U.S.A.
Everyone Else
Health
Science
Business
Technology
Sports
Video Games
Entertainment
Future
Humour
NEWS > BUSINESS > PHILIP MORRIS CEO SAYS HE CAN QUIT SMOKING ANYTIME HE WANTS
PHILIP MORRIS CEO SAYS HE CAN QUIT SMOKING ANYTIME HE WANTS
May 15 2011
New York, NY – Addiction is nothing new and is not something that will likely go away anytime soon. While we have certainly made great strides in recognizing the deleterious effects of addiction, whether those effects are a result of the addiction
itself or the source, medical science still has a long way to go before resolving the root causes of addiction, if it’s possible at all. Addiction is, after all, not a product of weak character but an issue of physical and psychological components.
Of course, many companies realized this long ago and that in turn has resulted in a great deal of fiscal success. Whether it is sugar and salts in fast food or nicotine in cigarettes, companies have for decades made vast sums of money exploiting those addictive qualities present in all of us, none more so than the tobacco industry. With billions of dollars in revenues for a product totally unrelated to health or sustenance, the success of that industry has been one of the more remarkable and damaging in history. Even after decades of bad press and health studies assuring everyone that cigarettes do nothing but harm to the body, people have continued to smoke and put a great deal of money into the pockets of manufacturers. While health officials have frequently cited chemical additives and corrupt corporate culture as the reason for continued addiction, the industry itself has frequently cited smokers themselves as the reason, as evidenced by a statement by one of the most powerful men in the industry, who has made it clear that quitting is easy.
We take our responsibility very seriously, and I don't think we get enough recognition for the efforts we make to ensure that there is effective worldwide regulation of a product that is harmful and that is addictive,” said Louis C Camilleri, CEO of Philip Morris. “Nevertheless, whilst it is addictive, it is not that hard to quit. There are more previous smokers in America today than current smokers.”
Camilleri himself has only quit smoking once, but claims that he could do it anytime he wants.
“In many ways Camilleri is correct, it is very easy to quit smoking, many people do it dozens of times, but staying quit is something else entirely. Nicotine and other chemicals in cigarettes have qualities that work on the human brain and affect it in a very specific way, which makes it extremely challenging for many people to quit effectively,” said Scrape TV Health analyst Rebecca Phelps. “Quitting for a couple of weeks or even a couple of months is one thing, but staying that way over the course of years is something else entirely and something that most people find a challenge. It may very well be true that there are more non-
smokers than smokers but that has always been the case no matter how much the
industry would like people to believe otherwise. It’s beneficial to sales to push the idea that everyone smokes.”
Many studies have shown that cigarettes are more difficult to quit than most drugs or alcohol, things Camilleri himself has apparently also defeated.
“You have to wonder if maybe, just maybe, someone like Camilleri is saying these things to kind of dissuade the idea that cigarettes are a real problem. I mean they rely heavily on sales of cigarettes to bolster their bottom line and if word got out that people were smoking as a result of anything but free will, well that could cause issues with sales,” continued Phelps. “They have a lot to protect and it may be that that is all they are doing here. It may be a little cynical to say that, but one has to wonder if they have the health of their customers foremost on their minds.”
Camilleri later stated that he always felt healthier after a smoke.
William Ashford, Business Correspondent
NEWS > BUSINESS > PHILIP MORRIS CEO SAYS HE CAN QUIT SMOKING ANYTIME HE WANTS
LINK IT! http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Business/pages-6/Philip-Morris-CEO-says-he-can-quit-smoking-anytime-he-wants-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html |
TWEET IT! http://tinyurl.com/3e4km7w |
BOOKMARK IT!  
|
|---|
Scrape Store
