Tobacco.org

• CABE: Going up without the smoke 

Need a nicotine hit? Want to beat the smoking ban? A smokeless cigarette could be the answer, for the long - or short - haul. Just be prepared for some funny looks, writes ROSEMARY Mac CABE . . .

Ryanair now sells the other most popular type, in the form of Similar smokeless cigarettes.

Ryanair's head of communications, Stephen McNamara, says the product was introduced due to customer demand. "Some passengers can find it stressful to spend long journeys without a cigarette so we introduced the product based on customer feedback and to cater to passenger demand. It seemed a logical step to introduce a product that could provide smokers with relief from nicotine withdrawal. . . .

I spent a day with Ryanair's Similar branded smokeless cigarettes: a packet of 10, purchased for €6 on board a Ryanair flight, to see how it feels to smoke on the right side of the law.

The first thing I notice is that they smell, to all intents and purposes, like what one's mother might call "sucky sweets" - irrefutably better than mainstream cigarettes, albeit slightly strange. They feel like real cigarettes and, crucially, they look like them. . . .

Smoking a cigarette that looks like a cigarette, acts like a cigarette but neither tastes nor feels like a cigarette (while giving you more nicotine than a cigarette) seems an odd choice.

Jump to full article »

• Airports not for tobacco ban 

CHANGI Airport has put its weight behind a global airports group opposing a World Health Organisation (WHO) proposal to ban the sale of duty-free tobacco products on airport premises.

The Airports Council International (ACI), which groups 1,679 airports worldwide, including Changi, maintains that this move will hurt airport earnings, as well as penalise the travelling public.

The issue surfaced at the group's annual meeting recently, in response to suggestions made by the WHO that such a ban would stem the illegal trade in tobacco products.

Member airports agree that they will not stand for such a ban and will work with their respective governments to protect the interests of passengers and the rights of airports and retailers.

This was one of several resolutions approved at the end of the ACI's two-day gathering in Kuala Lumpur last week.

Jump to full article »

• Hail envisages tobacco ban; airport complaints renewed 

The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs in Hail is considering banning the sale of tobacco products at food stores in residential areas of the city as part of plans to discourage young people from smoking.

The Chairman of the Municipal Council in Hail, Turki Al-Dhab’an, said the considerations come in the light of recommendations from a study proposing the designation of specific outlets and licenses for the sale of tobacco.

The move, which could be finalized at the council’s meeting before being referred to Prince Mit’eb Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, and his Deputy Prince Mansour Bin Mit’eb Bin Abdul Aziz, would see strict regulations put in place on shopkeepers.

“Shops in breach of the regulations could be shut down by the Environmental Health Department and given large fines,” Al-Dhab’an said. . . .

Calls have been renewed, meanwhile, to enforce the smoking ban at the Kingdom’s airports, with pilgrims and doctors lamenting the failure to see laws that go back as far as 1973 in place on the ground.

Pilgrim Muhammed Al-Jahdli described the sight of tobacco advertising in public places as “annoying”.

“It’s particularly irritating for pilgrims who come from all over the world and the first thing they see when they come out of the airport is these adverts everywhere,” Al-Jahdali said.

“They have banned cigarettes in Makkah and the vicinity so they should also ban them in airports which receive millions of pilgrims,” he said.

Jump to full article »

• Ryanair to allow passengers to 'smoke' onboard with Similar Smokeless Cigarettes  

Ryanair, the World’s favourite airline, today (20th Sept) announced that smokers no longer have to worry about long flights without a cigarette as it launches a new range of Smokeless Cigarettes to ensure passengers get their required nicotine hit without breaking the law by ‘lighting up’ onboard their aircraft.

In a recent survey over 24,000 Ryanair passengers said they would like to smoke during flights. . . .

Ryanair’s new Similar Smokeless Cigarettes are available to passengers over 18 years of age and are sold in packs of 10 onboard all Ryanair flights for just €6. Similar Smokeless Cigarettes contain no toxins or chemicals and are harmless to the user and to those around them. . . .

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said, . . . As these cigarettes are smokeless they cause no discomfort to other passengers and can ensure a more enjoyable and stress free flight for all passengers as non-smokers will no longer have to cope with moody smokers in need of nicotine.”

Smokeless Director Chris Parsons said,

“Yet another first for Ryanair – now it’s also the smokers’ favourite airline.”

Jump to full article »

Yet another first for Ryanair – now it’s also the smokers’ favourite airline.
Similar Smokeless Cigarettes Director Chris Parsons.

