Joshua Pearce positioning a solar panel

Converting Tobacco Fields into Solar Farms Can Save Half a Million Lives a Year

The cost of generating solar power has dropped so dramatically, it is now economically advantageous for tobacco farmers to replace tobacco with solar farms in many places.
Indonesian man smoking

Why Do So Many Indonesian Men Smoke?

Indonesia has the highest smoking rates in the world. Why? It might have to do with economic liberalization in the 1990s.
Close Up Of Pregnant Woman Smoking Cigarette

Addicted Mothers: Substance Abusers or Child Abusers?

Are mothers with addictions abusive or victims? Our answer almost always involves race and class.
smoking

How to Cut Smoking Rates

A working paper released the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that lifting people out of poverty could cut smoking rates. 
Advertisement for Lucky Strike Cigarettes with a well-dressed smoking couple

A Brief History of Tobacco in America

Over the past 50 years, the portion of Americans who smoke dropped has dropped from 42 to 15 percent. The precipitous decline could mean the end of the fascination.
Flowering Nicotiana Alata, a species of tobacco identified by star-shaped white blooms.

A Tobacco Plant that Could Cure Cancer?

Finding anti-cancer agents inside tobacco may seem like a pretty strange coincidence, but it’s not unheard of to find help in harmful places.