Tobacco.org

• Niconovum AB, Swedish Developer of Nicotine Replacement Therapy Products, to be Acquired by Reynolds American Inc.  

Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) has reached an agreement to purchase all outstanding shares of the Swedish-based nicotine replacement therapy company Niconovum AB for 310 million Swedish kronor, or approximately $44 million.

Niconovum markets innovative nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products under the Zonnic brand name in Sweden and Denmark. Its nicotine gum, mouth spray and pouches use proprietary technology for nicotine delivery.

"We believe the technology used in our Zonnic products better meets consumer preferences than other NRTs currently on the market," said Nils Siegbahn, president and chief executive officer of Niconovum. "With today's announcement, Niconovum will have access to the capital it needs to expand distribution of Zonnic to additional markets, and accelerate product refinements and new product development."

"Niconovum's products have great potential in meeting consumer demand and public health objectives," said Susan M. Ivey, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Reynolds American. "This acquisition extends the harm-reduction strategies RAI and its operating companies have been developing over the past several years.

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Ad Groups Band Together to Oppose Tobacco Advertising Restrictions  

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA), American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the American Advertising Federation (AAF) have filed a "friend of the court" brief regarding the constitutionality of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The motion was passed by Congress earlier this year and seeks to control, among other things, the way tobacco is advertised. Ultimately the goal is to prevent youth from picking up the habit.

"While the Act claims to be protecting children from tobacco advertising, its sweeping restrictions would impermissibly and unconstitutionally make it virtually impossible to advertise tobacco, a legal product, to adults," said Dan Jaffe, ANA Executive Vice President.

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Agencies support tobacco advertising reduction  

Several local organizations have signed policies supporting the removal of tobacco advertising at tobacco retailers and/or ceasing the sale of tobacco in supermarkets and pharmacies, according to Tobacco Free of Broome and Tioga.

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Сигареты выкуривают с улицы [Cigarette smoke from the street] 

The State Duma may prohibit selling cigarettes in the stalls. It is said in prepared to introduce the bill in December "On Restrictions on tobacco, which is available "Gazety.Ru". If accepted, the trade network in Russia will be able to receive up to $ 1 billion in additional revenue per year, estimated by experts.

The new version of the bill "On Restrictions on tobacco will be submitted to the Duma before the end of the year a group of members of various factions, among them United Russia Nikolai Gerasimenko, Vladimir Medina. The bill, which should replace the document in 2001, prepared during the year and the first time was ready for introduction in the spring, told several deputies - members of the working group for its development. "But then the law was blocked by the tobacco lobby on the level of harmonization in the legal department of the presidential administration" - said a source in the working group.

The main difference between the text of the current version was the first paragraph of Article 5. "Retail tobacco products in urban areas should be carried out in fixed trading sites that have commercial area of not less than 50 square meters, security alarm systems, safes for storage of documents and money", - reads the document.

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• ANA, 4As, AAF Fight Tobacco Act 

The Association of National Advertisers, the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the American Advertising Federation, filed a "friend of the court" brief in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

Filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on Monday (Nov. 30), the amicus brief contends that the Act violates the First Amendment by restricting free speech. . . .

"The sweeping restrictions would impermissibly and unconstitutionally make it virtually impossible to advertise tobacco, a legal product to adults," said Dan Jaffe, executive vp of the ANA. "This is the most restrictive advertising legislation ever passed."

The Act could also set a precedent to legislate other kinds of products that legislators deem should be protected from children, such as prescription drugs; alcohol; and R-rated movies, videogames and music.

"Censorship can become habit-forming. We have also seen proposals to ban or seriously restrict certain food ads and ads for prescription drug products. It is critically important for the advertising community to stand up for the First Amendment rights of all marketers, whenever they are threatened," Jaffe said.

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Attempt to buy $8,000 of cigarettes spurs forgery charges 

A Fairmount Heights man was charged Friday with attempted theft and several counts of forgery after he tried to use a counterfeit check to buy more than $8,000 worth of Newport cigarettes from a Waldorf Sam's Club, police said.

