Smokersblog. Smoking Facts and Research

Snuff the world: What is snuff

2012-01-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

Let us look in the end what is snuff, snuff about the next major classification, characteristics and the basic situation of contemporary snuff.

Snuff (Nasal Snuff), is used for snorting or without added flavoring spice powder, fermented tobacco. Snuff without spices that flavor the tobacco snuff; spiced snuff snuff that perfumery.

The earliest recorded literature snuff spice recipe in the 17th century in Italy, rare animals in three flavors: musk, ambergris and castoreum, West "perfumery technique" from the beginning. Later snuff use in a wide range of spices, spices, roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, spices, certain animals, and food like wine, coffee, cheese, honey, oil and other spices may appear in the directory snuff.

There are a number of players interested in home-made snuff. Some players will be mix of different products snuff, the so-called "snuff cocktail" flavor of snuff modulation detached; some players, in plain snuff, add cool agents, spices, the so-called "semi-original snuff"; some fans level of snuff, tobacco grown on the balcony, hand-picking, drying, baking, milling, flavored, completely self-sufficient.

In addition, there is a special kind of snuff, tobacco does not contain any ingredients, I will name it "white snuff" (Tobacco Free Snuff), the name has been generally accepted by the domestic players.

Overview of the Tobacco Industry in Russia

2012-01-13T01:24:00.000-08:00

Russia is the world’s third largest tobacco market by volume.4 Russia’s tobacco market is unique in that all four of the major transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) operate in the country, with all of the big manufacturers investing in facilities, brands, marketing and distribution.5 Since 2001, local ownership market shares have decreased dramatically from 42% of the market in 2001 to 7% in 2011.
Also, more than in other tobacco markets, there is huge diversity in cigarette brands across the country. This is due in part to the presence of and competition between the TTCs and also due to the complicated distribution, retailing and marketing of tobacco products in Russia. For example, the country is so large that it spans eleven time zones across Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia; thus, new product launches require more time to be deployed into every part of the country.5
Retail volume sales have increased by over 30% (31.6%) in the last ten years from 290 billion sticks in 1999 to 382 billion sticks in 2011.

Cuban Cigars - The Most Sought After of All

2011-11-30T06:34:00.000-08:00

There is one cigar that is sought after more so than others, the Cuban cigar. With such a high demand for Cuban cigars, all to often counterfeit cigars find there way into the market. With this being said, it is important to know how to tell a real Cuban cigar as apposed to a fake one.

There are various identifiers you can look out for to help determine the authenticity of Cuban cigars. One can examine the packaging, the box they come and most importantly the cigar itself and cigarettes. Below is a list of what to look for when determining what is a real Cuban cigar and what is not.

First, the color of all the cigars in the box should be of similar color.

Next, and I think this goes without saying, the cigars should all be the same size. This is one of the quickest ways to spot a fake.

Continuing, the tobacco should not be bunched up tight. Real Cuban cigars will be finely made.

A fourth thing to look for is the lack of large veins. If the cigar does have veins in the wrapping it should be very fine.

Fifth, the bands should be tight fitting and have a solid color.

Sixth, looking at the end of the cigar, it should be cut cleanly and evenly.

And finally, the actual cap on the cigar should have a precise fit.

If you are able to spot and authentic Cuban cigar over a fake one you'll save yourself a lot of money. As you may know, they are not cheap. Now that you know how to spot a real Cuban cigar be sure to smoke wisely.

Nicotiana: Biology of Tobacco

2011-11-16T01:24:00.000-08:00

There are many species of tobacco, which are encompassed by the genus of herbs Nicotiana. It is

part of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) indigenous to North and South America, Australia, south west Africa and the South Pacific.

Many plants contain nicotine, a powerful neurotoxin, that is particularly harmful to insects. However, tobaccos contain a higher concentration of nicotine than most other plants. Unlike many other Solanaceae, they do not contain tropane alkaloids, which are often poisonous to humans and other animals.

Despite containing enough nicotine and other compounds such as germacrene and anabasine and other piperidine alkaloids (varying between species) to deter most herbivores, a number of such animals have evolved the ability to feed on Nicotiana species without being harmed. Nonetheless, tobacco is unpalatable to many species, and therefore some tobacco plants (chiefly tree tobacco, N. glauca) have become established as invasive weeds in some places.

