ROME – As of 2018, smokers wanting to buy cheap cigarettes at the Vatican will have to go looking somewhere else, since Pope Francis has decreed that the sale of tobacco will no longer be allowed inside the walled state.
“The reason is very simple,” said Vatican spokesperson Greg Burke, “the Holy See cannot contribute to an activity that clearly damages the health of people.”
In a statement Nov. 9, Burke cited statistics indicating the harmful effect of cigarette smoke.
Every year more than seven million people die in the world due to complications caused by smoking, according to the World Health Organization.
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