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.

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OfficialWire: Government Approved Lab Finds E Cigarettes Are Much Safer Than Tobacco Cigarettes 

LPD Services, a U.K. based lab that is fully accredited has submitted the results of its findings on the Gamucci line of e-cigarettes. As most have suspected, the lab indicated that the electronic cigarette is much safer than traditional tobacco cigarettes.

There have been several reports from highly credible labs around the world on the e cigarette. One from South Africa, New Zealand, the U.K. and several others that are high profile in nature and performed by stout anti-smoking advocates that believe in harm reduction. All of these labs came back with the same result: the e cigarette is many times safer than traditional tobacco cigarettes.

There seems to be an air of change on the horizon concerning the e cigarette with strong lab results supporting claims of a smarter and safer choice over the tobacco cigarette. Top anti-smoking advocates like Dr Murray Laugesen, who has been the recipient of top awards from the World Health Organization in his fight against the harm of tobacco, supports the e cigarette.

Professor Michael Siegel is a doctor also and another strong advocate for harm reduction

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ASH in UK Comes Clean on Electronic Cigarette Health Debate 

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) In their October briefing, ASH in the United Kingdom has released a favorable position on electronic cigarettes which is nearly 180 degrees to the position ASH in the United States has taken.

ASH's UK Position on E-cigarettes

"ASH supports a harm reduction approach to tobacco, that is, we recognize that whilst efforts to help people stop smoking should remain a priority, many people either do not wish to stop smoking or find it very hard to do so. For this group, we believe that products should be made available that deliver nicotine in a safe way, without the harmful components found in tobacco. Most of the diseases associated with smoking are caused by inhaling smoke which contains thousands of toxic chemicals. By contrast, nicotine is relatively safe. Therefore, e-cigarettes, which deliver nicotine without the harmful toxins found in tobacco smoke, are likely to be a safer alternative to smoking. In addition, e-cigarettes reduce secondhand smoke exposure since they do not produce smoke."

Kyle Newton of eCigarettesChoice.com is elated at the release. "This is the second piece of good news for the E cigarette industry this week. The first was Governor Schwarzenegger's refusal to ban E cigarettes in California. It is a David vs. Goliath battle for us against organizations that are well-funded by companies who stand to lose a huge market share to the E cigarette."

On the other side of the big pond, ASH, USA has hammered the electronic cigarette industry unmercifully in its public claims against the product. But throughout this entire finger pointing, they have failed to produce any scientific research which tested the electronic cigarette and could trump the positive data "real" tobacco researchers have published.

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As Smoking Rates Rise, Electronic Cigarettes Offer Viable Alternative to Harmful Combustible Tobacco 

The Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA) today urged decision-makers to seek alternatives to combustible tobacco that reduce Americans' exposure to the multitude of harmful chemicals and toxins found in cigarettes. His remarks came in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study released last week showing that smoking rates among U.S. adults have risen for the first time since 1994.

"We applaud the valiant campaigns designed to encourage people to quit smoking and urge that federal, state, and local governments continue to warn people about this unhealthy and deadly habit," said ECA President Matt Salmon. "However, we also believe, given the CDC data, that harm-reduction strategies are desperately needed to reduce smokers' exposure to the thousands of harmful chemicals and toxins that are delivered through combustible cigarettes."

Salmon said that electronic cigarettes, battery-operated products that deliver an inhalable nicotine vapor

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Electronic Cigarettes - Free Trial E-Cig Helps Surge Popularity 

Electronic cigarettes are very quickly gaining in popularity throughout the United States. These relatively new inventions are becoming a common item in the smoking community these last few months. The heavy spark of interest coming from the media concerning these products is most likely because of the surge in popularity. Although electronic cigarettes (or electric cigarettes or e-cigarettes) have been around for a few years, it has taken them a little longer to catch on in the United States.

So what is an electronic cigarette? An e-cigarette is a device that is used to simulate smoking and give users the same look and feel of a traditional tobacco smoke, but doesn’t contain tar, tobacco, ash, or even the nasty smell. Users of these revolutionary inventions are stating that they taste extremely similar to their deadly counterparts.

