Tobacco.org

BAT wins AEO certification 

British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea was recognized as an Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) certified by the Korea Custom Services.

This is the first time for a tobacco company to garner the AEO certification, which is designed by the World Customs Organization to recognize outfits for successfully securing international trade flow.

The certification was awarded Friday at Busan Main Custom Service.

The certification gained weight internationally after trade security measures were strengthened in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. It was first introduced to Korea in 2009.

Jump to full article »

Smoking in Egypt: know the facts, dispel the myths 

According to the Egyptian Anti-smoking Network, a nonprofit organisation aiming to raise awareness and shed more light on the facts and hazards surrounding the use of tobacco, the number of smokers in Egypt has sky-rocketed to ten million. Each smoker spends around LE110 to feed their habit, totalling up to LE11 billion per year: quite a sum in a staggering economy and considering cigarettes much cheaper in Egypt than abroad.

The numbers might mean not so much to those who value their habit over their pay cheque, but there is more to the importance of quitting smoking than just saving money.

According World Health Organisation, almost 5.5 million lives are lost annually to smoking. Their 2003 statistics reveal that 317,812 males and 266,126 females in Egypt lost their lives that year due to tobacco-related illnesses.

"It is of utmost importance to understand that smokers are deluded by many misconceptions, and unraveling the myths is the first step towards breaking the habit," asserts Dr Abdel Hadi Mesbah, Professor of Immunology and fellow of The American Academy of Immunology, who lists those misconceptions as follows:

Smoking makes you calmer, the so-claimed-soothing effect is just an instant result of the induction of nicotine into your system that actually leaves you weakened and dependant on that substance. Scientifically, nicotine is not a calming or sedating substance.

Jump to full article »

Survey shows how depression and smoking intertwine 

More than 40 percent of U.S. adults who have depression are also smokers, meaning people need help with both if they want to quit, according to a U.S. government survey published on Wednesday.

The survey found more than half of middle-aged men with depression were also smokers, while half of women under age 40 who were depressed also smoked.

Patients with depression who want to kick the habit can be helped, but it is difficult, said Laura Pratt and Debra Brody of the National Center for Health Statistics, who conducted the study.

"The few studies that have examined ability to quit smoking in persons with depression have shown that with intensive treatment, persons with depression can quit smoking and remain abstinent," they wrote.

"These intensive cessation services often use treatments that are also used for depression, including cognitive-behavioral therapy or antidepressant medications."

Pratt and Brody used a national survey of 5,000 people to break out the percentage of smokers among people with depression.

Jump to full article »

PHOTOS: Largest Ever Federal Tobacco Tax Hits Cigarette Smokers 

* Famous Smoke Shop

Shop the Freshest Selection - Top Service and Lowest Prices Anywhere.

www.Famous-Smoke.com

*

Gillibrand Fights Tobacco

100% voting record against tobacco Tough laws to regulate tobacco

www.kirstengillibrand.com/health

*

Electric ClG

As seen in all the Malls! Kits for 70% less - from $49.99

www.TheElectricAlternative.com

Jump to full article »

RAI reports solid full-year results 

At a Glance

-- Full-year 2008 reported EPS up 3.2 percent at $4.57; adjusted EPS up 5.0 percent at $4.80

-- 2008 4Q reported EPS down 11.9 percent at $0.89; adjusted EPS up 10.4 percent at $1.27

-- 4Q reported EPS includes non-cash trademark impairment charges of $145 million and an investment impairment of $33 million

-- 2008 highlights:

-- R.J. Reynolds, Conwood increase adjusted operating margins

-- Camel, Grizzly expand successful new styles

-- R.J. Reynolds' growth brands continue share gains

-- Conwood delivers double-digit volume growth

-- RAI sharpens focus on innovation

-- RAI credit raised to investment grade

Jump to full article »

• Editorial: Adding harm reduction to tobacco control 

“There is no good reason why a switch from tobacco products to less harmful nicotine delivery systems should not be encouraged.” So stated a 1991 Lancet Editorial, yet 16 years later cigarettes continue to dominate the nicotine-delivery system market, despite their clear health risks. . . .

Britton, Edwards, and the other members of the RCP's Tobacco Advisory Group advocate a courageous approach to nicotine addiction. Greater availability of medicinal nicotine, and perhaps even of low-toxicity smokeless products, along with increasing restrictions on smoked tobacco, is likely to reduce tobacco-related mortality and morbidity. Given the known hazards of smoked tobacco, and the numbers of people who smoke, innovative thinking is needed. We support tobacco harm reduction alongside rigorously applied tobacco control policies.

