Unsmoke
To ‘Unsmoke‘ means to rid smoke from your life. The act of unsmoking unites smokers and nonsmokers who want to Unsmoke themselves, family and friends. The best way to Unsmoke is to quit cigarettes and nicotine completely, but if you don’t quit, then what? Why should Australian adult smokers be denied access to less harmful alternatives that are helping others around the world give up smoking?
If you don’t smoke, don’t start.
If you smoke, quit.
If you don’t quit, then what?
Unsmoke.
All around the world, adult smokers are abandoning smoking in record numbers and switching to smoke-free products that are a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.
As a company, we’re ready to give up cigarettes for good and transition to a smoke-free future.
But in Australia, we can’t even begin that journey, because the law doesn’t give adult smokers the ability to easily access less harmful alternatives.
Smoke-free products (such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn) aren’t without risk, but they are less harmful to smokers as they do not produce smoke or contain tar.
They are not for people who have never smoked or already quit – it’s about providing a real alternative for smokers who don’t quit.
Quitting smoking and using smoke-free alternatives could help smokers live longer, and improve the health of their family and friends who would otherwise be exposed to passive smoking.
What’s needed is government policy and regulation that supports smokers to use less harmful smoke-free alternatives as part of their efforts to quit smoking.
In places like the United States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand where smoke-free alternatives are legal, smoking rates have declined as smokers have moved to less harmful smoke-free alternatives and quit smoking altogether.
If the government regulated smoke-free alternatives to encourage smokers to quit smoking for good, Australia could reduce its smoking rate to near-zero by 2030.
As a company, we’re ready to do our part.
Together, we can make cigarettes history.
It’s time to change the law.
It’s time to unsmoke our world.
Key questions
answered
What does Unsmoke mean?
To unsmoke is to rid smoke from your life. It unites smokers and nonsmokers alike who want to 'unsmoke' themselves, family and friends. The best way is to quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether, but if you don't quit, then what? Millions of smokers around the world are giving up cigarettes and switching to less harmful alternatives. Australians are denied that option.
Why launch this campaign now?
Why not? Why didn’t we do it sooner?! There is an urgent need for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke to have access to less harmful alternatives to cigarettes and information about them. The science and technology is here. We don’t want to wait for tomorrow. Under the current laws, however, we’re forced to.
Why has Philip Morris International launched Unsmoke Your World?
Unsmoke is an initiative from Philip Morris International (PMI) to speed up a dramatic positive change in public health. It aims to reinforce the message to smokers that the best choice they can make is to quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether. But it recognises that many won’t and believes adult smokers should have the opportunity to switch to less harmful alternatives than cigarettes, especially since such alternatives are helping people give up smoking around the world.
What are alternatives to continued cigarette smoking?
There are many smoke-free alternatives, for example, e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and snus.
E-cigarettes heat liquids (that usually contain nicotine) instead of tobacco to create a vapor that is inhaled.
Heated tobacco devices heat tobacco to a temperature well below its burning point, releasing a nicotine vapor (and tobacco-like flavors) that is inhaled.
Snus is a smokeless tobacco product made from ground-up tobacco usually enclosed in a small pouch. It is placed between the gum and the lip.
Are smoke-free alternatives a better choice to continued smoking?
Cigarettes burn tobacco and produce smoke, which contains more than 6,000 chemicals, around 100 of which have been linked to smoking-related diseases.
Because smoke-free products don’t burn, they don’t create smoke—and therefore their aerosols contain much lower levels of the harmful and potentially harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke.
Of course, it is a matter of scientific assessment of each particular product to see if this is actually the case. Smoke-free alternatives are only for adult smokers who would otherwise continue smoking.
They are not risk-free and contain nicotine which is addictive. The best choice any smoker can make is to quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether.
Are smoke-free alternatives regulated?
Increasingly, public health bodies such as Public Health England, the World Health Organisation, the United States Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health NZ, and more are acknowledging the potential of smoke-free products for public health. However, in many countries such as Australia, the regulations make it difficult for smokers to have access to and information about them. Quitting smoking is always best; but for those who don’t quit, then what? Shouldn’t Australian adult smokers have the option of switching to scientifically-substantiated, less harmful alternatives?
How to choose a smoke-free alternative:
The best thing is to quit smoking and nicotine use altogether. Those who don’t quit should have access to and information about products that are less harmful alternatives to continued smoking. These products should be backed by science to ensure smokers don’t go back to cigarettes.
Currently, the law in Australia prevents adult smokers from accessing, or even learning more about these products because they cannot legally be sold in the country, despite being less harmful.