Here I am!

2011-09-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

Health benefits for smokers who quit

2011-05-05T02:14:00.000-07:00

Stopping smoking has substantial immediate and long-term health benefits for smokers. The excess risk of death from smoking falls soon after cessation and the onset of the initial benefits from smoking cessation are rapid. However, it takes up to 15 years for the former smoker to approach or completely revert to the life expectancy of a non-smoking individual.
The increased risk of death from smoking begins falling shortly after quitting, and the initial benefits from smoking cessation rapidly become apparent. Although it may take as long as 15 years for the overall health status and mortality risk to return to a non-smoking level, former smokers live longer than continuing smokers, no matter at what age they stop smoking.
Smokers who stop at age 50 halve the hazard and those that stop before 30 avoid almost all of the hazard. As for the increased morbidity, the rate and extent of reduction of risk varies between diseases. For example, in the case of lung cancer, the risk falls over 10 years to about 30-50% of that of continuing smokers, but the risk remains raised even 20 years after quitting. Stopping smoking before the age of 30 removes 90% of the lifelong risk of lung cancer, but quitting at any age is still beneficial.
Within a year of quitting, the increase in heart disease mortality due to smoking is halved, and within 15 years, the absolute risk is almost the same as in individuals who have never smoked. Smoking cessation also reduces the risk of death after a stroke and of death from pneumonia and influenza.
Cessation results in a small increase in lung function compared to those who continue to smoke who have an accelerated rate of decline in lung function with age. Upon smoking cessation, the smokers’ rate of decline in lung function reverts to that in non-smokers.
The PESCE study concluded that if ten countries out of the 27 project countries could achieve a 3% reduction in the number of people smoking, then by 2030 there would be over 4,000 fewer deaths per year from chronic heart disease, COPD, lung cancer and stroke alone. Reductions in the incidence of these four diseases would lead to healthcare cost savings in the EU of over 160 million Euros.

Is it biologically plausible that menthol enhances the addictiveness of cigarette smoking?

2011-04-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

The evidence is sufficient to conclude that it is biologically plausible that menthol makes cigarette
smoking more addictive. The evidence reviewed suggests several mechanisms by which menthol could contribute to the initiation and persistence of cigarette smoking.

• Nicotine is required for the acquisition and maintenance of addiction to cigarette smoking. But as described previously, menthol can modulate nicotine effects and may act directly on nicotinic
cholinergic receptors to alter nicotine response.

• While nicotine is required for nicotine addiction, the addictiveness of cigarettes is also influenced by sensory factors. Menthol provides an unmistakable

• Sensory experiences can contribute to conditioned aspects of smoking behavior. Once drug selfadministration has been established, taste and other sensory factors can function as stimuli that can substantially enhance the strength and persistence of drug self‐administration.

• Stimuli associated with drug intake and/or withdrawal can come to evoke craving that promotes resumption of self‐administration of the drug after a period of abstinence. Thus, menthol from food or toothpaste could serve as a sensory cue to prompt relapse to smoking. These mechanisms have been demonstrated in a variety of animal and human studies with a variety of addictive drugs.

• Another potentially relevant issue is the relationship between menthol and genetic differences in perception of taste. As noted above, various studies raise the possibility that menthol might interact with genetically determined taste sensitivity to facilitate smoking. Thus, there may be a genetically susceptible population for whom menthol cigarettes facilitate smoking.

Best Camel Cigarettes for you

2011-03-24T06:58:00.000-07:00

You will certainly have a vision of exotic places of Morocco and Egypt when you hear name Camel. If you smoke Camel cigarettes then you might be well aware of the quality of these cigarettes. Camel cigarette brand has also offered coupons to the smokers. The reason is that the smokers want to smoke high quality cigarettes at very low price. They want to save their money and also want quality. They can get both these things from Camel cigarettes. It can be very good for the smokers to grab Camel cigarette coupons especially when prices of other cigarette brands as going sky high. These coupons can be great benefit for the smokers. The Camel cigarettes have provided great pleasure to the smokers and they have enjoyed these cigarettes a lot.

