Tobacco.org

Smoking ban likely going to GF council 

Grand Forks City Council members will likely begin the discussion next week on banning smoking in bars, casinos and truck stops.

The subject was broached Monday by council member Doug Christensen, who asked City Attorney Howard Swanson to give the council a briefing on the deadlines it would have to meet to put the issue on the ballot in June.

The council has three choices, he said: “Do nothing. Do something. Or (let voters) vote on it.”

A survey released in January by the Grand Forks Tobacco Free Coalition found that 75 percent of adults in town favor a ban on smoking in bars and casinos, and 83 percent felt the same way about truck stops.

In 2005, when the coalition conducted a similar survey, only 37 percent favored banning smoking in bars and 55 percent felt the same about casinos.

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3 counties join forces on tobacco 

A new group is working to snuff out smoking in Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties.

A tri-county tobacco-free coalition recently replaced separate organizations in Kenosha and Racine. Joyce Erickson, the coordinator of the old Kenosha coalition, is leading the new group.

She said state budget cuts were to blame for the consolidation. But in spite of reduced funding, she is excited about what the new group could accomplish.

"Everything we'll do, we'll work together for the three counties," Erickson said. "No one county will be more important; no one county will work alone. Everything we do will be together."

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10 Ways to Expose Tobacco Marketing in Your Community (PDF) 

Share the Report Through Your Website and Other Communication Channels. 2. Promote the Interactive Website: unfilteredmn.org. 4. Submit a Letter to the Editor. 5. Notify Your Local Media About the Report and Your Outreach Activities.6. Give Presentations to Community Groups. 7. Share the Report With Your Elected Leaders. . . .

10. Host a “Truth In Pink” Girls’ Night Out. The tobacco industry has long marketed smoking to women as a way to be sexy, skinny and glamorous. In recent years, Camel No. 9 cigarettes took these false promises to the next level when it launched with Sex and the City-style girls’ night out parties across the country. Here’s your chance to take back girls’ night and expose one of the ways the tobacco industry targets women:

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UNFILTERED: A REVEALING LOOK AT TODAY’S TOBACCO INDUSTRY - Executive Summary (PDF) 

Arguably, no other business in history has better adapted to changing markets and increasing restrictions. Its ingenuity and resilience in the face of a shrinking domestic market—and its willingness to mine new markets in the developing world—help explain how tobacco companies have overcome the decades-long health campaign against them. Specifically, they spend $12.8 billion in the U.S. each year to …

Make tobacco a part of our culture

Attract and retain customers through target marketing

Use public relations to buffer lawsuits and health claims

Promote new products

Create new markets worldwide

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UNFILTERED: A REVEALING LOOK AT TODAY’S TOBACCO INDUSTRY (PDF) 

Contents

1. Foreword . . . . . . . 2

2. Introduction . . . . . . . . 3

• Pop Quiz . . . . . . . . . 3

• The Tobacco Paradox . . . . . . . . 3

• The Rules May Change, But the Game is the Same . . . . . . . 5

3. Cultural Integration—“Just What the Doctor Ordered” . . . . . . . . . 6

• Tobacco is Ingrained in Our Culture . . . . . 6

4. Target Marketing—“Wherever Particular People Congregate” . . . . . . . . 8

• Marketing Pioneers . . . . . . . . . 8

• Women . . . . . 8

• Men . . . . . . . . 9

• Racial and Ethnic Populations . . . . . 9

• Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Individuals . . . . . . 10

• Kids . . . . . . . . 10

• Case Study: Joe Camel . . . . . . . 11

• Point-of-Sale Advertising . . . . . . . . . 12

• Becoming a Part of the Social Fabric . . . . . 12

• Case Study: Cigarette Fairies and FUBYAs . . . . . . 13

5. Public Relations—“If You Decide to Quit Smoking . . .” . . . . . . . . . 14

• Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing . . . . . 14

• Image Campaigns: Is the Tobacco Industry Really That Bad? . . . . . . . . 14

• Case Study: Keep America Beautiful . . . . . . 14

• Case Study: Operation Ranger . . . . . . 15

• Case Study: Philip Morris USA QuitAssist . . . . . . 15

• Case Study: The Most Important Image Campaign of All—Kids . . . . . . . . 16

6. Innovation—“Join the Snus Revolution” . . . . . . . . 17

• Not Your Grandparents’ Cigarette . . . . . . . 17

• “It Doesn’t Even Taste Like Tobacco” . . . . . . . . . 17

• “They’re Not Cigarettes” . . . . . 17

• New Nicotine Delivery Devices—Snus and Orbs, Sticks and Strips . . . . . 18

7. Global Opportunism—“The American Dream” . . . . . . . . 20

• International Markets—A New Frontier . . . . . . . . 20

• New Products for Overseas Markets . . . . . 20

• The Global Impact—1 Billion Deaths . . . . . . 21

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Tobacco industry constantly reinvents its marketing efforts, a Minnesota report points out 

Unless you’re in one of their target demographics, you may be oblivious to these marketing efforts. Have you ever met a “Cigarette Fairy” in a bar? Or heard of the “Welcome to the Brotherhood” campaign? Or seen a peach-, strawberry-, grape- or chocolate-flavored “little cigar”? Or played a video game that rewards you with imaginary cigarettes and that mocks health-warning labels?

