Four of the most famous Marlboro brand advertising representatives died of tobacco-related illnesses, the last of which was Eric Lawson, who died after a long suffering from an incurable lung disease due to his daily consumption of cigarettes.
The one behind turning Marlboro into the largest cigarette company in the world died because of the product he spent an important part of his life promoting and advertising for.
Years ago, Lawson became the loudest voice calling for control over cigarette consumption, calling on young people and adolescents to avoid it, and active with anti-smoking groups.
Lawson died before the publication of the annual national report on cigarette consumption, which confirms that despite decades of progress in raising awareness of the dangers of smoking, reducing cigarette consumption, and holding responsible companies responsible, the “smoking epidemic” is still going on, as in the United States alone there are still at least About 44 million people smoke, and one-third of all cancer deaths are caused by cigarettes.
The report says that at least 6 million American children will die prematurely because of cigarettes, and the side effects of smoking are growing, including impotence and diabetes.
When the first annual report on the phenomenon of smoking was issued half a century ago, the percentage of smokers in the United States was about 42 percent, and it has now shrunk to 18 percent, due to containment and control policies that focused on educating smokers and preventing and protecting non-smokers, including measures that concern smoking bans in places. Public transport, airplanes, and strict tax policies. The price of a pack of cigarettes at the time was only 28 cents, but now it is more than $6.
The role of tobacco companies:
Tobacco production companies have spent decades lying to consumers about the negative effects of smoking on people’s health through complex advertising campaigns targeting adolescents and low-income people. A judge issued a ruling calling for “corrective statements” acknowledging their misconduct.
A few weeks ago, the US government and tobacco companies reached an agreement that requires companies to fund a large-scale awareness campaign that includes strong slogans explaining the dangers of smoking.
The role of governments:
Despite this, there is still a long way to go before smoking and suffering from tobacco ends. In the meantime, cigarettes will kill half a million Americans this year and cost taxpayers $130 billion in treatment costs and reduced productivity.
Without a doubt, Lawson’s death is a clear symbolism that should be invested as much as possible in order to further tighten the relevant laws, most notably raising taxes and issuing laws that strongly protect non-smokers from exposure to the effects of the phenomenon and financing programs to stop consuming cigarettes.
But all of this will only be done with clear and explicit determination by the legislators to put the new plan at the top of their priorities, otherwise smoking will remain the most controllable cause of death as it has been for half a century.