The Camel cigarette brand is really cool and it has provided smooth taste to the smokers. There are online cigarettes stores available which have provided Camel cigarettes to the smokers at very low price all over the world. The smokers have to be careful about these coupons because they can get benefit from these coupons only if they are valid and up to date. The number of Camel cigarette smokers has increased a lot due to these coupons. The other thing which makes Camel cigarette brand popular is the variety of the cigarette which it has offered to the smokers. The smokers can enjoy every variety of cigarettes offered by Camel brand. There are regular, light and menthol cigarettes offered by this brand to the smokers.

The Camel coupons can be very convenient and take a bit on cost of smoking Camel cigarettes. You can find these cigarette coupons on cigarette cartons or packs of Camel cigarettes. The Camel cigarette became so popular with the use of cigarette mascot. This mascot was used in the advertisements of the Camel cigarette brand. These cigarettes are blended with high quality tobacco. You can order any amount of Camel cigarette on online cigarette stores just by sitting at your home and you can have its delivery right at your door. The price of Camel cigarette brand is very much affordable as compared to other cigarette brand. You can enjoy high quality cigarettes at very low price with Camel cigarette brand.

There is no tax on cigarettes due to which more and more cigarette coupons are offered by the Camel cigarettes which has attracted large number of smokers all over the world. These cigarettes have provided great pleasure to the smokers and they have enjoyed it a lot. The Camel cigarette coupons have made things very easy for the smokers and now they are enjoying more Camel cigarettes. The use of high quality tobacco has made Camel cigarette brand very attractive. These cigarettes are also being liked by the teenagers a lot due to its great advertisements. There are different varieties offered by the Camel cigarette brand for different types of smokers.

Tobacco antiglobalism

2011-02-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

Freak forms can take the argument of business, if he faces a loss of income. Russia's cigarette makers on Wednesday rose against the proposed Treasury rates of excise duty on tobacco products in 2010 - 2012, at the grounds that the new rates of benefit transnational corporations. Manufacturers estimate that cigarettes with the new year to rise by about 4 rubles. from the current 6 - 7 rub. for the stack. Rise in the price and non-filter cigarettes, occupying only 10% of Russia's market, but bearing a much higher share - from 25 to 90% - Revenue is Russian tobacco companies.
As The head of Pogarskij cigarette, cigar factory, Igor Moiseyev, the price increase will lead to the cigarettes disappear from the market. Not rich and, as a rule, an elderly purchasers of cigarettes without the filter does not matter that smoking, the main thing that was cheap. Moiseyev said that in the Bryansk region population is showing more interest in self-cultivation of tobacco raw material. And then another, and producers of fakes are activated. According to observations of the Director-General "Nevo Tabak Oleg Amiranova, Ukrainians have already started to buy in Russia, small lines for the clandestine manufacture of cigarettes without filter. And, most likely, their products will be designed for those who can not switch completely to tobacco.

Director-General Industrial Association Tabakprom Vadim Zhelnin not believe that Russia's producers so exaggerated - even 4 rubles. improve their customer is already painful. But if officials - which is unlikely - would agree not to raise excise taxes so much, transnational giants only say thank you and them, and Russia's lobbyists.

BAT targets tobacco firm in Colombia

2011-01-19T05:05:00.000-08:00

BRITISH American Tobacco is looking to take over a Colombian cigarette-maker for around £290m, sources close to the firm said last night

A person close to BAT, which owns the Dunhill cigarettes, Rothmans and Benson & Hedges brands, told City A.M. the firm has long been keen to buy Protobaco and plans to renew its efforts now rival Philip Morris has abandoned its advances.

US cigarette-maker Philip Morris dropped its $452m (£290m) plans to take over Protobaco last week, blaming what it said were burdensome conditions imposed by Colombia’s industry watchdog.

The firm would have been forced to sell some of its brands in Colombia and keep the market open for other retailers before the purchase of Protobaco was waved through by regulators.

It had originally agreed to buy 32 per cent of Protobaco from its private owners in mid-2009.

BAT, which already operates in the country, has a much smaller market share than Philip Morris, the biggest tobacco firm in Colombia with control of close to 50 per cent of the market share.

Colombia introduced anti-smoking legislation in 2009 to limit advertising on tobacco products.

A takeover would be a chance for outgoing chief executive Paul Adams to put his final stamp on British American Tobacco before he retires in February, capping off more than $5bn (£3.3bn) of acquisitions since he took the helm in 2004.

