Tobacco CEO brags that business is looking like the 'old days' - and the industry is delighted

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Reuters/John Sommers II

The tobacco industry is in better shape.

The CEO of a major tobacco company says her industry is enjoying a return to the "old days."

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Reynolds American CEO Susan Cameron told Bloomberg that profits in her industry are rising after recent court decisions that made it more difficult for smokers to sue.

This could lead to more foreign tobacco companies pursuing American customers, Cameron told Duane Stanford at Bloomberg.

"The global tobacco players over time will be more interested in the US, just like the old days before it all changed," Cameron said.

She said her company is investing in e-cigarettes, which offer nicotine in a vapor and are supposed to be healthier than the paper alternative.

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About 18% of US adults are current cigarette smokers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Philip Morris International, parent company of the Marlboro brand, is under fire for pushing tobacco products onto teens.

The company hosts "Be Marlboro" parties in 60 countries outside the US.

Philip Morris maintains it only advertises to adults who are of legal smoking age. "We do not market to children or use images that are aimed at or have particular appeal to minors," its website says.

You can sign a petition to stop Marlboro, and these parties, here.

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