Tobacco.org

Legislator wants to ban nicotine candy  

A northern Utah lawmaker wants the state to do away with nicotine candy that he says poses a danger to children.

Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, plans to introduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would "outright ban" the nicotine candy.

"It's on the shelf now," Ray said. "We're going to take it off the shelf. We're basically making the comment that it's just not welcome in Utah. Go somewhere else and kill their residents but we're going to draw the line here."

Ray said the candies -- which differ from approved smoking-cessation products -- are designed to look like candy or gum and are attractive to children. Ray's own 7-year-old daughter saw some advertised and asked for some, which frightened him because just a few of the candy tablets can kill a young child.

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EDITORIAL: A moving target  

When the federal government raised the tax on the loose tobacco people use to roll their own cigarettes a staggering 2,000 percent, companies stopped selling "loose tobacco." Smokers stopped buying it. Very little of the projected tax revenue of $35 million per month appeared.

Yet smokers still roll their own cigarettes and still legally buy the ingredients.

Pipe tobacco is taxed at a rate of $2.83 per pound. Loose cigarette tobacco is now taxed at $24.78 per pound. . . .

Again and again we see that taxes meant to change the behavior of the taxed backfire. They rarely raise the revenue their proponents promise, generally don't cause people to act as predicted and often create unintended consequences.

The fairer a tax is, the harder it is to evade. . . .

Seemingly incapable of learning, the federal government is now looking to set stricter legal distinctions between pipe and cigarette tobacco in an attempt to collect its money. Unmentioned is the issue of why the tax on one should be 10 times the tax on the other.

Perhaps government policymakers think pipes are cool and intellectual, and home-rolled cigarettes are just uncouth. If so, that's a poor rationale for tax policy.

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More tax = less smoking  

DAR-ES-SALAAM - Taxation is the most powerful weapon governments have at their disposal to control tobacco consumption and ultimately decrease deaths, Dr Yussuf Saloojee of the National Council Against Smoking told the African Organisation for Research & Training in Cancer (AORTIC) conference.

South Africa showed decreases in tobacco consumption, but this was now leveling off as government ceases to drastically increase taxation on tobacco for fear of creating a market for illegal smuggling, something which Saloojee said was unfounded.

Saloojee presented evidence which showed that as the price of cigarettes goes up, consumption goes down. . . .

Lekau Ayo-Yusuf of the University of Pretoria also presented evidence that the use of non-cigarette products such as snus was increasing with big tobacco companies Philip Morris and Swedish Match selling these products in Africa. Snus is a moist powder tobacco product that is consumed by placing it under the lip for extended periods of time.

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Adult smoke rate in U.S. up 

The slight increase in the smoking rate comes at a time when the tobacco industry experienced a 12.6 percent decline in cigarette shipment volume during the third quarter. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. reported an 11 percent decline to 20.6 billion cigarettes.

A separate CDC report found that 20.9 percent of North Carolinians smoked in 2008, which ranked the state 14th in smoking use among residents.

Brad Rodu, the endowed chairman of the Tobacco Harm Reduction Research University at the University of Louisville, said he is not surprised that the smoking rate is at a plateau.

"Smoking has not declined because the CDC and the American Cancer Society continue to promote only nicotine and tobacco abstinence, which has failed miserably," Rodu said.

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No smoking in Morgan parks 

Blowing smoke and flipping cigarette butts in Morgan County parks will end soon.

The County Commission plans to adopt a resolution in two weeks to ban smoking at its four parks.

Hartselle’s council discussed such a prohibition but never followed through. Decatur prohibits smoking at playgrounds and outdoor seating areas. It banned smoking in all public buildings and businesses in August 2007.

The commission held a special work session Thursday to discuss coordinators for parks and ended up with a consensus to do away with smoking at the public facilities.

District 1 Commissioner Jeff Clark said he already forbids smoking inside North Park in his district.

“I have a sign up that prohibits smoking once they enter the inside of the fence at the park and I have a designated area for them to smoke,” Clark said.

District 2 Commissioner Ken Livingston said people have complained about tobacco chewing and snuff dipping.

“I’ve had people complain about the smoking, but then I’ve had people talk about ‘nasty’ spitting of tobacco,” Livingston said.

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Buying Cigarettes and Quit-Smoking Aids From the Same Company?  

Why would a cigarette company buy a firm that makes products to help smokers quit?

It's a question that's left many scratching their heads ever since reports surfaced that Reynolds American -- the no. 2 U.S. tobacco company and the maker of Camel, Kool and Winston cigarettes, among others -- is in talks to acquire Niconovum.