What Is a Comprehensive Cessation Benefit?

2011-01-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

In the U.S. Public Health Service’s Clinical Practice Guideline called Treating Tobacco
Use and Dependence,8 it recommends seven medications and three types of counseling
that are scientifically-proven to be effective in helping smokers quit. The Guideline, updated in 2008, is a review of decades of research on tobacco cessation, and is widely regarded as the definitive report on effective methods of treating tobacco users.

The medications listed in the box to the left are all recommended in the Guideline to fight the physical aspect of the tobacco addiction. The Guideline also states that these medications are most effective when paired with counseling, which helps smokers overcome the social and behavioral aspects. Counseling is the only treatment option for some smokers who should not take cessation medications (like some pregnant women or people with medical contra-
indications), and is effective on its own or paired with medication. The Guideline recommends three types of intensive counseling: individual (face-to-face), group, and phone. Effective cessation counseling incorporates social support and addresses practical coping and problem-solving skills.

Individual counseling can be delivered by a physician, dentist, nurse, or other clinician, as well as tobacco treatment specialist. Group counseling can and does occur in many different settings—often clinics or classes are run out of large physician practices, hospitals, community centers, religious institutions or workplaces. Phone counseling is provided in every state through state quitlines (reachable through 1-800-QUIT-NOW). Additionally several national organizations
operate quitlines for smokers across the country (including the American Lung Association’s Lung Helpline, 1-800-LUNG-USA). Some employers and insurance companies provide other phone counseling services to their employees and members.

Spain adopts strict anti-smoking legislation

2010-12-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

MADRID — The Spanish Parliament on Tuesday toughened the country's anti-smoking legislation, putting Spain in line with the strictest anti-smoking countries in Europe.

Parliament gave a green light to a bill banning smoking in bars, restaurants, discotheques, casinos and bingo halls starting Jan. 2.

Smoking will even be prohibited in outdoor public areas such as playgrounds, schoolyards or hospital yards.

A 2006 law had already banned smoking at workplaces and in public buildings such as hospitals, schools, shopping centers or railway stations.

Yet the law allowed bar or restaurant owners to decide whether to authorize smoking in their establishments, which the vast majority did.

Owners of leisure establishments opposed the smoking ban, saying it would keep their clients away.

The government rejects such arguments, saying smoking bans have not had a significant effect on that sector in other Western countries.

Those violating the ban can face fines as high as $780,000.

Surgeon General Focuses on Flu, Tobacco, Obesity

2010-12-08T07:13:00.000-08:00

The nation's top doc has a lot on her mind this time of year.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin talks about an upcoming tobacco study, childhood obesity and National Influenza Vaccination Week that is now underway.

More than a year after becoming the 18th Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Dr. Regina Benjamin is again tackling flu shots and this year there are new guidelines.

"The biggest thing this year; we are asking everyone over the age of 6 months to get their flu shot," Benjamin says. "If we can get the entire population vaccinated we can avoid any outbreak or epidemic like last year."

Unlike last year though Dr. Benjamin says there are no shortages of the vaccine this flu season.
"This particular vaccine this year already has the H1N1 in it. It also has influenza A and influenza B as well so it is all covered in this shot at one time."

Another issue close the Surgeon General's heart: reduce childhood obesity.
"My goal is to have people be healthy and be fit because they enjoy it they have a good time not because it is something negative to do," Benjamin says.

33 states have childhood obesity rates above 25-percent.
One of Benjamin's favorite phrases is "exercise is medicine". She hosts fitness walks in cities across the nation.

She is also releasing the first Surgeon General's tobacco report this Thursday.
"This report kind of goes into the science of how it really affects your DNA and how certain things at cellular level affect you with one cigarette."

Lindsay Lohan New Poster Child For Electronic Cigarette Industry?

2010-11-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

Estranged father of Lindsay Lohan has unknowingly launched a marketing campaign for electronic cigarettes with his latest desperate attempt to stop his troubled daughter from smoking in her recent court-ordered rehab.

Michael Lohan was banned from visiting Lindsay at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage, California but that hasn’t stopped him from trying to encourage her to quit smoking.