These marketing efforts and more are described in a disturbing new report released Wednesday by ClearWay Minnesota, the nonprofit group that was funded by a small percentage of Minnesota’s 1998 tobacco settlement. Its mission is to “improve the health of Minnesotans by reducing the harm caused by tobacco.”

The report, “Unfiltered: A Revealing Look at Today’s Tobacco Industry,” is part of the organization’s new statewide campaign to shine a light on how the industry has continued to shapeshift — and thrive.

“We hope this is going to be a wake-up call for Minnesotans,” said David Willoughby, ClearWay Minnesota’s chief executive officer, in a phone interview on Wednesday.

Parents, health care professionals, community leaders, politicians — all of us — “need to realize that the tobacco industry continues to reinvent itself and sell an addictive product to millions of Americans,” he added. . . .

Here are some of the highlights:

* In 2007, in an effort to reach more young women, R.J. Reynolds launched a new product, Camel No. 9s (reminiscent of Chanel No. 9 perfume — get it?). The marketing campaign had a kind of “Sex in the City” flair, with such slogans as “Light and Luscious” and “Now Available in Stiletto.” Nightclubs, including one in Minneapolis, held Camel No. 9 “launch parties,” with free gift bags.

* R.J. Reynolds also sends “Cigarette Fairies” — attractive and usually female individuals — into local bars to talk with young people about their tobacco preferences and to offer free samples or coupons. Here’s how one Minnesota “Cigarette Fairy” described her job: “I get paid to hand out cigarettes, go to free gigs and to smoke. Camel [is] clever about the smoking ban. We’re all over the place … all over America. It’s a sweet job.”

* With the actor who played the hunky Marlboro Man dead from lung cancer, the tobacco industry had to rethink its marketing approach to men. The idea that tobacco makes men strong and sexually attractive had to be retained, however. For a 2008 campaign — for Skoal smokeless tobacco — marketers teamed up with Playboy magazine and invited guys to vote for one of a dozen Skoal models. The Skoal slogan: “Welcome to the Brotherhood.”

* Free cigarettes and other tobacco products continue to be distributed to our soldiers stationed overseas. . . .

* Although the tobacco industry claims that it stopped paying to place its products in movies back in the 1980s, an astonishing number of youth-rated films feature smoking. In fact, a study by the National Cancer Institute found that as late as 2002, 74 percent of all movies depicted smoking (a greater percentage of films than in 1950). Another study found that there was more smoking going on in G, PG, and PG-13 movies that year than in adult-rated ones.

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• Groups Urge FDA To Relax Restrictions On Nicotine Patches 

Two smoking-cessation groups are urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to relax restrictions on nicotine patches, lozenges and gums amid concerns the agency's regulations go too far and make it harder for people to quit smoking.

The groups say nicotine-replacement therapies such as GlaxoSmithKline Plc's (GSK) Nicoderm CQ and Nicorette gum should be available everywhere cigarettes are sold, so people who want to quit can find the products easily without having to go to a pharmacy. They also want the FDA to tone down warnings on the products that say they shouldn't be used when people continue to smoke or in those who have heart conditions.

"It sends the message that these products are dangerous and sends the message to the smoker to just continue smoking," said Ken Wassum, former president of the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence . . .

The Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence and the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco want to change that, according to a petition they plan to file with the FDA Friday. Their petition cites government statistics showing that smoking kills about 440,000 Americans annually and costs the health-care system about $157 billion a year.

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Woman dies after cigarette ignites oxygen mask 

A 65-year-old Powell woman died this morning after a cigarette apparently ignited oxygen fed to her via a mask, authorities said.

Margaret E. Kula was discovered at 5:26 a.m. in the bathroom of her 8400 Sharp Road home by her husband, said Knox County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Martha Dooley. Sharp Road runs off Emory Road.

Dooley said authorities were unsure when the incident occurred. She was last seen alive about 1 a.m., Dooley said.

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BUTTON: Third-hand smoke, first-rate nonsense  

According to Dr. Jonathan Winickoff, a Harvard researcher, “third-hand smoke” poses a real threat to children. . . .

Research on children and third-hand smoke is a new field, and until some of the kids involved in this research grow up and get cancer, the results of the research is not conclusive. . . .

The thing is, big anti-tobacco is a thriving business, and they’re not going to stop on their own.

The people of Canada need to send a message: The anti-smoking movement is out of control. There are now people who want to ban smoking on campus, in homes, and in parks. . . .

Anti-smoking activists want a nanny state that protects people from themselves, and punishes behavior some people find aesthetically unappealing.

The state should not have the power to regulate what it doesn’t like arbitrarily, unless that behavior poses a real risk to other people.