Jump to full article »

PASCUAL: Who lobbied at BIR to slash cigarette tax? 

NILAKAD?: As they say, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Yes, even if it’s just cigarette smoke.

At the Bureau of Internal Revenue, whose personnel are being whipped to collect more taxes, insiders are grousing over the alleged influence peddling of the lawyer-father of a big finance official to lower the taxes on a cigarette manufacturer.

The pressure applied, sources said, has resulted in the reversal by the Department of Finance of a final BIR ruling that slapped an excise tax of P26 per pack of Pall Mall cigarettes made and sold in the Philippines.

It was reportedly Finance Undersecretary Gaudencio Mendoza . . .

President Gloria Arroyo may want to know why the government has given up P93 million a year in excise taxes on a “sin” item at a time when it is reducing the budget deficit through improved tax collection.

She might also want to know who gained from the government’s loss.

Jump to full article »

EDITORIAL: Allegheny's indoor smoking ban thrown out, and little zeal exists for a statewide solution 

Although Gov. Ed Rendell has proposed a statewide public smoking ban as part of his overall health-care package, there has been no zeal among legislators to move in that direction. . . .

And when it comes to powerful influences and well-heeled lobbies, consider just who has been footing the legal bill for the two restaurants that so far have successfully fought off the Allegheny County ban, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.

Jump to full article »

Trade ministry calls for scrapping cigarette import quota  

The Belarusian Ministry of Trade has suggested abolishing an import quota on cigarettes on January 1, 2008.

The ministry has already drawn up a draft directive providing for the measure and submitted it to the Council of Ministers, the ministry's official told BelaPAN.

The measure is part of agreements between Belarus and Russia on removing barriers in mutual trade.

Jump to full article »

• US judge will not let BAT out of racketeering case 

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said that, whether British American Tobacco could be held liable as part of the largest civil racketeering case in U.S. history is a question that should be aired during the trial of the case scheduled to start in September. . . .

Kessler was not persuaded by British American Tobacco's argument for dismissal. The company contended that charges against it should be dismissed before trial because it had only a tiny share of the U.S. market and because there is no evidence it participated in any industry conspiracy.

Jump to full article »

CART set to line up Team Canada 

Heading into its last year before tobacco legislation forces the exit of one-half of its partnership, Player's-Forsythe is working on an all-Canadian CART dream team featuring drivers Alex Tagliani, Patrick Carpentier and Paul Tracy. . .

But though negotiations are in progress, a deal is not yet done -- contrary to published reports. . .

Player's has been trying to make a splash in its last year before tobacco legislation forces it to abandon public sponsorship. Long a champion of Canadian drivers, the tobacco company seems to want one final run at racing dominance.

The negotiations with Carpentier are a major turnaround from earlier in the year.

Jump to full article »

LETTER: SHATENSTEIN: Case dismissed 

LETTER: SHATENSTEIN: Quit it 

On Tuesday, Ontario Small Claims Court found Imperial Tobacco not liable for Mr. Joseph Battaglia's addiction to smoking, nor for his heart condition. In a celebratory press release, Imperial claims the verdict confirms "there is nothing about our products which prevented Mr. Battaglia from quitting smoking, as indeed he has done numerous times in the past." If it's so easy to quit, why does it take numerous tries? [This graph only]

Jump to full article »

Cigarette packaging misleading, judge says 

A Toronto smoker is responsible for his habit, a judge ruled Tuesday in rejecting his lawsuit against cigarette giant Imperial Tobacco, but agreed that the packaging on so-called "light" cigarettes is misleading.

And that, industry watchdogs say, could force cigarette companies to be more accountable for their labelling.

Justice Pamela Thomson agreed with Joe Battaglia, 59, that figures indicating the toxin levels on packages were misleading because they are calculated by a machine, not by a human smoker, but she said Mr. Battaglia was responsible for his smoking.

"The plaintiff is the only one who has control over how he smokes," Judge Thomson said in her decision. "The only thing he could have done was quit."

Jump to full article »

Court douses smoke lawsuit 

A former cigarette salesman lost his legal battle against Imperial Tobacco yesterday when a judge decided there was no proof that his heart trouble was caused by smoking.

Joseph Battaglia, 59, launched his suit against the Canadian tobacco giant in 1997, suing them for $6,000 in small claims court.

Yesterday, Justice Pamela Thompson dismissed Battaglia's claim, saying "his heart disease stabilized in 1999 when he started taking his medication.

"In 1999, his condition should have deteriorated. It didn't," she said.

But she had tough words for the tobacco company and its use of content figures on the side of cigarette packages.

Jump to full article »