• Ryanair to introduce smokeless 'cigarettes'  

“SMOKELESS” CIGARETTES which look like the real thing but do not have to be lit to provide nicotine to the user, are to be introduced by Ryanair. . . .

The new Similar Smokeless Cigarettes are available to passengers over 18 years of age and are sold in packs of 10 on board all of the company’s flights for €6.

A company statement said they contained no toxins or chemicals and were harmless to the user and to those around them.

Jump to full article »

As these cigarettes are smokeless they cause no discomfort to other passengers and can ensure a more enjoyable and stress-free flight for all passengers, as non-smokers will no longer have to cope with moody smokers in need of nicotine.
Stephen McNamara, spokesman for Ryanair, which will begin selling the new "Similar Smokeless Cigarettes" on its flights.

• Ryanair allowing passengers to puff on 'smokeless' cigarettes during flights  

Ryanair is allowing passengers to puff on "smokeless" cigarettes during flights.

Cabin staff on short-haul services sell the devices - which can be legally smoked in public places - at £6 for a pack of 10. . . .

A passenger said: "The stewards were brandishing the packs as they walked down the aisle. No one bought any."

Martin Dockrell, from Action on Smoking and Health, said: "Our concern with these products is that there isn't much evidence as to their safety."

Jump to full article »

• Ryanair's Pro-"Smoking" Policy  

Ryanair is letting passengers smoke "cigarettes" on their planes.

These "cigarettes" are considered "smokeless" and Ryanair is allowing passengers to suck away on these bad boys. The airplane cigs do not contain tobacco--but they do contain nicotine, and they've got a Hollywood-style "water vapor" effect to mime the smoke that would normally trail the cigarette. Where do you get these not-quite-bubblegum, not-quite real smokes? From the Ryanair flight attendants of course. Not surprisingly, they're not that popular among passengers, perhaps because they sell for about $17 per pack of 10. Ryanair, I don't like your style, but I do like your hustle.

Jump to full article »

• E-cigs look, act and feel like real ones - but no tobacco smoke 

Although the battery-powered cigs don't produce tobacco smoke, should users be banned from "vaping" in restaurants and airplanes? Just where can you vape, as the lingo calls vapor inhaling?

That's a sticky point, and the etiquette is far from settled.

For anyone buying e-cigs, consider yourself a bit illicit. E-cigarettes inhabit a legal gray area. The Food and Drug Administration recently blocked some e-cig imports, and officials want to halt sales. At least three makers sell them online, and one maker sells in Tampa malls. . . .

Jason Healy, president of the e-cigarette company Blu, said he regularly uses his product on airlines, including Quantas, American Airlines and Southwest.

"I just show it to the flight attendants, explain it, and they're usually fine," Healy said.

Since launching online sales in April, Blu, based in Charlotte, N.C., has sold more than 22,000 starter kits.

That kind of success bothers anti-smoking advocates.

"They're just another way the tobacco industry has found to target addicts for a profit," said Gary Stein, tobacco programs coordinator for the Hillsborough County Health Department. . . .

Southwest Airlines officials toyed with allowing e-cigarettes on planes and listened to presentations two years ago by at least one e-cigarette maker hoping the airline would allow them.

Southwest decided on a policy against them, said spokeswoman Marlee McInnis.

"We have made it clear we do not accept them," she said. "We definitely don't want people concerned about them."

Jump to full article »

• 30 lashes for smoking on plane  

A SUDANESE man has been sentenced to 30 lashes for smoking on a domestic Saudi Arabian Airlines flight, local media reported today.

The unnamed man had refused to put out his cigarette on the flight to the Red Sea port city of Jeddah from Qurayyat in northern Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Gazette said.

Jump to full article »

• Where to smoke at U.S. airports  

These days, you can shop, eat, drink, and get an internet connection at pretty much every U.S. airport. At many airports, you can also get a massage, a manicure, a haircut, a pint of micro-brewed beer or a glass of fine wine. But to the dismay of some, and the delight of others, there are fewer and fewer airports where you can smoke a cigarette without being forced to exit security and stand outside on the curb.

That's as it should be, says Bronson Frick of the non-profit Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights group: "Smoke-free air is now the norm in most airports and people expect it." But to frequent travelers like Rebecca Argenti, it's a pain in the butt . . .

Argenti would have appreciated the post-security outdoor patios that Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) used to have in two of its terminals. But an amendment to the anti-smoking laws in California a few years back forced the airport to close the patios and the enclosed smoking area at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. However, there are still more than a dozen U.S. airports that have post-security smoking spots. Argenti and others just need to sniff them out.