Sounds stupid, except that Nathaniel A. Stewart, 44, had tried the same scheme three times before and not been arrested, police said. Once, he successfully purchased more than $8,000 in smokes, they said.

"He was determined to get away with it," said Diane Richardson, a spokeswoman for the Charles County Sheriff's Office.

The scheme began Nov. 15, when Stewart walked into the Sam's Club on Crain Highway and tried to purchase Newport cigarettes with a $3,098.27 check, according to police charging documents. Store employees turned him away, police said. . . .

Federal law says it is illegal to possess more than 10,000 cigarettes "which bear no evidence of the payment of applicable State or local cigarette taxes." It is not clear whether Sam's Club broke any laws in selling such a large quantity to Stewart.

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Philip Morris Lawsuit; Photos of Counterfeit Marlboros 

Philip Morris USA is accusing 10 New York and New Jersey retailers of selling counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes.

Reyes Grocery Store and Sunny's Supermarket, in Newark, are among the defendants named in litigation brought by the tobacco company.

The Henrico County-based cigarette-maker has monitored retail markets for years to keep fake versions of its brands off store shelves.

Since May of this year, Philip Morris has filed 27 lawsuits alleging sales of counterfeit cigarettes by retailers in New York and New Jersey.

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Analysis - Smoke signals 

This spring, with equity markets plunging and bank results deep in the red, was probably not the best time for a banker to try giving up smoking – especially when that banker was Eric Daniels, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group.

But the stress that Mr Daniels felt then, as he grappled with his acquisition of the troubled HBOS and its vast portfolio of rapidly souring lending, was nothing compared with what he was about to go through. . . .

Sure enough, a few weeks ago, he buckled. Colleagues relate with amusement how their boss could be seen scurrying around the office, delving into drawers in which he had hidden stashes of cigarettes.

“Was there anything you wanted, Eric?” asked a bemused Tim Tookey, the bank’s finance director, after Mr Daniels burst into a meeting with financial advisers, rifled through a filing cabinet and headed for the door without uttering a word. The chief simply held up the packet of Marlboro Reds and smiled wryly.

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Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) Presents at Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference  

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE/Euronext Paris: PM) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Louis Camilleri, addresses investors today at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference in New York.

The presentation and Q&A session are being webcast live, in a listen-only mode, beginning at approximately 12 Noon Eastern Time at www.pmintl.com. An archived copy of the webcast, together with slides, will be available on the same site.

The presentation will include the following key highlights:

* The company reaffirmed its forecast for 2009 reported full-year diluted earnings per share of $3.20 to $3.25, stated in its third-quarter results on October 22, 2009, and announced it expects to be at the high end of the range. Excluding currency at the then prevailing exchange rates, diluted earnings per share are projected to increase by approximately 12%-14%;

* The company announced a new initiative to generate an additional $750 million to $1.0 billion in cash through improvements in working capital over the period 2010-2012;

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American Cancer Society, ENT and Allergy Associates Once Again Partner to Fight Smoking, Especially among Teens  

The American Cancer Society and ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP (ENTA) are once again teaming up to bring a strong and relevant anti-smoking message to teens and ENTA patients through a strategic partnership that includes outreach to local high schools and patient education.

"The most effective way for us to fight cancer is to partner with systems in our communities to reach the largest number of people possible," said Dee McCabe, Executive Vice President, American Cancer Society. "ENTA has been a great partner, reaches thousands of people a day, and truly is committed to improving health of their patients."

"At ENTA, we see far too many patients-each and every week-afflicted with cancer…so our partnership with the American Cancer Society allows us to educate people about the dangers of smoking, and point them toward smoking cessation and cancer prevention" said Dr. Wayne Eisman, President of ENT and Allergy Associates. "We are delighted to do everything we possibly can to help the ACS fight smoking, particularly among young people."

