The Public Finance Balance of Smoking in the Czech Republic was a 2001 report commissioned by Philip Morris's Czech division following concerns raised by the Czech health ministry that smoking's costs outweighed its fiscal benefits. [1] [2] The study was conducted by Arthur D. Little and found that smokers' early mortality and cigarette-tax revenue outweighed the costs of health-care and lost tax revenue from early death. [1] The study concluded through cost-benefit analysis "based on up-to-date reliable data and consideration of all relevant contributing factors, the effect of smoking on the public finance balance in the Czech Republic in 1999 was positive, estimated at +5,815 mil. CZK." [2]
The report which was leaked on July 16, 2001, was met with condemnation and subjected Philip Morris to vitriolic criticism from politicians, anti-smoking activists, economists and watchdog groups. Philip Morris subsequently disavowed the report and apologized for its conclusion. A subsequent study by economist Hana Ross demonstrated that smoking deprived the Czech government budget of at least 14,455 mil CZK (or $373 million) annually, thus defeating the "death benefit" argument.
The report was unusual as historically, tobacco companies had denied the link between smoking and early mortality, whereas the report used early mortality as a selling point. [3] Though similar studies in Europe had been done a decade earlier, Philip Morris stated that it had canceled any new similar reports in countries including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia. [4] [5] CNN reported that an Arthur D. Little representative had told them that Philip Morris had commissioned similar studies in Canada and the Netherlands, though Philip Morris stated it had no such on-going reports. [1]
The Czech Prime Minister, Miloš Zeman had previously noted the "death benefit" stating that "By smoking, I contribute to the stability of the state budget. By buying cigarettes, I increase state revenues, and I will die of lung cancer, so the state won’t have to pay me a pension." [3] In addition, Zeman had stated that "As a smoker, I support the state budget, because in the Czech Republic we pay tax on tobacco. Also, smokers die sooner, and the state does not need to look after them in their old age." [6] [7]
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The stated objective of the report "was to determine whether costs imposed on public finance by smokers are offset by tobacco-related tax contributions and external positive effects of smoking." [2]
Following the leak, the company initially defended the report. Philip Morris spokesman Remi Calvert stating that "It is very unfortunate that this is one aspect of the study that is being focused on" [8] adding that "We understand that it appears quite cold, but tobacco is a controversial product." [9] Robert Kaplan, director of communications at Philip Morris International stated that the report's purported death benefit was "just one point" and "was not the point we were emphasizing." [3]
The company subsequently apologized for the report. Kaplan later stated that "We are not in any way suggesting that the social cost of smoking is of benefit to society." [1] Steven Parrish, vice-president at Philip Morris, stating that "We understand that this was not only a terrible mistake, but that it was wrong. To say it's inappropriate is an understatement." [10] In an internal memo, CEO John R. Nelson agreed with critics that the report "exhibited a callous and cynical disregard of basic human values." [11] On July 26, 2001, Phillip Morris issued an apology in the Wall Street Journal:
For one of our tobacco companies to commission this study (AD Little Report concluding that smokers save the state money - by dying early) was not just a terrible mistake, it was wrong. All of us at Philip Morris, no matter where we work, are extremely sorry for this. No one benefits from the very real, serious and significant diseases caused by smoking. We understand the outrage that has been expressed and we sincerely regret this extraordinarily unfortunate incident. We will continue our best efforts to do the right thing in all our business, acknowledging mistakes when we make them and learning from them as we go forward. [12]
The release of the report was viewed as a setback for Philip Morris which had been making charitable donations to improve its public image. [13]
| "Further complicating life for the weekly opinion distributor is the overabundance of events and statements which invite comment, usually critical. So much folly, so little space." |
| —Waldo Proffitt, Sarasota Herald-Tribune [14] |
Mladá Fronta Dnes described the report as "first-class cynicism and hyena-ism" comparing it to how Nazis determined the value of life in Nazi concentration camps adding "What an offer: `come help us make money on the death of your citizens." [15] The Sarasota Herald-Tribune described the report as "The Philip Morris Health Plan" comparing it to Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal . [14]
Following the report, anti-smoking groups placed ads in prominent newspapers such as the New York Times depicting a corpse with a price tag stating "$1,227, [£860] that's how much a study sponsored by Philip Morris said the Czech Republic saves on healthcare, pensions and housing every time a smoker dies". [10]
A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opposite end. Cigarette smoking is the most common method of tobacco consumption. The term cigarette, as commonly used, refers to a tobacco cigarette, but the word is sometimes used to refer to other substances, such as a cannabis cigarette or an herbal cigarette. A cigarette is distinguished from a cigar by its usually smaller size, use of processed leaf, and paper wrapping, which is typically white.
Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed to have begun as early as 5000–3000 BC in Mesoamerica and South America. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 17th century by European colonists, where it followed common trade routes. The practice encountered criticism from its first import into the Western world onwards but embedded itself in certain strata of a number of societies before becoming widespread upon the introduction of automated cigarette-rolling apparatus.
Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor workplaces and buildings open to the public such as restaurants, bars, office buildings, schools, retail stores, hospitals, libraries, transport facilities, and government buildings, in addition to public transport vehicles such as aircraft, buses, watercraft, and trains. However, laws may also prohibit smoking in outdoor areas such as parks, beaches, pedestrian plazas, college and hospital campuses, and within a certain distance from the entrance to a building, and in some cases, private vehicles and multi-unit residences.
Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, commonly called secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by individuals other than the active smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke diffuses into the surrounding atmosphere as an aerosol pollutant, which leads to its inhalation by nearby bystanders within the same environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes many of the same diseases caused by active tobacco smoking, although to a lower prevalence due to the reduced concentration of smoke that enters the airway. The health risks of secondhand smoke are a matter of scientific consensus, and have been a major motivation for anti-smoking laws in workplaces and indoor venues, including smoke-free restaurants, bars and night clubs, as well as some open public spaces.
The British Doctors' Study was a prospective cohort study which ran from 1951 to 2001, and in 1956 provided convincing statistical proof that tobacco smoking increased the risk of lung cancer.
Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris International is often referred to as one of the companies comprising Big Tobacco.
Tobacco products, especially when smoked or used orally, have negative effects on human health, and concerns about these effects have existed for a long time. Research has focused primarily on cigarette smoking.
Operation Berkshire is the name of a program initiated in 1976 by seven of the world's major tobacco companies aimed at promoting "controversy" over smoking and disease.
Tobacco harm reduction (THR) is a public health strategy to lower the health risks to individuals and wider society associated with using tobacco products. It is an example of the concept of harm reduction, a strategy for dealing with the use of drugs. Tobacco smoking is widely acknowledged as a leading cause of illness and death, and reducing smoking is vital to public health.
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have been rolled with a small rectangle of paper into an elongated cylinder called a cigarette. Other forms of smoking include the use of a smoking pipe or a bong.
In the United States, cigarettes are taxed at both the federal and state levels, in addition to any state and local sales taxes and local cigarette-specific taxes. Cigarette taxation has appeared throughout American history and is still a contested issue today.
Tobacco politics refers to the politics surrounding the use and distribution of tobacco.
The National Smokers Alliance (NSA) was an organization created and funded by the PR firm Burson-Marsteller, hired by Phillip Morris, in 1993 to protest against anti-smoking legislation in the United States. The NSA was a public relations group created and funded by the tobacco industry, which operated nationally from 1994 to 1999 to advocate for adults using tobacco products without vigorous regulation or increased tobacco taxes. An early example of astroturfing, the NSA employed stealth marketing tactics to give the appearance of grassroots opposition to anti-smoking laws.
Tobacco control is a field of international public health science, policy and practice dedicated to addressing tobacco use and thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality it causes. Since most cigarettes and cigars and hookahs contain/use tobacco, tobacco control also concerns these. E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco itself, but (often) do contain nicotine. Tobacco control is a priority area for the World Health Organization (WHO), through the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. References to a tobacco control movement may have either positive or negative connotations, depending upon the commentator.
Tobacco smoking has serious negative effects on the body. A wide variety of diseases and medical phenomena affect the sexes differently, and the same holds true for the effects of tobacco. Since the proliferation of tobacco, many cultures have viewed smoking as a masculine vice, and as such the majority of research into the specific differences between men and women with regards to the effects of tobacco have only been studied in-depth in recent years.
The majority of lifelong smokers begin smoking habits before the age of 24, which makes the college years a critical time for tobacco companies to convince college students to pick up the habit of cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking in college is seen as a social activity by those who partake in it, and more than half of the students that are users do not consider themselves smokers. This may be because most college students plan to quit smoking by the time that they graduate.
Plain tobacco packaging, also known as generic, neutral, standardised or homogeneous packaging, is packaging of tobacco products, typically cigarettes, without any branding, including only the brand name in a mandated size, font and place on the pack, in addition to the health warnings and any other legally mandated information such as toxic constituents and tax-paid stamps. The appearance of all tobacco packs is standardised, including the colour of the pack.
Smoking in India is one of the oldest industries and provides livelihood to more than five million people directly and indirectly. India is the second-largest producer of tobacco in the world. Smoking has been known since at least 2000 BC when cannabis was smoked and is first mentioned in the Atharvaveda. Fumigation (dhupa) and fire offerings (homa) are prescribed in the Ayurveda for medical purposes and have been practiced for at least 3,000 years while smoking, dhumrapana has been practiced for at least 2,000 years. Tobacco was introduced to India in the 17th century. It later merged with existing practices of smoking.
The Center for Indoor Air Research was a tobacco industry front group established by three American tobacco companies—Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, and Lorillard—in Linthicum, Maryland, in 1988. The organization funded research on indoor air pollution, some of which pertained to passive smoking and some of which did not. It also funded research pertaining to causes of lung cancer other than passive smoking, such as diet. The organization disbanded in 1998 as a result of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.
Tobacco smoking is popular in North Korea and culturally acceptable among men, but not for women. As of 2014, some 45% of men are reported to smoke daily, whilst in contrast only 2.5% of women smoke daily, with most of these being older women from rural areas. Smoking is a leading cause of death in North Korea, and as of 2010 mortality figures indicate that 34% of men and 22% of women die due to smoking-related causes, the highest mortality figures in the world. There are tobacco control programs in North Korea, and although smoking was not prohibited in all public spaces, the smoking rates have declined since their peak in the 2000s.
Editorial reaction I have seen has not recognized the full potential and significance of the Philip Morris policy. It is, no pun intended, truly breathtaking. There has been nothing comparable since Jonathan Swift's Modest Proposal in 1729.
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| Images | |
 Advert | |
| Audio | |
 Richard Daynard, Tobacco Products Liability Project (RealMedia format), BBC | |
| Video | |
 The BBC's Chiaka Nwosu (RealMedia format) | |
| "Death Saves You Money", NPR | |
| "Smoking good for the economy: Study", CTV |
