Ugh… stupid.
The head of Phillip Morris International, Louis C. Camilleri, said something super stupid at an annual shareholder meeting that anti-tobacco groups attended.
He told a cancer nurse that while cigarettes are harmful and addictive, they aren’t that hard to quit.
The nurse, Elisabeth Gundersen, recounted a story about a patient she treated who said that out of all of the addictions he├óΓé¼Γäós quit — crack, cocaine, and meth — that cigarettes were the hardest.
He replied:
“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. Nevertheless, whilst it is addictive, it is not that hard to quit. … There are more previous smokers in America today than current smokers.”
In a statement after the meeting, Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, replied to the callous remarks made by Louis:
“Study after study has documented the powerful addiction to cigarettes is one of the most difficult to overcome of any drug anywhere in the world. It is stunning in the face of overwhelming science for the leader of the world’s largest private tobacco company to deny how difficult and addictive cigarettes are.”
It’s sad that the leader of a tobacco company has such backwards views on what he’s selling.
[Image via AP Images.]