostensibly about improving public health, Philip Morris’s makeover, linked to stringent producer contracts and government regulation of consumption, makes U.S. farm businesses less stable, deepens their dependency on a transnational flow of low-wage labor migration from Mexico and Central America, and compounds social and housing problems that affect migrants. The tobacco industry’s transition is an exemplary case of biocapitalism, a strategic merger of economic, ethical, and public health values that mirrors trends in the pharmaceutical industry.

The Best of Kathryn Muratore