According to multiple reports, Lohan sent Lindsay an electronic cigarette as part of a care package in hopes that the starlet will at least try to quit smoking for good. Additionally, the suspect care package sent to the 24-year-old actress also reportedly contained over $8,000 worth of clothing to ease Lindsay’s stay at the Betty Ford Clinic.

Electronic cigarette industry giant, EmeraldLux, hopes that this latest Lohan media blitz will increase awareness and sales of smokeless cigarettes. To aid anyone trying to quit smoking, EmeraldLux is currently offering a free trial of their top selling electric cigarette in exchange for a small shipping and handling fee.

Smokers interested in taking advantage of this smokeless cigarette offer are encouraged to visit The Great Electronic Cigarette Offer website while supplies last.

Nonsmokers must respect smokers

2010-10-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

The campus smoking ban isn’t estimated to have any effect for at least two years, if it even makes it to a definite decision. But as a smoker, the very idea of a campus ban upsets me.

I used to hate cigarettes, but somehow I fell into the bad habit. I’ll quit eventually, but in the mean time I would like to enjoy my cigarettes.

I try to be a courteous smoker on campus. I sit away from groups of nonsmokers or I try to smoke in areas with ashtrays in hopes that a nonsmoker won’t pass by, but it’s unavoidable. The majority of campus doesn’t smoke, and I respect that. But placing limits on where I can enjoy my cigarette OUTSIDE is ridiculous.

I can’t smoke in a bar, or a restaurant, or any building for that matter, and I can’t smoke within 50 feet of doorway. That’s fine. Not everyone wants to be stuffed in a 12 feet by 15 feet room with me while I smoke a cigarette.

But when I’m outside I expect to be able to enjoy my cigarette as I please. Campus not only serves as an educational facility, but also as a home.

Banning smoking on campus, especially around dorms, is like telling the smoking community you can’t smoke in the comfort of your own home.

There is plenty of space outside of the dorms for smokers and nonsmokers to enjoy their air as they like AND be courteous to one another.

Nonsmokers do a lot of complaining, but take no action except to slap a ban on smoking.Nonsmokers should be more proactive about avoiding cigarette smoke if it bothers them that much.

For instance, don’t walk right behind someone if they are smoking. If there is a smoker in the breezeway at the Miller Learning Center, go in the first door you come to instead of walking by them. There are plenty of ways to avoid the smoke.

I can only speak for myself when I say that I will try to be respectful of others while enjoying my daily dose of nicotine.

But it would be nice if the nonsmokers could be respectful of me as well.

Study 'supports need to keep tobacco hidden'

2010-08-10T03:47:00.000-07:00

A study linking shop tobacco displays to increased smoking experimentation by young people reinforces the need to legislate the products out of sight, an anti-tobacco group says.

After the Government previously refused to ban retail displays, officials are now considering afresh whether to recommend the policy, one which tobacco control researchers say would be important in reducing New Zealand's smoking rate.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found in California that exposure to tobacco displays and advertising at convenience, liquor and small grocery stores was a risk factor for young people taking up smoking.

New Zealand law does not permit advertising, but Smokefree Coalition director Prudence Stone said the Californian study was still relevant for this country because the "power walls" of tobacco displays in many shops were a form of advertising.

The study followed 1681 children aged 11 to 14 who, at the outset, had never smoked. They were asked subsequently if they had smoked and how often they visited the three kinds of shops.

After one year, the students who visited these stores at least twice a week were at least twice as likely to try smoking as infrequent visitors.

The findings corroborate those of a New Zealand-based study published last year which found that the risk of experimenting with smoking was higher for teenagers aged 14-15 who visited shops with retail tobacco displays weekly or more frequently.

The Stanford University study concluded: "A growing body of evidence suggests that stores that are saturated with cigarette advertising and product displays constitute a significant public health concern, particularly for youth."

Health Minister Tony Ryall last year rejected the recommendation of Parliament's health select committee to ban retail tobacco displays.

But he left the door ajar to reconsideration if new research indicated a ban would lead to "a significant reduction" in smoking.

Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia revived the proposal in March. The Health Ministry said it had analysed the 1000 submissions it received and was writing a report which Mrs Turia was expected to take to the Cabinet later this year.

Dr Stone said: "We believe the consultation process highlighted the fact that new evidence had come to light that strongly supports the need for a ban.

