SCMP Laisee 09/08/2012
Spot the cigarette factory
Non-smokers may be tickled by Stanford University’s ploy to discourage the production of cigarettes. The university has produced an interactive map pin- pointing where the industry manufactures the six trillion cigarettes sold worldwide every year.
According to the World Health Organisation, cigarettes are the biggest cause of preventable death worldwide and may kill a billion people during the 21st century if current trends continue.
“Before launch of the Cigarette Citadels project in September 2010, no means existed for anyone, whether curious citizen or devoted researcher, to know about all these factories, peer into them, and begin questioning their specific effects,” notes project director Matthew Kohrman. Previously research had centred on the consumer, but this project pushes attention towards the surfeit of cigarette factories in the world.
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