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• Physicians Urge FDA to Justify Condemnation of E-Cigarettes 

"We urge FDA to make public the laboratory data behind the July 22 condemnation of electronic cigarettes, along with comparable data on pharmaceutical nicotine products and conventional cigarettes. Then, on the basis of these data, either fully justify or retract the July 22 condemnation of electronic cigarettes," says Joel L. Nitzkin, Chair of the American Association of Public Health Physicians Tobacco Control Task Force in a letter to the FDA.

The letter specifically targets the new tobacco legislation that passed through Congress this summer which gives the FDA power to regulate tobacco products in the United States and notes that the success rate of current smokers who attempt to quit by using pharmaceutical aids is as low as 5%. Making smokers more aware of less harmful alternatives, snus and e-cigarettes included, could significantly reduce the amount of smokers who die due to tobacco-related illnesses.

"Contrary to prevailing conventional wisdom, virtually all the heart and lung disease from conventional cigarettes, and an estimated 98% of the cancer mortality, are due to direct inhalation of fresh products of combustion deep into the lung. Our best estimate (based on the work of Pankow et al and others) is that only about 2% of the cancer mortality from cigarettes is from the named carcinogens commonly found in tobacco products," says the letter. The FDA's study in July found miniscule amounts of carcinogens in a few e-cigarette cartridges, but failed to provide any data on the amount of those same carcinogens in pharmaceutical nicotine products.

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Hey, Got a Light? 

The trade group that is supporting e-cigarette manufacturers in court estimates that an e-cig kit costing a little less than $100 can last a former pack-a-day cigarette smoker ten days.

There's none of this with an electric, smokeless cigarette. But its makers assert that smokers get the same sensation.

The industry maintains that smokeless cigarettes are not stop-smoking devices, even though many e-cig users say they almost miraculously helped them end or reduce their smoking habits.

But several states and the federal Food and Drug Administration insist that nicotine is nicotine – addictive and subject to their control.

The music industry can't be happy about e-cigs, either. If sales keep growing, popular song lyrics like Smoke Gets in Your Eyes won't work any more.

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An end run on smoking ban  

“I don’t think he had a clue what it was,” the 21-year-old said. “But he was not cool with it.”

The white, cylindrical device looks like a real one, but it runs on a lithium battery and produces a steam-like mist that looks like real smoke. The e-cigarette uses no tobacco; rather, it atomizes liquid nicotine, producing a vapor that is drawn into the lungs.

Because the product’s manufacturers — including the brand Ruyan, sold at the Coralville Tobacco Outlet — claim the e-cigarettes have none of the harmful chemicals found in the smoke of other tobacco products, Iowans can use the device in areas deemed “smoke-free” by the Iowa Smokefree Air Act.

And that’s why Fischels splurged on one, at a cost of $60 online. With his new instrument, he can get his nicotine fix legally in places where smoking is prohibited, including his workplace, the movie theater, and his apartment. . . .

But Tim Hopper, a bartender and manager at DC’s, 124 S. Dubuque St., said he would be more wary if he saw someone exhaling a smoke-like haze.

“I don’t think we would allow it,” he said, pointing out that if patrons saw someone smoking an e-cigarette, they might be prompted to spark up real ones. “It’d put out the wrong idea.”

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Electronic Cigarettes Proven To Be Widely Accepted Across UK Pubs And Clubs 

The smoking ban has forced UK smokers into a supermarket culture. Preferring to buy ingredients in and have social gatherings at houses where they can smoke freely. It is strongly believed though that mass acceptance of electronic cigarettes into the hospitality industry has seen 65% of lost trade returning instantly and the rest will return within 2 years.

Harvard doctors recently backed electronic cigarettes from cheapelectroniccigarettes.co.uk and ASH UK (Anti Smoking and Health Organisation – Ash.org.uk) have also released that they approve of the benefits that electronic cigarettes can potentially bring.

Electronic Cigarettes are revolutionary devices which do not breach smoking bans as it involves no ignition or burning of tobacco.

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Twitter Brings Massive Traffic to Popular E Cigarette Company 

Many companies are aggressively marketing their sites through the Twitter medium while some companies seem to be benefiting from the service with no effort at all.

There are a few sites and products on the internet that do not need some glam or slick marketing schemes to make use of Twitter. Just being what they are can create all of the buzz that is needed for a steady supply of visitors and consumers eager to get in on the craze.

