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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• Philip Morris In Negotiations With Original E-Cigarette Company 

What many e-cigarette users have feared from day one could be in the works: Philip Morris, the biggest maker of tobacco cigarettes in the United States, has been discovered to be in negotiations with Ruyan Group, which manufactured the original e-cigarette starting in 2005. A short news article on Quamnet.com states the seriousness of the matter:

"Ruyan Group said that an agreement between the Company and Philip Morris International Management S.A. could not be reached on matters relating to the co-operation between them on its "electronic cigarettes" by the end of the first and exclusive phase of negotiations."

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• E Cigarettes May Be More Effective Than Swine Flu Vaccine  

According to the Centers for Disease Control, during 2000-2004, "An estimated 443,000 persons in the United States died prematurely each year from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke. During 2001-2004, the average annual smoking-attributable health-care expenditures nationwide were approximately $96 billion. When combined with productivity losses of $97 billion, the total economic burden of smoking is approximately $193 billion per year."

Comparing the health risks of tobacco smoking to the Swine Flu brings out some interesting and thought provoking statistics. According to President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on H1N1, "A plausible scenario is that the epidemic could cause between 30,000 and 90,000 deaths in the United States." That puts the comparison of real deaths of 443,000 smokers to a "war games guess" of 30,000 to 90,000 for the H1N1 influenza for which the government recently declared a Health Emergency. That declaration and the shortage of the H1N1 vaccine has caused a panic in the U.S.

No study or statistic has been offered that points to the Swine Flu as being more deadly than tobacco cigarettes in causing death, yet a disproportional effort in preventative measures are currently being channeled to defend against a lower risk health issue. Toxic tobacco smoke contains many additional chemicals, including carbon monoxide and tar which is a sticky substance that accumulates in the lungs, causing lung cancer and respiratory distress. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the world and is responsible for more than 5 million deaths each year.

What the flu vaccine is to H1N1 as a preventative, the electronic cigarette may be for the tobacco smoker. An electronic cigarette is a futuristic advancement in science

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• New Study Reveals Quitting Smoking is Good but Switching to Low-risk Nicotine Products is Usually Better 

Prof. Carl V. Phillips, just published in Harm Reduction Journal, shows that for most smokers, immediately switching to a low-risk alternative will lower their risk of dying from their habit more than quitting eventually, even if they use the smoke-free product for the rest of their lives. . . .

Professor Phillips is an epidemiologist and health policy researcher, journal editor, popular educator, and consultant. He and his work group are leading advocates of tobacco harm reduction, and he advises and works with many other organizations who are trying to promote it, some of which are companies that hope to profit from selling low-risk nicotine products. The www.TobaccoHarmReduction.org research group at the University of Alberta School of Public Health is partially supported by an unrestricted (completely hands-off) grant from U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company. No funder, company, or other organization played any role in initiating, designing, or conducting this research.

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• Vaporized Propylene Glycol, a Key Ingredient in Electronic Cigarettes, May Prevent Pneumonia, Influenza, and Other Respiratory Diseases 

The ingredients in most electronic cigarette cartridges manufactured today include propylene glycol, nicotine, and a flavoring. The 1942 study by Dr. Oswald Hope Robertson of the University of Chicago's Billings Hospital showed that Propylene glycol, the most prevalent ingredient in electronic cigarette cartridges, was found to possibly prevent pneumonia, influenza, and other respiratory diseases when vaporized and inhaled.

Additional studies in monkeys and other animals were undertaken to determine long-term effects, especially the potential for accumulation in the lungs. After a few months of treatment, no ill effects were discovered.

Smokers can enjoy all the engrained habits of smoking; hand-to-mouth, throat hit, visual smoke, nicotine delivery, with none of the negative effects of inhaling the dangerous smoke

Now the electronic cigarette may not only help individuals to reduce and quit smoking regular cigarettes, but it also may help to prevent some of the respiratory diseases caused by the harmful "cancer sticks". Additionally with the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus expected to cause a record number of deaths this season there is no better time for smokers to cut back or quit with the aid of the electronic cigarette.

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• VIDEO: Electronic cigarettes bypass the smoking ban in Dallas bars  

Tobacco Town started carrying the products a few months ago. They come with nicotine and without. Distributors say they're becoming more popular.

"A lot of bars and restaurants are in favor of it actually," said Jim Jinright, an electronic cigarette supplier.

Not all bars are smoke-free, but the trend is heading that direction. The Dallas ban took effect in April.

"I've actually had to stop people a couple of times and say oh no, no, no. There's no smoking in here," said Nicole Strawbridge, a bartender at Al's Hideaway.

Now many smokers have to go outside or find an alternative.

'You're more than welcome to bring your electronic cigarettes in here, feel free to light up, or turn it on or whatever," Strawbridge said.