"We now know [displays] encourage youth to take up smoking. I have certainly forwarded that Pediatrics article to Tariana Turia's office."

Retailers' groups and New Zealand's biggest tobacco supplier, British American Tobacco, have opposed the proposed display ban.

Health effects of passive smoking in children

2010-06-16T03:42:00.000-07:00

The UK smoke-free legislation was not drafted or intended directly to protect children.

The results demonstrate modest impacts of maternal passive smoking on birth weight, and possibly on fetal and perinatal mortality, and the risk of congenital abnormalities. They also demonstrate important effects of family and household smoking on the risk of sudden infant death, lower respiratory infection, middle ear disease, wheeze, asthma, and meningitis in the child.

As is consistent with the data on exposure levels, maternal smoking typically has the strongest effects. Whilst the magnitude of the results of our meta-analyses may have been biased by confounding and other factors, our subgroup analyses of adjusted studies suggest that these influences have not appreciably biased the effect estimates. We are aware that passive smoking has been implicated in a wide range of health, developmental and behavioural effects in children, including some rare cancers such as hepatoblastoma and leukaemia, and that the list of outcomes studied in this report is far from comprehensive. We have also not included harm arising from domestic fires.

Passive smoking results in over 165,000 new episodes of disease, 300,000 primary care contacts, 9,500 hospital admissions, at least 200 cases of bacterial meningitis, and about 40 sudden infant deaths each year. Most of this additional burden of disease falls on the more disadvantaged children in our society. All of it is avoidable.

Brigitte Bardot: Women smoking cigarettes

2010-05-25T01:33:00.000-07:00

Harmful effects of fetal and current exposure to tobacco smoke products

2010-03-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

Our population-based epidemiologic study showed the harmful effects of fetal and current exposure to tobacco smoke products. Prenatal exposure due to maternal smoking had the strongest effects on respiratory symptoms. Current household ETS exposure also showed significant adverse effects, but past-only ETS exposure was not associated with any respiratory outcome. In addition, the number of current household cigarettes smoked, the percentage of ETS exposure during lifetime, and the number of current smokers at home showed increasing trends in risks of respiratory symptoms. Age, sex, active smoking habits, parental atopic history, and parental education might contribute to asthma and wheeze in childhood. We minimized interference from these confounders by recruiting lifelong nonsmokers of similar age at study entry, and adjusting potential confounders by regression models.
Although maternal smoking was, as expected, a strong determinant of preterm delivery and low birth weight, and these adverse pregnancy outcomes were strong predictors of respiratory problems, only gestational age showed an effect in our study. Adjustment for indoor residential factors resulted in only small changes in the effect estimates, and these covariates were not included in the final models. In our population, 197 (3.9%) children were reported to have had in utero ETS exposure. The prevalence is much lower than other Western studies.

We found that in utero exposure to maternal smoking had larger effects on early-onset asthma than those asthmatics diagnosed after 5 years of age. Previous studies showed a stronger risk for incident asthma or wheezing illness among younger children compared with older children. These investigators suggested that the stronger relationship might be attributed to exacerbation of intercurrent infection among young children, resulting in transient wheeze that would tend to diminish with age and increasing airway caliber. The proposed mechanism would suggest that household ETS may not be the sole primary cause of early childhood asthma.

In summary, our results showed that prenatal and current household ETS exposure in Taiwan had significant adverse effects on respiratory health in children. Eliminating household ETS exposure may offer the most promising opportunity for reducing morbidity, because this risk factor is potentially modifiable. Public health policy for reducing the burden of respiratory symptoms may require a stronger focus on smoking cessation in the home, where children could gain significant health benefits.

Health Risks

2010-01-27T06:34:00.000-08:00

Tobacco is packed with harmful and addictive substances. S
cientific evidence has shown conclusively that all forms of tobacco cause health problems throughout life, frequently resulting in death or disability. Smokers have markedly increased risks of multiple cancers, particularly lung cancer, and are at far greater risk of heart disease, strokes, emphysema and many other fatal and non-fatal diseases. If they chew tobacco, they risk cancer of the lip, tongue and mouth. Women suffer additional health risks.
Smoking in pregnancy is dangerous to the mother as well as to the foetus, especially in poor countries where health facilities are inadequate. Maternal smoking is not only harmful during pregnancy, but has long-term effects on the baby after birth. This is often compounded by exposure to passive smoking from the mother, father or other adults smoking.
While tobacco kills millions more than it helps, research is underway examining any possible health benefits of nicotine and also trying to find a safe use for tobacco, particularly in the field of genetic modification. The aim is to produce vaccines or human proteins for medical use, or even to clean up soil that has been contaminated with explosives.