E Cigarettes National, a company that sells e-cigarettes out of Florida, has claimed that they are seeing a tremendous increase in traffic from the popular site. "At first, we thought it was just loyal clients telling neighbors, family, and friends about us," states Tiffany Ellis of E Cigarettes National. "But after further investigation, we came to the conclusion that it was people on Twitter spreading the word about our main site, our blog and press releases that we had put out in the past."

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• Proposal would extend UF smoking ban to Greeks  

The University of Florida's tobacco ban would apply to fraternities and sororities when it takes effect next year, under a proposal released Wednesday by the university.

UF banned tobacco use in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium starting this season and on the property of health-related facilities starting Nov. 1. A university-wide ban is planned for July 1.

The proposed regulation, which is scheduled to be considered next month by UF trustees, would prohibit smoking as well as the use of smokeless tobacco and electronic devices meant to simulate smoking. It would apply to university-owned land in Alachua County and Jacksonville.

It also would apply to land occupied or controlled by fraternities and sororities recognized by UF, which includes property on and off campus.

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In H1N1 Flu Battle, Electronic Cigarettes Could be a Surprising Ally 

"Dr. Robertson placed groups of mice in a chamber and sprayed its air first with propylene glycol, then with influenza virus. All the mice lived. Then he sprayed the chamber with virus alone. All the mice died."

This quote is from a TIME magazine article entitled "Medicine: Air Germicide" which dates back to November 16, 1942 (time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,932876,00.html). The article has renewed relevance today because propylene glycol is the main ingredient in e cigarette cartridges.

An electronic cigarette (or e-cigarette) looks like a standard cigarette, but doesn’t burn tobacco or release toxic smoke. Instead, each puff vaporizes a small amount of nicotine dissolved in water and propylene glycol. Early studies on the benefits of switching from regular to electronic cigarettes have been promising enough to earn this October 2009 policy statement from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a UK public health charity that works to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco: . . .

With current and inevitable future outbreaks of respiratory illnesses such as swine flu, avian flu, SARS and antibiotic-resistant pneumonia, updated and comprehensive research into this topic deserves to be given a high priority in the medical research community.

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• Electronic Cigarette Review Website Now Has Free E-Cigarette Trial Offers for Holiday Shoppers 

ElectronicCigarettesReviews.net is an e-cigarette website that reviews various brands of electronic cigarettes. With the start of the Holiday gift shopping season, this website has seen a huge increase in traffic from consumers that want to purchase e-cigarettes as Holiday gifts for someone that is trying to quit smoking. This website is now offering a free trial on two brands of e-cigarettes and Holiday shoppers are quickly snatching up these free e-cigarette trials.

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Electronic Cigarettes Do What Tobacco Companies Have Refused To Do For The Past 38 Years 

At the time it was believed that the tobacco companies did not want to market the improvements and make cigarettes safer as it would force them to acknowledge that normal cigarettes are unsafe. This was a time when there were a lot of legal cases from cancer sufferers who were blaming the tobacco companies for their bad health and it would prove very difficult to fight against them.

The patents which date back to 1971 range from reducing tar through removing carbon monoxide and polonium (A radioactive compound used to assassinate an ex KGB agent a few years ago in London).

It is widely believed that if the Tobacco companies had acted responsibly over the past 38 years of these patents then we would all be living in a society where Electronic Cigarettes may not even be needed but instead they protected their income and left users to die.

"I honestly find it shocking that the research and development has been available to some of the biggest financial budgets in the world and they refused to act on them purely out of self protection of their cigarette sales."

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• E-Cigarettes Under Fire  

As more cities ban smoking in restaurants and bars, there is a newer product to the United States that makers claim you can still smoke indoors. It's under fire from cities across the country, the Food and Drug Administration and a metro parent.

If you've been to the mall lately, you may have seen a kiosk selling electronic cigarettes. We've found the kiosks at Independence Center and Oak Park mall.

If you walk past the kiosk at Oak Park, a salesperson will ask if you smoke.

At Smoke51 we were shown a product that closely resembled a real cigarette. It comes with a battery and filter and even comes in flavors.

"There's a heating element that steams water, nicotine, and flavor so you're going to see me blow out smoke but it's actually steam or water vapor," the salesman said.

There are many questions about how this product is marketed.

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