Until people realize this, anti-smoking legislation is only going to get more restricting and oppressive.

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• Low IQ May Up Heart Disease Risk  

A newly discovered link between lower IQ scores and a higher odds of heart disease suggests that less-intelligent people face an even greater cardiovascular risk than those who are obese or have high blood pressure, researchers say. . . .

Still, one of the authors suggested the findings show the value of helping kids to be smarter. "From a public health perspective, there is the possibility that IQ can be increased, with some mixed results from trials of early learning and school readiness programs. It may also be worthwhile for health promotion campaigns to be planned with consideration of individual cognition levels," principal investigator Dr. David Batty said in a news release from the European Society of Cardiology.

The study, published in the February issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, examined more than 1,100 Scottish men and women aged around 55 years in 1987, who were followed-up for two decades.

Of the factors studied, cigarette smoking boosted the risk of heart disease the most, followed by low IQ.

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UPDATED: Judge seals Coon, Umphrey arbitration award; Activist doesn't like trend  

e public's concern, attorney Brent Coon - one of Texas' most colorful attorneys - had a local judge seal an arbitration award stemming from a lawsuit over asbestos attorney's fees.

However, not everyone thinks the award should have been sealed. At least one First Amendment activist believes sealing court records is a "threat to the public."

Over the past two years, the Southeast Texas Record has reported on the struggle between Coon and his former employer, the Provost Umphrey law firm.

In a battle encompassing several courts, the parties have been warring over millions in attorney's fees from the state's mega-billion dollar tobacco settlement as well as fees flowing from asbestos litigation.

On Monday, Feb. 8, Jefferson County Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th Judicial District, permanently sealed a final judgment award issued Dec. 30 by the American Arbitration Association.

Judge Shuffield was not presiding over the tobacco fee dispute, but rather had been litigating a dispute between Umphrey and Coon over attorney's fees in unrelated asbestos litigation.

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Smoking policy changes at Mercy Medical Center Merced facilities  

For more than 80 years, the hospital that takes care of patients in Merced has been a bit ambivalent about smokers. . . .

Mercy has taken the final step to make the entire Mercy campus -- including the main hospital, clinics, the Dominican Campus and the cancer center -- all tobacco/smoke-free environments beginning March 1. The new rules apply to employees, patients, visitors and physicians.

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EDITORIAL: Smoke, and let smoke  

Headlines •

Do you constantly walk out of your English, Spanish, Political Science or History classes into clouds of what you thought was a heaven-sent excitement of being out of your lecture, but then realize that it’s a smoking hell attacking you? Yeah, we’ve all been there. For some of us negative effects for others, no big deal.

Smoking, a sensitive topic to people at this university, as well as around the world. . . .

According to section XIII of the Housing and Residence Life policies and procedures on the VSU website, “All VSU Housing & Residence Life facilities are smoke‐free environments.” . . .

All these rants and concerns boil down to consideration for others. Smokers should be courteous of non-smokers on our campus and politely step away at least 50 feet as stated on many posted signs on campus doors around campus.

If you are a smoker who feels like you want to quit, there are programs that happen annually at VSU to aid you with your journey. . . .

For those of you who aren’t smokers and judge others, I’m pretty sure that there is a bad habit you have that bothers people as well.

Remember, be considerate, and help keep this campus a courteous campus.

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Many campuses ban smoking  

According to a recent article on the Inside Higher Ed Web site, smoking has, to date, been banned from or restricted heavily in at least 381 educational institutions, according to Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. However, Valdosta State retains their individual restrictions and is currently remaining a smoking environment.

“The Georgia Smoke Free Act of 2005 prohibits smoking in all enclosed facilities owned, leased or operated by an agency of the State of Georgia,” Traycee Martin, interim Vice President for Finance and Administration, said in a proposed smoking policy in 2008. “The ‘University Policy on Smoking’ is consistent with these mandates.”

Smoking is allowed on campus, but not within the facilities, such as residence halls and offices, and or within 50 feet of the entrance to any building, according the Housing and Residence Life and the Event Services Policies and Procedures on the VSU website. . . .

Some students feel it would be a positive thing for VSU.

“I would be happy with banning smoking on campus,”

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A study released by the FDA states that electronic cigarettes deliver nicotine. 

The information released by Dr. Thomas Eissenberg claims that the study was done on 16 people. These subjects smoked their regular brand of cigarettes and then in another session smoked electronic cigarettes. When smoking cigarettes, Dr.Eissenberg found that they had a "substantial and significant" increase in heart rate, he did not find the same significant increase in heart rate with electronic cigarettes. He also claims that the cigarette users had a larger increase of "plasma nicotine" which he did not find with the electronic cigarette users.

This information conflicts with the report that was done by the FDA in May 2009, the FDA states that they do deliver nicotine, which is the FDA's main reason that they want regulatory authority over them. The actual scientific report by Dr.Eissenberg should be available in the February print issue of the journal Tobacco Control.

We asked Susan, a e-cigarette user, her opinion on the matter and here is what she had to say:

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