Accepting tobacco industry money for research: has anything changed now that harm reduction is on the agenda?

摘要

The tobacco industry has a long track record of attempting to distort research, while continuing meanwhile to profit from a business which destroys lives on a large scale. Because of this, several major grant-giving bodies (including the major supporter of cancer research in the United Kingdom, Cancer Research UK) will not provide funding to those in receipt of tobacco industry money. This editorial examines the rationale for this policy in the context of what appear to be efforts by the tobacco industry to rehabilitate itself through harm reduction initiatives and generous 'no strings' research grants and Corporate Social Responsibility programmes.