All of the anti-cigarette comercials on TV keep saying that the cigarette companies do know how dangerous their product is, although they deny this knowledge. If they do know this, then it seems that they wouldn’t use the cigarettes they produce. How many cigarette company executives actually smoke their products?
Well, a secondhand report: I know a guy who used to work for Phillip Morris (as an attorney). He said that when there were executive meetings, he would be the only person not smoking. He left the company about 10 years ago.
At this point, I think it would be difficult to prove that any reasonably non-clueless person would be unaware of the relationship between cigarettes and various cancers. Somehow I don’t think knowledge at this point has much to do with it. People do all sorts of things that they know are bad for them, either through calculated risk, disregard for their own health, or lack of willpower to stop. If we were talking about a different time period, maybe it would be a bigger question.
Philip Morris . . . oh sorry, I mean Altria, is moving its headquarters from New York City to Richmond, VA. Everything I’ve read has said that Altria claims the move had nothing to do with New York’s new anti-smoking laws, but I’ve heard people suggest that the anti-smoking laws contributed to the move.
From what I remember of Barbarians at the Gate most of the RJR executives smoked, but that was the late 80’s.
Added notes on PM: 1. Yes, they ARE leaving NYC because of the restrictive smoking laws, regardless what they say. 2. Their headquarters building was the only place in NYC where you could smoke in the elevators! (Until March 30, 2003)