In this section of our website, you will find our positions on health issues related to cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke as well as links to government and public health authorities, including the U.S. Surgeon General’s reports related to tobacco. Philip Morris USA supports a single, consistent public health message on the role of cigarette smoking in the development of disease in smokers.
PM USA agrees with the overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and other serious diseases in smokers. Smokers are far more likely to develop serious diseases, like lung cancer, than non-smokers. There is no safe cigarette. Learn more.
PM USA agrees with the overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking is addictive. It can be very difficult to quit smoking, but this should not deter smokers who want to quit from trying to do so. Learn more.
To reduce the health effects of cigarette smoking, the best thing to do is to quit. Public health authorities do not endorse either smoking fewer cigarettes or switching to lower tar and nicotine brands as a satisfactory way of reducing risk. Learn more.
Smokers should not assume that cigarette brands using descriptors such as "medium," "mild," "light," and "ultra light" are safe or safer than full-flavor cigarette brands. There is no safe cigarette. Learn more.
Women who quit smoking before or during pregnancy reduce the risk of adverse reproductive outcomes. Learn more.
Public health officials have concluded that secondhand smoke from cigarettes causes disease, including lung cancer and heart disease, in non-smoking adults, as well as causes conditions in children such as asthma, respiratory infections, cough, wheeze, otitis media (middle ear infection) and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Learn more.
The Surgeon General of the United States has been the nation's leading spokesperson on matters of public health since 1871. Beginning in 1962, at the request of President John F. Kennedy, the Surgeon General's Office took on the task of reviewing literature on smoking and health and began issuing periodic reports. The first report was published in 1964.
In this section we provide links to the information on the Surgeon General reports, plus links to the complete reports.
Learn more.
