Anti-smoking advocates said the economic benefit of the 200 jobs promised by tobacco company Philip Morris International’s move to Connecticut pale in comparison to the loss of thousands of residents who die each year from smoking-related diseases.
Matthew Myers is president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. He said the timing of the move is troubling.
“Because it comes literally just days after the Connecticut legislature protected the tobacco’s industry’s interests at the expense of the state’s kids by killing a bill to end the sale of all flavored e-cigarettes. Philip Morris and the tobacco company’s fingerprints were behind the effort to scuttle that bill from the very beginning,” Myers said.
Philip Morris International said it will finish moving its corporate headquarters from New York City to Connecticut next summer.
The maker of Marlboro cigarettes said it plans to shift the majority of its manufacturing to “smoke free” by 2050.