Philip Morris CEO Says Cigarettes Are Not that Hard to Quit

While health experts and countless organizations around the world are struggling to prevent people from starting smoking because it’s one of the toughest addictions to beat, the CEO of cigarettes maker Philip Morris Inc. says things are, again, blown out of proportions.

Cancer nurse Elisabeth Gundersen of the University of California-San Francisco said during the annual shareholders meeting that cigarettes are the most addictive out of all the drugs.

Louis C. Camilleri, CEO of Philip Morris, is now saying in a statement that there’s no need to exaggerate and over-dramatize on that because they are making honest efforts to comply with regulations as regards addiction and health impact, the Huffington Post informs.

In other words, cigarettes are not that hard to quit, regardless of what countless studies conducted over the years may suggest.

“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,” Camilleri, a smoker himself, says.

“Nevertheless, whilst it is addictive, it is not that hard to quit... There are more previous smokers in America today than current smokers,” Camilleri points out.

As noted above, the statement comes in response to Gundersen’s saying that cigarettes are highly addictive and very hard to quit, claims she made during the annual meeting, which also includes anti-smoking campaigners.

The cancer nurse also said that one of her former patients told her he’d struggled with countless addictions, including to cocaine, crack and meth, but he found only cigarettes nearly impossible to quit.

As expected, Camilleri’s response has generated a wave of criticism in the media, with many voices saying that the tobacco industry would take a serious hit if it ever admitted just how highly addictive cigarettes are.

Camilleri’s words are the most shameful instance of corporate “double-speak,” Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, believes.

“It’s in the interest of executives to give the impression that they don’t want new smokers to take up smoking, that they believe that people who do, can quit, but the statistics tell another story,” Morningstar analyst Philip Gorham adds.