US tobacco company CEO urged to ban cigarettes in the world
Jacek Olczak, CEO of the American tobacco company Philip Morris International (PMI), noted that it is necessary to set deadlines for banning cigarettes in the world and switch to less dangerous alternatives, The Daily Mail reports
In his talk with the newspaper, Mr. Olczak said, “Looking at what the UK is doing in the car industry, saying that as of a certain year you are not allowed to produce petrol cars, we could have this with tobacco too.”
The PMI CEO has been a smoker for more than twenty years, but managed to overcome the bad habit. He believes that currently cigarettes ‘belong in museums’.
Mr. Olczak stressed that governments could support tobacco companies moving towards production of less harmful tobacco products. Meanwhile, the authorities of the countries that restrict access to less harmful alternatives and spread misinformation about such products simply exacerbate the problem of smoking.
More than a third of the PMI revenues – the company also produces Marlboro and Benson & Hedges – account for products such as heated tobacco and e-vapes. The firm has also invested more than $10.6bn in a campaign to find alternative ways to a ‘smoke-free future’.
According to the World Health Organisation, mortality due to smoking could be reduced tenfold if smokers completely switch to tobacco products free of combustibles.
