The chief executive officer of tobacco giant Philip Morris International has said the company wants to stop selling cigarettes in the UK within a decade , a move that would see the business firm ’s own products , including Marlboro and Benson & Hedges , disappear from workshop shelves .
Calling for the demise of your own product is not a conventional business tactic , but this is not a selfless move that will see Philip Morris ego - implode into a sad pile of ash tree — large tobacco is playing the long game .
" I want to allow this company to leave smoking behind , ” Philip Morris International ’s chief executive , Jacek Olczak , late toldthe Mail on Sunday . “ I think in the UK , ten year from now maximum , you may completely solve the problem of smoke . ”
When ask whether that meant Philip Morris would terminate sell butt in the UK within the decade , Olczak reply : ” Absolutely . ”
Even beyond the UK , Phillip Morris has recently madea bunch of pledgesto make a “ bullet - free future tense ” without conventional combustible fag . Their heading is tomove towards — in their word — “ less harmful ” alternative and " trim - risk of exposure products , " such as heat - not - burn tobacco product and vaping e - cigaret .
The categoric evidence that smoking isabsolutely terriblefor human wellness has been staring the world in the face for the good part of a century . Increased regulation to curb the advertising and sale of tobacco has been mounting for decades , but the baccy diligence is now reach crunch time . In 2019 , theWorld Health Organization(WHO)projected that the issue of males using tobacco is on the fall for the first prison term , which they called “ a powerful faulting in the global tobacco plant epidemic . ”
intelligibly cognizant of this trend , baccy behemoth have realized that their business can outlast in the post - cigarette world provided they have a firm grasp on the come forth market of cigaret alternatives . Leaked internal documentshave shownthat big baccy has attempted to foster the image they are work towards a “ smoke - free future ” for bolster their public picture and legitimate their place in the regulatory public debate of Es - cigarette and heated up tobacco products .
Whether these alternatives are actually any safer than schematic burnt baccy is another dubiousness . Some evidence suggests that heat - not - tan product may be less harmful than smoke , but these study have been for the most part fund by the tobacco industriousness , fit in toCancer Research UK.Currently , health authoritiessit on the fence on the question of the safety of heated tobacco products , arguing more research is needed . They take asimilar stanceon e - cigarettes , although they believe they have some potential to profit grownup smokers await to kick their cigarette habit .
Meanwhile , as the debate and king struggle carry on , more than eight million peopledie from tobaccoeach year .
