Firms Admit Cigarettes Are Deadly

Tobacco giants, including Philip Morris and British American Tobacco, admitted at United Nations hearings in Geneva on an anti-smoking treaty that cigarettes were deadly and addictive, but defended their right to sell and advertise them. Health supporters dismissed the industry’s reversal of its defensive stance as a public relations trick, and challenged cigarette makers to reveal the list of toxic ingredients in their products and their Third World marketing strategies. The unprecedented hearings in Geneva are debating an anti-tobacco pact that the World Health Organization says must globally ban tobacco ads, increase taxes, cut output and control underage smoking with a ban on vending machines. But analysts say the pact, on which governments will hold formal negotiations next week, is unlikely to have teeth because most governments are unlikely to adopt most of its proposals.