The assistant director for Dallas City Code Compliance says there's nothing about electronic cigarettes on the books, so they're not prohibited in bars. That could change, because he's asked the City Attorney whether the code should be updated. It's currently under advisement.

It's also important to note opposition from health organizations.

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• Ciggie smoke 'weakens lungs' natural defense against harmful pathogen 

Exposure to cigarette smoke might weaken immune cells' ability to remove bacterial infections from the lungs, specifically nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI), a pathogen often associated with respiratory infections and the progression of respiratory disease, says a new study.

NTHI has been found to cause invasive diseases such as meningitis, sinusitis, pneumonia, and bronchitis.

It is also the pathogen most frequently isolated in the respiratory tract of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic bronchitis.

Alveolar macrophages are part of the lungs'' innate defense system and they play an essential role in the clearance of bacterial infections.

The research team has found that cigarette smoke may disrupt the capability of alveolar macrophages to clear NTHI from the lungs. . . .

The study appears in journal Infection and Immunity.

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• Firestorm over smokeless cigarette  

Electronic cigarettes are opening a new front in the tobacco wars as state and local lawmakers try to restrict the product, which may allow users to circumvent smoking bans.

The battery-powered device is made up of a cartridge containing nicotine, flavoring and chemicals. It turns nicotine, which is addictive, into a vapor that is inhaled. Users say they're "vaping," not smoking.

E-cigarettes are used by at least a half-million Americans, says Matt Salmon, head of the Electronic Cigarette Association.

"People who smoke ought to have better alternatives, because some can't quit," he says. His father, a longtime smoker, died last week of cancer and emphysema.

Public health officials question the safety of e-cigarettes. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates tobacco and nicotine replacement devices, says the e-cigarettes it tested had carcinogens. E-cigarette distributors have filed a lawsuit challenging the FDA's authority.

"It's a new frontier. We don't know what the dangers are," says John Banzhaf of Action on Smoking and Health, an anti-smoking group.

"We're actively investigating these companies and their products," says Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Other actions:

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• Circumvent Smoking Bans with Electronic Cigarettes 

Smoking bans are getting out of control, but the electronic cigarette is quickly becoming the dominant alternative to those who are suffering from them. At one point, you could justifiably expect to be restricted from smoking on public forms of transportation or in your office but nowadays bans are extending far beyond the confines of public buildings. Some North American cities even prohibit smoking in parks or on city streets. So what does a smoker do if they want to enjoy a cigarette but smoking bans prohibit them? Many of them switch to the Green Smoke e-cigarette and enjoy the freedom of smoking everywhere.

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• Use An E-Cigarette, Reduce Risk of Heart Disease 

E-CigaretteDirect.com recommends that smokers switch to electronic cigarettes to protect themselves and their loved ones from secondhand smoke and heart disease. You don't have to be a smoker for smoke to harm you. Secondhand smoke is known to be even more dangerous than first hand smoke.

The recent study titled Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects assess the relationship among second hand smoke and acute coronary events. The scientists found that smoking regular cigarettes increases the risk of heart disease by 25-30%. The Surgeon General agrees with this conclusion in his 2006 report.

To avoid second hand smoke for others, smokers have a few options: Quit, leave the premises to smoke, or try an electronic cigarette. "The e-cigarette produces ZERO second hand smoke. None. The 'smoke' that is expelled is actually water vapor", states Gina King of E-CigaretteDirect. "People can use this smoking alternative to decrease the risk of smoking for them and their loved ones. This study only proves that regular cigarettes are dangerous for more people than just the smoker".

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• E-CigaretteDirect.com Sales Increase, Amazon Removes Electronic Cigarettes 

E-CigaretteDirect.com Sees Increase in Sales As Amazon.com Removes Electronic Cigarettes Many top internet retailer are going to stop selling and supporting the sale of electronic cigarettes on their website. Amazon.com reportedly has sent a notice to all its resellers with the following message:

We are writing because it has come to our attention that you have listed a product that we have determined is inappropriate for Amazon.com. We have prohibited the sale of electronic cigarettes, electronic cigars, electronic pipes, nicotine nebulizers, refill material for any of these, and similar products on our site.

Paypal has already canceled electronic cigarette accounts after receiving a notice of potential legal liability from ASH.

These larger websites closing sales of the electronic cigarette have really allowed individual websites that sell e-cigarettes to thrive. Gina King of E-CigaretteDirect.com states that "sales have never been better. Amazon was selling off-brands of electronic cigarettes. We only sell top name brands. This means that our customers can come back and purchase refill cartridges and accessories and be assured the products will work with their electronic cigarette". Several small internet retailers have sprung up on the web selling these electronic cigarettes directly from China. "Again, the problem you have is that each brand is different and you cannot mix and match accessories and refills," states Ms. King. "We are a trusted one-shop stop that consistently has repeat business."

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