On this date the beast will be loose - Philip Morris International (PMI)..

March 28, 2008 - On this date the beast will be loose - Philip Morris International (PMI).. Bonnie Herzog, a tobacco analyst at Citigroup: The move would free the tobacco giant's international operations of legal and public-relations headaches in the U.S. that have hindered its growth. “It allows PMI to become much more free to pursue growth opportunities.” With Philip Morris International and other multinational tobacco companies aggressively introducing new products and increasingly targeting the developing world, Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventive death. Cigarettes are the only consumer product which when used as directed kills its consumers. ( Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General, WHO 1998-2003) Epidemiologist Sir Richard Peto warned that developing countries were "sitting on a time bomb" of deaths due to tobacco consumption. (BMJ 1995; 311:1321) The tobacco death toll could reach one billion this century. The new PMI - the merchants of death will be more aggressive than ever before. Some related news briefs concerned with the spin-off: March 12, 2008, March 9, 2008, February28, 2008, February 12, 2008, February 7, 2008, January 30, 2008, January 29, 2008, January 24, 2008, December 10, 2007, September 28, 2007, August 30, 2007 and April 20, 2007. Philip Morris International acquires Swedish SNUS manufacturer Rocker Production AB... (TobaccoWatch.org)