Tobacco.org

• Smoking debate has become nicotine-delivery debate 

Federal regulators are cracking down on a cigarette substitute that uses technology similar to devices that Philip Morris USA researchers have focused on in recent years.

Meanwhile, Virginia Commonwealth University is studying how much nicotine -- the addictive compound in tobacco -- the "electronic cigarettes" deliver, under a grant from the National Cancer Institute to look at nicotine products.

Since the start of the year, the Food and Drug Administration has issued "Import Alerts" advising staff working alongside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers that they can seize "electronic cigarettes" made by three Chinese companies, federal court records show.

The FDA has refused to let at least 17 shipments of electronic cigarettes into the country, saying they are unapproved drug-delivery devices, spokeswoman Karen Riley said. . . .

Jimi Jackson, owner of the No Smoke Virginia store on North Third Street in Richmond, thinks the agency is just trying to protect the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries, since it already allows other nicotine products and doesn't control tobacco.

"Of course it's safer," he said. "They're trying to ban it when we know tobacco kills people every day . . .

"I was a smoker, smoked from when I was 15'til I was 52. I found this product and I have not touched a tobacco product since" last November, he said. "I tried everything, the gum, the patches, the pills, but nothing worked. This does because it gives you that hand-to-mouth thing -- 90 percent of smoking is mental addiction."

A sign in his store window promises: "Add 13 to 15 years to the life of a smoker. Safe for the smoker and those around them." . . .

"We're not a smoking-cessation device, we're not marketing it as a healthy alternative . . . this is an alternative for addicted smokers," said Matt Salmon, president of the Electronic Cigarette Association, a trade group.

Richard A. Daynard, a law professor and tobacco control expert at Northeastern University in Boston, said the devices "encourage people to keep smoking. . . . They reduce the incentive to quit."

Daynard is also concerned that electronic cigarettes, which often use sweet flavorings in their cartridges, will encourage nonsmokers, particularly young people, to experiment. . . .

At VCU's Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Thomas Eissenberg is leading a study that began in 2004 of "potential reduced exposure products" for tobacco users. The study includes the electronic cigarette, nicotine tablets and snus

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FBI raids Upstate cigarette distributor  

ANDERSON -- Federal authorities have raided a cigarette distributor as part of a two-year, multistate investigation into illegal cigarette sales.

The FBI said a search warrant was executed Thursday at Holley Sales Group in Anderson.

The bureau said the raid was tied to similar searches over the past two months at cigarette manufacturers in Russell Springs, Ky., and Cynthiana, Ky., and a distributor in Tupelo, Miss.

Those searches followed the April discovery of a warehouse in Mississippi containing millions of dollars worth of contraband cigarettes.

No arrests had been made.

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More than $20,000 in cigarettes confiscated in Oklahoma City  

More than $20,000 worth of cigarettes were confiscated Thursday at an Oklahoma City convenience store after authorities found the packages lacked tax stamps.

Detectives went to the Corner Market at NE 17 and Martin Luther King Avenue and found more than 200 packs of cigarettes without tax stamps on them, which means the state had not received its normal $1.03 tax on each of the packs of cigarettes.

"At that point, we notified the Oklahoma Tax Commission and they sent agents out to the location," police Master Sgt. Gary Knight said.

Police were notified about possible stolen cigarettes being sold at the location after a CVS store employee spotted cigarettes at the convenience store bearing CVS stamps, Knight said.

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LETTER: Insurance-Industry Investments in Tobacco ($$) 

To the Editor: The Obama administration is proposing a major overhaul of the U.S. health care system, and the insurance industry is poised to play a major role in the process. Insurance firms, like any business, are driven by profit, and this fact compromises any health care plan that includes them.

In case there is any doubt that insurers place profit above health, consider their investments in tobacco. The U.S.-based Prudential Financial provides life insurance and long-term disability coverage and is also a major owner of tobacco stocks, with total tobacco holdings of $264.3 million (Table 1). The . . . [Full Text of this Article] . . .

…insurers place profit above health, consider their investments in tobacco. The U.S.-based Prudential Financial provides life insurance and long-term disability coverage and is also a major owner of tobacco stocks, with total tobacco holdings of $264.3 million ( Table 1). The U.K.-based Prudential offers…

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Board at odds over smoking ban 

Last month it seemed as though the township’s parks and recreation committee was leaning toward a total smoking ban in township parks, but now it seems as though the Upper Moreland commissioners have had a change of heart.

