Does smoking cause human disease?
Imperial Tobacco believes that no cigarette is safe, and operates its business on the basis that smoking may cause human disease. The risks associated with smoking are well known, and we believe that adults should be allowed to choose whether or not to smoke. We recognise that it is the role of governments to provide the general public with clear and consistent messages about the health risks to smokers that are associated with their smoking. We do not challenge those messages. There have been more than fifty years of intensive medical and scientific research into tobacco smoking and health. Statistics show that smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop lung cancer and certain other diseases. This conclusion is derived from epidemiological studies, which are questionnaire-based observations of populations or groups of people. These studies have shown that smoking is associated with several diseases and have led public health authorities to conclude that smoking is a cause of
