Philip Morris will stop selling cigarettes in the UK within 10 years. Meanwhile, the tobacco giant behind Marlboro is proposing a total ban on smoking tobacco.
"Technology makes it possible to replace cigarettes with less harmful alternatives," says Moira Gilchrist, Head of Strategic and Technical Information at PMI to CNN.
Cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris International (PMI) argues that governments should treat cigarettes and smoking tobacco in the same way as gasoline and cars. New sales of gasoline-powered cars will be is planned to be banned from 2030 in England. PMI is now proposing that a similar ban should also apply to cigarettes.
"Under the right conditions, Philip Morris could stop selling cigarettes in the UK within 10 years. Through technological advances and rapid development, we have the opportunity to replace cigarettes with less harmful alternatives for those who still want to smoke or cannot quit," says Moira Gilchrist, Head of Strategic and Technical Information at Philip Morris. Philip Morris International to CNN.
Smoking decreases - vejping increases
Philip Morris actively urging British politicians to ban cigarettes is not entirely unexpected. British authorities have since 10 years ago worked more actively to reduce smoking in the country. Expanded smoking bans, requirements for plain packaging, bans on marketing and stop smoking campaigns have been at the heart of these efforts. Smoking is declining as smokers switch to less harmful nicotine products, according to British studies.
Highly regulated - effective for smoking cessation
E-cigarettes and other alternative nicotine products are heavily regulated, but are also used as tools to reach the smoke-free goal United Kingdom 2030. According to UK studies, e-cigarettes are the most popular way to quit smoking among English smokers. At the same time, the method is twice as effective compared to nicotine medicines, according to the Cochrane Library.
Tobacco companies and e-cigarettes
And this is something tobacco companies like Philip Morris have embraced in recent years. But competition is fierce. The e-cigarette market is currently dominated by smaller independent companies, with no direct links to the tobacco industry. PMI's main competitor, British American Tobacco, is investing in both e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, although sales are still so far not met expectations.
Investing in heat-not-burn
At the same time, PMI has invested in a heat-not-burn system, IQOS, a variant of an electronic cigarette which is based on tobacco instead of e-liquid. IQOS has not yet made the same impact as other vejp products in the UK. But a ban on cigarettes would most likely change that.
"Our cigarettes will disappear and the best thing smokers can do is quit smoking. For those who can't or don't want to, the next best thing is to switch to less harmful and better alternatives" says PMI CEO Jacek Olczak in a interview with the Mail.
Transforming the industry from the ground up
Phillip Morris International, the company behind one of the world's most famous cigarette brands, Marlboro, is aiming for half of its revenue to come from smokeless products in just four years. Meanwhile, Jacek Olczak and PMI want to change the entire tobacco industry, from the ground up.
"I want to make PMI a smoke-free company. But it's not just about us. We want to work with governments, legislators, non-profit organizations and other tobacco companies to create a smoke-free society - within a reasonable timeframe" says Jacek Olczak.
Criticized by anti-smoking organizations
Despite PMI's ambition to change British people's smoking habits, the multinational is facing criticism, not least from anti-smoking organizations ASH, Action on Smoking and Health. Among other things, ASH advocates e-cigarettes as a good substitute for cigarettes. But that doesn't mean PMI is a good role model, according to ASH.
"PMI has been talking about phasing out cigarette smoking for a long time now. But how can we take them seriously when the company is behind one in ten cigarettes sold worldwide?" Says Deborah Arnott, President of ASH to BBC
Smoking kills more than Covid-19
The damage caused by smoking still costs the UK health service the equivalent of £20 billion a year. According to ASH, as many people died from smoking as from COVID-19 in 2020. And according to Debora Arnott, PMI, as well as other tobacco companies, should be involved and directly forced to pay for the projects and campaigns for smoking cessation program launched by the UK authorities.
"They should be required to help financially. Unfortunately, fine words are not enough" says Deborah Arnott.
Facts: Heat-Not-Burn
- PMI's vejp product IQOS, but also BAT's GLO, is a combination of a cigarette (tobacco) and an e-cigarette (heating).
- In some countries, such as Japan, IQOS is a success story, with over a quarter of PMI customers preferring IQOS to traditional cigarettes. In the rest of the world, such as Europe, IQOS is less popular, although it is on sale in most EU countries.
- In Sweden, some larger chains such as Pressbyrån sell IQOS. The heat-not-burn system is also available in some convenience stores.
Few independent studies on IQOS
- Heat-not-burn (HNB) products have been on the market since 2014. The technology is based on heating tobacco: a sleeve containing a tobacco mixture is heated in the same way that e-liquid is heated in an e-cigarette. This creates a vapor at a lower temperature and without combustion.
- The health risks of HNB products are likely to be less than those of tobacco smoking. However, the UK Public Health Agency, a world leader in tobacco harm reduction, notes that the evidence base for assessing the health risks of HNB is currently thin.
"HNB products are likely to emit fewer toxic chemicals than cigarettes, but more harmful substances than regular e-cigarettes," writes the UK Health Protection Agency, in its annual report on risks of e-cigarettes and similar products, 2018.
- Of the 20 studies it has reviewed, 12 originate from the tobacco companies themselves, says the UK Public Health Agency
"The studies suggest a harm reduction effect for smokers, but we need more independent studies to draw firm conclusions," the agency writes.
Sources: Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018: executive summary
What is your reaction to this Stefan?
When this goes against the grain in the US and EU etc. Why are the reactions not greater in the rest of the world. The profit of capital will perhaps not be as great. Or not at all because people are thinking more and more about health. The tobacco industry and states are squeezing out the last drops from the golden times of Big smokers etc. What do you think will be the next step.