“Last time we talked about this the only feedback I had received was for a total ban,” Commissioner Kevin Spearing said at a meeting May 26. “But now, after hearing from more people, I think smoking should be allowed in designated areas of the parks.”

The ban, first addressed by the township’s parks and recreation advisory council several months ago, hopes to cut down on litter, reduce health hazards and promote a healthier image. The township is not the first to look into a smoking ban. Upper Dublin Township already has one in place.

Hoping to act in the community’s best interest, Commissioner Lisa Romaniello conducted a survey and out of 29 responses, 17 were in favor of no ban or a partial ban. Twelve supported a total ban.

“Those who are tolerant of smokers is a greater number than those who are not,” she said. “I think we need to consider that.”

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• Anti-tobacco group flays minister's stand  

An anti-tobacco group, the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE), has taken strong objection to union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's recent statement that there was nothing wrong in showing smoking scenes in movies.

Speaking to IANS Saturday, NOTE general secretary Subhash Salkar said the organisation has appealed to Azad to 'change his views', as cigarettes smoking by film stars on celluloid encouraged their fans to take up smoking in real life.

'It is well known that our film stars have a large number of fans among youths who would copy and imitate the actions of their heroes without giving a thought to the consequences of their actions. This fact is established through surveys of tobacco use and contradicts the view expressed by the minister,' Salkar said.

Speaking at a function in New Delhi on May 31 Azad had said restrictions on showing smoking on screen were not practical.

'It is just entertainment. There are so many objectionable things which are shown on screen like murder, arson and so on... such things should be banned first. I think we should try to implement whatever we can. We cannot do anything which is not practical. Such things (banning of smoking and drinking on screen) are very difficult. Cinema is just to enjoy,' Azad said.

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• People with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities Particularly Vulnerable to Effects of Tobacco Use and Dependence 

While tobacco use is an ongoing health hazard for the entire population, its consequences for people with developmental or intellectual disabilities can be especially severe. And the medical community often tends to overlook the tobacco-related burdens these people face. An extensive review of published research on this topic appears in the June edition of the journal Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

“This is too important an issue to ignore,” said Dr. Marc L. Steinberg, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the article’s lead author. “Health care professionals often do not ask these individuals about tobacco use or exposure.”

Steinberg and his co-authors report that they were able to identify several negative implications of tobacco use that are unique to this population group: . . .

• People with developmental or intellectual disabilities are three times more likely to live in poverty, making them more susceptible to financial distress from tobacco use.

• Tobacco use may decrease the effectiveness of some medications commonly prescribed to this population group.

• Ironically, many of these individuals became addicted to tobacco at the hands of the very institutions that are meant to help them. In the past, hospitals and facilities treating vulnerable populations have even given cigarettes as good behavior ‘rewards’ to mentally ill patients and to those with developmental or intellectual disabilities.

• On the rare occasions when individuals in this population gain access to tobacco treatment programs, they still may “fall through the cracks” because they have difficulty understanding the health information presented to them.

“Like any other patients, this population should be offered resources for quitting if they smoke and offered protection from environmental tobacco smoke if they do not,” said Steinberg.

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• Indian Dental Association to Launch 5,000 Tobacco Intervention Initiative Centres in India 

The Indian Dental Association (IDA) today announced that it will be launching 5,000 Tobacco Intervention Initiative Centres (TIICs) across India during the next two years. The first phase of the launch kicked off early this week as 56 TIICs were set up across Maharashtra. To further reinforce its commitment to create a tobacco free India, IDA also joined WHO this year in observing 'World No Tobacco Day'. Dentists who volunteer to serve in these centres will receive orientation at NIMHANS, Bangalore and at centres in Delhi.

In Maharashtra, IDA had set up more than 20 one-day information and counselling booths in locations like railway stations, hospitals, malls and airports. Doctors screened patients at these centres all day and distributed information booklets to create awareness and appealed to users to quit tobacco.

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'Smoking kids' caused fire 

The fire that ravaged the Helderberg earlier in 2009 was caused by children smoking, not by arson, according to investigation findings released on Thursday. . . .

"[It] was started by children who'd been smoking.

"They'd been smoking one of these hubbly-bubblies, and they discarded the burning embers into some dry fynbos," he said.

One of the South Peninsula fires, that started in the Welcome Glen valley, had also resulted from children smoking in the bushes.

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Smokers in for a few rough nights at SummerFest  

Butt out. It's going to be white-knuckle time for smokers who attend some of this year's upcoming SummerFest events.