Niconovum, a Swedish company, makes nicotine gum and other nicotine replacement products designed to wean smokers off of cigarettes. It was founded in 2000 by Karl Olov Fagerström, who the company's Web site trumpets as "one of the world's leading experts on smoking cessation and nicotine dependence."

Purchasing the company "runs totally counter to the mission statement of (Reynolds American subsidiary) R.J. Reynolds," said Gregory Connolly, a Harvard School of Public Health professor who researches tobacco products. "I'm astounded."

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Campaign against ills of tobacco  

The ministry of health and family welfare today launched a nationwide televised campaign against tobacco chewing.

The campaign has been launched by the tobacco control wing of the ministry, along with World Lung Foundation and Bloomberg Initiative to reduce use of tobacco.

The campaign called Surgeon and will be telecast in more than 25 national and regional television channels in 12 regional languages.

The national family health survey 2005-06 said around 38 per cent men and 10 per cent women across the country consume smokeless tobacco that include pan, gutka, pan masala and a number of other forms.

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• New smokeless tobacco products in test markets  

In a Louisville, Ky., Holiday Inn, Brown and Williamson researchers brainstormed novel ways to sell tobacco.

It was 1992, and the goal was to find "socially acceptable" ways to use it, according to one of the company's internal research and development documents. It needed to be smokeless, spitless, and not produce an odor. It needed to be fire safe, readily available and not subject to federal regulations.

Their ideas ran the gamut: tobacco pills and lotion, beverages and toothpicks. They even considered a tobacco-derived salted snack and perfume or aftershave.

Nearly two decades later, the tobacco industry's answers are showing up in test markets around the country. Utah health officials say they expect to see them rolled out across the country, and in the state, before long.

That's why they are warning consumers now: The new products look like candy and come packaged in slick, colorful containers. And they may be especially appealing to children.

"You don't look at that (the packaging) and think 'evil,'" said David Neville, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Health's Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. "You look at it and think, 'That's cute.' "

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the manufacturer of Camel and 10 other brands, says it is only gathering input from consumers in its lead markets: Columbus, Ohio; Portland, Ore. and Indianapolis, Ind. It's unsure when -- or even if -- these new kinds of smokeless tobacco will take root as products, said spokesman David Howard. . . .

Camel's Orb -- small, brown-colored pellets -- could be easily mistaken for a Tic Tac. A 1-year-old who weighs about 23 pounds could suffer from severe toxicity or death if he or she ate as few as 10.

"It doesn't look quite as shiny or appealing," said Ellie Brownstein, a University Hospital pediatrician, "but how many kids go rifling through their mom's purse for a mint?"

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Altria to Expand Marlboro Snus Test 

For the first time since early 2009, Altria Group's Philip Morris USA (PM USA) will expand the trial of its Marlboro Snus smokeless, spitless tobacco product to new markets this month.

Marlboro Snus will soon be available in select markets in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, California and Colorado, Altria spokesman Bill Phelps told CSNews Online late last week. This expansion plan was first hinted at by Michael E. Szymanczyk, chairman and chief executive of Altria Group, during the Barclays Capital Back-to-School Consumer Conference in September, where he revealed the product would enter new markets in the fall.

Snus has been in test market sine 2007, said Phelps, and the company has learned, received feedback and made some changes to the product as a result. New Marlboro Snus includes smaller packaging that contains six pouches, down from 12 pouches, along with a larger pouch size, according to Phelps.

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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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• Down to the last cigarette - and beyond  

Like a fast-food chain selling diet supplements or a gasoline company building electric cars, a major tobacco company is eyeing a surprising business: Helping the smokers who buy their products kick the habit.

Reynolds American Inc. , which sells the Camel and Pall Mall brands of cigarettes, is in talks to buy a Swedish company that makes nicotine gum and mouth spray designed to help people quit smoking by reducing their cigarette cravings, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Reynolds could buy Niconovum AB for roughly $44.5-million (U.S.), according to University of Ottawa law professor and tobacco expert David Sweanor, who said he had spoken with someone close to the deal. A spokesperson for Reynolds declined to comment.

The deal would also mark a shift for cigarette companies, many of which embraced diversification decades ago but have changed course in recent years. . . .

The acquisition of Niconovum would give Reynolds another cigarette alternative.

In addition to the gum and mouth spray, the Swedish company also makes a Snus-like product called the Zonnic pouch, which has nicotine but no tobacco. Many countries in the European Union as well as Australia and New Zealand, ban oral tobacco, Prof. Sweanor said. The pouch could give Reynolds a way around those regulations.

"I think this may be a very profitable business. They're catering to the same crowd, essentially," said Indiana University's Prof. Beneish, who was a smoker for 30 years. "They have a captive audience. Trust me."