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No smoker bias locally 

While policies banning the hiring of smokers have been slowly gaining traction across the country, business leaders and major employers in Cumberland County say they don’t know of any local employers who have gone that far to crack down on nicotine use.

“Smoking at the job is one thing, but not being able to smoke in regular life is another issue,” said Jeff Palm, executive director of the Mechanicsburg Chamber of Commerce.

Last week, Williamsport-based Susquehanna Health System announced that it will now test prospective employees for nicotine when they apply for jobs.

Beginning Jan. 1, the health system, which consists of Williamsport, Divine Providence and Muncy Valley hospitals, will no longer be hiring smokers. . . .

Tracy Pawelski, a spokeswoman for Giant Food Stores, one of the largest employers in Cumberland County, said the chain bases its hiring decisions on the applicant’s “knowledge and experience.”

“Smoking is not a consideration in that process,” Pawelski said, adding that Giant has smoking cessation programs available to associates who are looking for help quitting.

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Attack on Tobacco 

Smokers are huffing and businesses fuming over a controversial new proposal to drastically reduce the number of stores in San Francisco that can sell cigarettes.

Since 2003, retailers selling tobacco products in San Francisco have had to apply for a special permit. The permitting process helps the city keep track of sellers and crack down on those vending to minors, officials said.

But now there are too many permits citywide—particularly in low-income neighborhoods—according to city officials and anti-tobacco advocates, who have created legislation that would greatly reduce the number of stores that sell tobacco, reports the San Francisco Examiner.

An initial proposal imposes a cap of 35 permits for each of the 11 supervisor districts—385 total in the city. That is a more than two-thirds reduction from the 1,097 stores currently selling tobacco products citywide, acccording to the newspaper.

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Apple Refuses to Fix Smokers' Computers, Suggest Customers 

Apple reportedly refused to fix a few customers' Macs, arguing that the owners' smoking around the machines made the electronics a bio-hazard to Apple employees. Whether or not Apple's technicians were truly at risk, photos and comments from the online community suggest that smoking around desktops and laptops can indeed physically damage the insides of the devices. . . .

Apocryphal evidence from the online community suggests that smoking around a laptop or desktop does indeed have an effect on the machine's innards.

"My sister smokes & her PC was starting to do strange things, so she dropped the thing off to me," one commenter wrote on the Consumerist message forums. "I opened up the case, and it looked like sticky-poop looking muck all over the PC--on top of the processor heat sink (just under the fan) was a layer of this muck."

"You can always tell when people smoke by their computers," wrote another on the same forum. "The dirt is not a light dust [that's] more common with pet owners, [it's] a heavy sticky dust that sometimes even an air compressor has a hard time getting rid of."

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Outrage after tobacco company nominated 

Anti-smoking groups say they are outraged at the inclusion of British American Tobacco (BAT) in a best workplace competition.

BAT's participation in the JRA Best Workplace Awards, where it was a finalist in the small to medium workplace category, was a cynical corporate social responsibility stunt, said Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) director Ben Youdan. . . .

JRA managing director John Robertson said BAT was a finalist based on its employee feedback.

"The selection process does not involve any subjective judgment or contribution by JRA," he said.

It was not JRA's place to make a value judgment on the business activities of any of our participants, he said.

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Smith wants to limit tobacco sale outlets  

A Buffalo councilman wants to clamp down on the sale of tobacco products within city limits.

Masten Council Member Demone Smith claims that the number of smokers is higher in Buffalo than elsewhere in the state, "in part because of the predatory marketing practices of the tobacco industry," whose advertisements often target children. He proposes limiting "the number of licensed tobacco selling outlets" allowed to operate in the city.

The resolution was unwrapped Thursday during the opening of "Your Cancer and Drug Store," a Buffalo Museum of Science exhibit that mocks cigarette makers. The event coincided with the 34th Great American Smokeout, the American Cancer Society's annual effort to discourage tobacco use.

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