Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) NZ is calling on the government to end its investment in tobacco companies immediately.

“It is vital that the crown entities divest from tobacco companies. These companies are manufacturing and selling a product that kills 50 percent of their best customers,” says Sneha Paul, ASH Spokesperson.

David May, chair of the Board of Guardians that oversees the Super Fund said in a recent Listener interview, that they (Super Fund), “have decided it’s not our position to make that moral judgement.”

ASH NZ believes that it is irresponsible to use the moral argument to justify investing in a product that kills.

“Tobacco is a unique product in the marketplace. It is the only product that kills when used exactly as the manufacturer intends,” say Ms Paul.

The only ethical solution to this problem is to divest.

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