A Smoking Epidemic -- the history of tobacco, an excerpt

For generations, the Tobacco industry has tried to convince millions of people that smoking is cool, sexy and completely harmless. And they have done a good job -for every day, we smoke billions of cigarettes -- year in and year out. In fact it is one of the most successful advertising campaigns in history and one in which seduction, suppression and the distortion of facts have been a crucial element. Because for more than 50 years, it has been a well-known fact that smoking causes cancer, and despite the fall in tobacco consumption in developed countries, the global consumption of tobacco continues to rise. Smoking is still one of the most frequent causes of death in the world, and the number of people who die due to smoking is now over four million a year. The epidemic, as World health Organisation calls it, will apparently never end. The documentary is part of the international awarded series "Late Lessons from Early Warnings" which explores how we have been able to respond to warnings about the hazards posed by some of the greatest technological innovations of the last century. We have not always been that successful. Directed and produced by Jakob Gottshau, Express TV Production Photography: Michael Daugaard Film Editing: Jesper Osmund Music: Niels Mosumgaard Narration: Brian Patterson Year of Production: 2006 Watch more: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bz8IFlfcBZ0ocjluUllwVkZtMmM/edit?usp=sharing