Airports with smoking lounges

The nation's busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, has two smoking lounges on every concourse except Concourse E, where smoking is permitted in Sojourner's Restaurant. . . .

Smokers, have we missed any places? Share your other smoking spots at airports below.

Jump to full article »

• EDITORIAL: Snuff that e-cigarette! 

Kiosks at Portland-area shopping malls have begun hawking "electronic cigarettes" as a dubious answer to Oregon's newly expanded workplace smoking ban.

The "e-cigarettes," also known as "e-cigs," are nicotine-delivery devices that involve no tobacco and no smoke. Thus they're legal in bars, bingo halls and restaurant lounges where smoking is now newly banned in Oregon, although some establishments probably won't welcome them. . . .

But it isn't smoke. It's vaporized nicotine and other chemicals that the World Health Organization says could be dangerous. . . .

A salesman at the kiosk at Washington Square was overheard last week telling prospective customers the product was perfectly legal to use on airplanes. . . .

In our view, the FDA should test and regulate "e-cigarettes" no matter how they're marketed. Nobody knows exactly what chemicals the Chinese manufacturers are putting in the liquid in those cartridges, and nobody in their right mind should be inhaling them.

But, hey. Isn't the same thing true of real cigarettes?

The good news is that support is building in Congress for FDA regulation of tobacco products.

Jump to full article »

• Taiwan bans smoking in all indoor public areas 

Taiwanese authorities on Sunday banned smoking in all indoor public places in what campaigners say is a "milestone" in turning Taiwan into a smoke-free island.

Smoking had previously been banned in public areas including hospitals, schools, theatres, libraries, office buildings and elevators.

Under the new law, it is banned in all other public facilities such as hotels, restaurants, karaoke bars, Internet cafes and roofed transport stations.

Those caught lighting up in smoke-free facilities will face fines of up to 10,000 Taiwan dollars (300 US dollars).

"The new law is a milestone in making Taiwan a smoke-free country," said Lin Ching-li, spokeswoman for the non-profit John Tung Foundation, one of the lobbying groups behind the campaign.

Airports have closed their smoking rooms and local air carriers are barred from voluntarily selling cigarettes to passengers during flights under the new law.

Jump to full article »

• Switzerland's stinky city  

There has to be some reason why it's impossible to find anywhere to dine, drink or even enjoy a concert without going home stinking of cigarette or cigar smoke.

Coming out of Zurich airport to the hotel shuttle buses, the first thing that hits you is cigarette smoke. And throughout an entire trip, it keeps on hitting you. . . .

For Zurich is almost like last man standing when it comes to banning smoking.

Restaurants, bars, taxis, hotel lobbies are all muggy. We were unable to find a restaurant that even had a no-smoking area. . . .

For companies, the failure of Zurich - and other cities that are out of line with the increasingly global approach to smoking - there is a compliance hazard. How long is it before an employee claims that he cannot go to a city where he is forced to sit in smoke to eat or socialise with clients because it is a health hazard and covered by health and safety at work provisions?

Jump to full article »

• JTI opens three Munich lounges  

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) is installing airport smoking lounges and areas at Munich Airport in Germany. This week JTI inaugurated three smoking lounges, a Camel Plaza and six smoking corners at Munich International Airport. Other airports that JTI is working with include Athens, Bali, Moscow, Zurich, Kiev, Ho Chi Minh City, Casablanca, Marrakech, Frankfurt, Agadir and Geneva.

"I think this new facility will be applauded by many people travelling from or via Munich, both smokers and non smokers," says Fadoul Pekhazis, JTI's president Middle East, near East, Turkey, Africa and Worldwide Duty Free. "JTI pioneered the concept of smoking lounges and smoking stations in 2003." . . .

By the end of 2008, JTI will have locations in 15 international airports with 46 lounges, 70 smoking cabins and over 60 smoking stations.

Pekhazis adds, "This is a win-win solution for all parties. The smoking public is looked after, non-smokers are not annoyed by tobacco smoke and the airport provides an excellent service to travellers."

Jump to full article »

• 50 lashes for smoker on Saudia 

DAMMAM – The Summary Court in the Eastern Province has sentenced a man to 50 lashes for smoking on board non-smoking Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA) flight from Dammam to Riyadh.

The man kept puffing his cigarette ignoring repeated warnings from flight attendants to stop. His smoking also set off the smoke alarm, causing panic among passengers.

Jump to full article »