The Brick Township Council unanimously passed a resolution at the May 26 Township Council meeting that forbids smoking anywhere in the Windward Beach area on three of the seven scheduled nights this year.

The Brick Municipal Alliance Committee-- one of the event's major sponsors -- has requested that smoking be banned on the three nights of paid entertainment, Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said.

The no-smoking nights include July 2, July 23 and Sept. 3, according to the resolution. . . .

"What's the definition of Windward Beach?" Matthews said. "Is it the sand or the entire park?"

"It's the entire park for those events," Councilman Brian DeLuca said.

No-smoking announcements will be made during the events, and signs will also be put up at the township-owned waterfront park off Princeton Avenue, Township Administrator Scott M. Pezarras said.

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CRIME: Canadian Hells Angels and Contraband Tobacco 

The Center's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has taken heat lately for exposing the large-scale tobacco smuggling out of U.S. and Canadian Indian reservations. The Mohawk News Network called us "untruthful" for linking the Indian trade to "bikers and other gangs," and concluded that "the Center serves Big Tobacco." One angry blogger branded our stories "a precursor to genocide."

Now comes word that Canadian police in Quebec this week have cracked down on what they are calling a major Hells Angels contraband tobacco and drug trafficking ring inside the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve near Montreal. About 60 police officers raided the bunker-like compound of Rice Mohawk Industries in an investigation code-named "Project Machine" and rounded up 46 people. Among those arrested were owner Peter Rice and his two sons Burton Rice and Peter Francis Rice. Also arrested was Salvatore Cazzetta, the reputed leader of the Montreal chapter of the Hells Angels.

Police say the Hells Angels used the Rice compound as a base for trafficking in contraband tobacco and crack cocaine. The men are charged with participating in a criminal organization that defrauded the Quebec and Canadian governments of millions of dollars in tobacco taxes. Cazzetta is also charged with drug trafficking.

In "Canada's Boom in Smuggled Cigarettes," ICIJ took readers inside a billion-dollar black market and revealed the close ties between Indian tobacco sellers and organized crime.

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• Smoke E-cigarette With Attitude 

Smoking is one of the vital aspects and you can say that for many it is an indispensable part. You smoke and enjoy to the core and on the other hand you also aware that it is harmful but than that magic in it make you mesmerized with its smoke and nicotine's in it. . . .

The solution to saying no or quitting smoking is enjoying E cigarette or electronic cigarette. Though E-cigarette is available since three years but for some reason it is not being able to take the place of a real cigarette. . . .

An electronic cigarette is the best substitute for someone who ones to quit smoking or wants to stop smoking. It has been manufactured in such an appropriate way that if somebody doesn't tell you wont be able to make out the difference between a real n E cigarettes. Electronic or E- cigarette is made only with one ideology to help people especially smokers to come out of smoking in a balanced way. . . .

So, today only stop smoking with E cigarette and smoke smartly as it also symbolize a status and there are also various other benefits. Thus, get more information about electronic cigarette Electronic cigarette UK. . . .

About the Author: For more insights and further information about Electronic Cigarette visit our site http://www.uk-electronic-cigarette.com/

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• Stub it out now! 

BAHRAIN is stepping up its ban on smoking in public places, with restaurants first in the firing line.

Restaurants which have failed to designate separate, sealed-off areas for smokers are being served final warnings, it was revealed yesterday.

Action is also underway to extend the ban soon to all workplaces (including ministries) as wells as hotels, said primary care and public health assistant under-secretary Dr Mariam Al Jalahma.

Thousands of people caught smoking in closed public places have already been warned and in future offenders may be fined, she said.

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LETTER: Another law ignored? 

ON January 13, the GDN reported the planned smoking restrictions in restaurants, stating that they would be given six months to set up designated smoking areas.

The Health Ministry public health and primary care assistant under-secretary Dr Mariam Al Jalahma was quoted as saying: "Many of the 6,569 restaurants have already started implementing the directive, while others had done so with little regard for the spirit of the rule." . . .

The six months' notice expires next month and I see absolutely nothing being done in any of the restaurants I visit.

Can I reasonably assume that this will be yet another law which will be totally ignored and unimplemented?

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Taxis spread anti-smoking message  

Central Coast Taxis helped spread the anti-smoking message on annual World No Tobacco Day on Sunday.

Taxis did their bit by displaying graphic images about serious health risks associated with smoking.

World No Tobacco Day is an initiative of the World Health Organisation and aims to promote awareness about the hazards of smoking and encourages people to quit.

Central Coast GP Lyndon Bauer has a special interest in helping smokers quit

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