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• A review of human carcinogens—Part E: tobacco, areca nut, alcohol, coal smoke, and salted fish 

New evidence continues to add to the extensive list of tobacco-related cancers (table); there is now sufficient evidence that tobacco smoking causes cancer of the colon3 and of the ovary.4 More than 150 epidemiological studies of tobacco smoking and breast cancer were reviewed. Large cohort studies5, 6 published since 20022 consistently show a small positive association (relative risks 1·1—1·3). Many chemicals in tobacco smoke cause mammary-gland tumours in animals, and these carcinogens are stored in breast adipose tissue in women; therefore, the Working Group concluded that there is limited evidence that tobacco smoking causes breast cancer. A causal link between parental smoking and childhood cancers has been established. Four recent studies showed that children born of parents who smoke (father, mother, or both, including the preconception period and pregnancy) are at significantly higher risk of hepatoblastoma, a rare embryonic cancer. The UK Childhood Cancer Study7 reported a relative risk of 1·86 for paternal smoking only and 2·02 for maternal smoking only, increasing to 4·74 (95% CI 1·68—13·35) when both parents smoke. For childhood leukaemia, a meta-analysis reported an association with paternal smoking before pregnancy (summary relative risk 1·12, 1·04—1·21).8 Second-hand smoke causes lung cancer.2 There is now limited evidence for an association with cancers of the larynx and the pharynx,9 whereas evidence for female breast cancer remains inconclusive. Since second-hand smoke contains most of the constituents of mainstream smoke, it might also be associated with other cancer sites. Many types of smokeless tobacco are marketed and all contain nicotine and nitrosamines. Hundreds of millions of people use smokeless tobacco, mainly in India and southeast Asia, but also in Sweden and the USA. Earlier findings showed a causal association between use of smokeless tobacco and cancers of the oral cavity and pancreas, and there is now sufficient evidence for cancer of the oesophagus.10 All of the forms of tobacco discussed above induce malignant tumours in laboratory animals.

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Ministry ban in place 

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 6: Visiting your daughter or son at school? Then better stub out that cigarette and throw away the gutkha packet.

State's school and college campuses will soon be tobacco free zones, according to a notification that has been sent to the state education department. The news of the notification was confirmed by health minister Prasanna Acharaya today.

The move came after Union health ministry imposed a guideline prohibiting sale and consumption of tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutes.

"Teachers, parents or visitors on campuses will have to abide by the rule, along with students," said a visibly elated anti-tobacco activist Itishree Kanungo of Aparajita.

"An alarming proportion of school personnel use tobacco and students often imitate them. More alarmingly, there has been an increasing rise of tobacco use among girls. The ban should help prevent the birth of more addicts," she added.

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• Hazard in plain sight? 'Crossover products' may help hook kids on smoking, drugs 

Redford recently spoke about the products at a Marblehead Board of Health meeting, unloading for the board a bag of such products that she's collected throughout the year. Her presentation left most board members in disbelief.

"Are we the only ones who don't know about this stuff?" asked a bewildered Helaine Hazlett, the board's chairman.

Take a walk into the 7-11 store in Marblehead, and here is what you will find: "grinders" (small metal contraptions that are used to grind up tobacco or drugs), pipes, hookah pipes for smoking specially made flavored tobacco, flavored chewing tobacco, boxes of blunt wraps (tobacco-based rolling papers), cigarettes that are packaged like Chanel perfume boxes, and smokeless-tobacco gum that comes in a candy-mint-like container. The list goes on.

None of these products are illegal to sell, although in most states, including Massachusetts, to buy any tobacco-related product a person must be 18 or older. In fact, as a local tobacco-control officer, Redford's job is to conduct "compliance checks," . . .

Cigarette companies spent approximately $13 billion on advertising and promotional expenses in 2005 for those tobacco-specific products, nearly double what was spent in 1998, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of that money, Redford says advertisers are more often targeting women and teens.

In 2008, tobacco company Philip Morris USA unrolled its sleek "purse pack" cigarette packaging containing ultra-slim cigarettes; the packaging is made to look as if it is a cosmetics case.

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Why Do So Many Baseball Players Chew Tobacco? 

Have baseball players always used smokeless tobacco?

Yes. In the mid-19th century—baseball's formative years—chewing tobacco was enormously popular in the United States. Early ballplayers likely chewed tobacco for the same reasons as other American men, but they soon discovered baseball-specific benefits. It spurs saliva production and lubricates the mouth in the dusty infield environment. When fielding gloves came into vogue in the 1870s and 1880s, players moistened the leather with spit. Pitchers used the juice from a chaw to prepare the notorious spitball, which was widely permitted until 1920.

It's not surprising that chewing tobacco has become identified with baseball. Both pastimes came of age when America was

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