(Reuters) Philip Morris International Inc (PM.N) plans next year to enter the electronic cigarette business, a $2 billion plus global market identified by the maker of Marlboro cigarettes as its “greatest growth opportunity”.

Speaking to investors in New York, Philip Morris Chief Executive Andre Calantzopoulos said the company would enter the e cigarette business in the second half of 2014 to tap fast growing demand for a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.

The world’s largest listed tobacco company will launch a new range of products, called “Reduced Risk”, Calantzopoulos said at a conference. The company, which sells to countries outside the United States, will also spend more on research and development.

“2014 will be a key investment year behind our Reduced Risk products, our greatest growth opportunity in the years to come,” he said.

Market consultant Euromonitor estimates the world market for electronic cigarettes was more than $2 billion last year, with the United States accounting for a quarter of that.

The market is growing at breakneck speed. Some analysts predict e smokes could outsell conventional cigarettes within a decade, particularly as Big Tobacco grapples with declining sales due to government regulation and health aware consumers.

Yet e cigarettes battery powered metal tubes that turn nicotine laced liquid into vapor are far from universally accepted as a public health tool.

Regulators are agonizing over whether to restrict them as “gateway” products to nicotine addiction and tobacco smoking, or embrace them as treatments for would be quitters.

A big issue is the lack of long term scientific evidence to support the safety and effectiveness of e cigarettes, prompting critics like the British Medical Association (BMA) to warn of the dangers of their unregulated use.

CELEBRITY E SMOKERS

Celebrity endorsements from Courtney Love, Leonardo DiCaprio and others have provided further inducement to the makers of iconic cigarette brands to invest.

Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT.L), the world’s No. 4 international tobacco company, has announced plans to launch two electronic cigarettes in fiscal 2014.

Lorillard (LO.N), known for its Newport and Kent cigarette brands, paid $135 million to acquire Blu Ecigs in 2012 and last month acquired Britain based e cigarette maker SKYCIG.

Other leading tobacco companies, including British American Tobacco (BATS.L) and Camel cigarette maker Reynolds American (RAI.N), are also placing their bets on e smokes.

Philip Morris said on Wednesday it estimated the retail sales value of the eight largest e cigarette markets worldwide at around $2.5 billion, with nearly half outside the United States and China.

Philip Morris also raised its full year earnings forecast to $5.37 $5.42 per share from $5.35 $5.40, citing a reduced impact from unfavorable exchange rates.

Analysts on average were expecting Philip Morris to earn $5.39 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company’s shares were down 2.5 percent at $89.18 on Wednesday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Writing by Robin Paxton Editing by Kirti Pandey and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Marlboro m? philip morris marlboro marijuana cigarettes ‘report’ is a hoax

Ace discount cigarettes – òàáà÷íûé ìàãàçèí

An article titled Phillip Morris Introduces Marlboro Marijuana Cigarettes is from a satirical news website, but that didn t prevent numerous people from sharing it on Facebook as if it were a real thing.

Norcik added that they have begun contacting former drug lords in Mexico and Paraguay, currently the largest marijuana producing countries in the world, for the possibility of setting up a distribution ring across the North and South American continents, to streamline the supply lines, the article reads, while also spelling “Philip Morris” incorrectly.

On the bottom of the article from the website Abril Uno it reads fake news, fictional news as well as satire, spoof.

Abril Uno. All rights reserved. Abril Uno (April One, or April Fools in English) is a satire, parody and spoof web publication. Abril Uno uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases where public figures or companies are being satirized, parodied or spoofed. Any resemblance to the truth, actual events, actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and is intended purely as a satire, parody or spoof, reads a disclaimer at the bottom of the site.

There s other satirical pieces including “Bin Laden s Lair Now a Tourist Attraction, even though the slain al Qaeda leader s home was destroyed years ago, and Facebook Discontinues Fan Pages Users Will Soon Pay to See Friends Posts, which isn t true.

But a large number of people thought the marijuana article was real.

This story is so ignorant it hurts!!! I was quit interested until I got to the part where it told about Phillip Morris being in contact with former drug lords for a possible distribution ring&#8230 .OMG!!! said one commenter.

Added another, Damn I called this in 01&#8242 .

Several weeks ago, a satire site called the Daily Currant posted an article about marijuana in Colorado killing several dozen people, which many people shared and tweeted, getting more than 1.5 million “likes” on Facebook.