In response to the findings the public health minister, Steve Brine, warned that the department was prepared to take legal action. “We have been explicit that the promotion of tobacco products is unlawful – as my letter to Philip Morris Internationalmakes abundantly clear,” he said.
“Smoking kills 78,000 people every year and I am personally committed to doing all I can to protect people from the harms of tobacco. We expect PMI to stop this unlawful advertisement of tobacco products and we will not rule out legal action if they continue.”
Chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), Deborah Arnott who is known to be in favour of using safer tobacco alternatives for harm reduction, agrees with the Health Minister. “The legislation is very clear that advertising which has the effect of promoting tobacco products is illegal. That includes iQOS, just as it includes pipes used for smoking tobacco. It’s a barefaced cheek for Philip Morris to argue otherwise,” she said.
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