Philip Morris and Altria in the Curt

2009-12-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

Benjamin Francis, an Alaska resident and citizen, died at
age fifty-two from lung cancer. As Francis’ survivor and on
behalf of his estate, Dolores Hunter brought a wrongful death
lawsuit in Alaska state court against Philip Morris USA, a
Virginia corporation that produces, markets, and distributes
cigarettes; Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris
USA; and the Alaska Commercial Company (“ACC”), an
Alaska corporation that sells merchandise, including cigarettes
manufactured by Philip Morris, in stores throughout
Alaska (all three Appellees are collectively referred to as
“Appellees”).
Hunter alleged that Francis’ death resulted from defective
products sold by Appellees. Hunter’s complaint included
claims of: (I) fraud and misrepresentation, (II) products liability,
(III) failure to warn, (IV) deceptive advertising, (V)
breach of warranty, (VI) conspiracy, and (VII) addiction
defectiveness.
Philip Morris and Altria (together, the “Altria defendants”)
removed the case to the United States District Court for the
District of Alaska. They argued that Hunter’s state law claims
against ACC were preempted by congressional policy not to
remove tobacco from the market and that ACC therefore was
fraudulently joined, resulting in complete diversity of citizenship.
The Altria defendants then filed a motion to dismiss
Hunter’s complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. Hunter filed a
motion to remand, asserting that her complaint adequately
pleaded a strict products liability claim against ACC under
Alaska state law. She argued that ACC was not fraudulently
13914 HUNTER v. PHILIP MORRIS USA
joined and, consequently, that total diversity between plaintiff
and all defendants did not exist.
The district court denied Hunter’s motion to remand. The
court agreed with the Altria defendants that Hunter’s state
product liability claim against ACC was preempted because
it would result in an effective ban on cigarettes, in contravention
of congressional policy. Hunter therefore had stated no
possible claim against ACC. The court accordingly found that
ACC was fraudulently joined, resulting in diversity of citizenship.
The court denied Hunter’s motion for reconsideration.
The district court then granted the 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss,
reasoning that Hunter had failed to identify the specific
products Francis used and the alleged defects in the products,
and that any product liability claims were preempted by the
congressional intent not to ban the sale of cigarettes. The district
court entered final judgment in favor of Appellees.
Hunter timely appealed.

EFFECTIVE TOBACCO-CONTROL PROGRAMS

2009-11-27T07:33:00.000-08:00

Numerous organizations have summarized how the organizational-capacity issues
mentioned in Chapter 4 are realized through effective tobacco-control programs. Those
organizations include the federal government, through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); various state governments, such as those
of California and Massachusetts; nongovernment organizations, such as the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation and the Institute of Medicine (IOM); and international organizations, such
as the World Health Organization (WHO). This appendix provides an overview of some
successful tobacco-control programs and highlights the components that contribute to their
success.

The United States has several decades of experience in implementing comprehensive
tobacco-control programs, particularly at the state level, many funded through tobacco-tax
initiatives. The programs have resulted in declines in tobacco consumption that greatly exceed
the national average decline. In 2000, IOM and the President’s Cancer Panel issued landmark
reports that concluded that there is overwhelming evidence that comprehensive state tobaccocontrol
programs substantially reduce tobacco use; they recommended that every state fund such
programs at certain specified per capita levels (IOM, 2000; US Surgeon General, 2000). CDC
(2007) recommends that each state fund a tobacco-control program with a target expenditure of
$15–20 per capita, depending on the state’s population, demography, and prevalence of tobacco
use (CDC, 2007). The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs could
assess the applicability of the CDC formulas for tobacco-control expenditures for states to their
own populations and adjust them accordingly to determine a reasonable tobacco-control budget
for each department.

The 2007 Best Practice for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs, published by
CDC, summarizes the status of state programs and supports a multidimensional approach to
further public-health goals along the entire tobacco-use continuum from prevention to cessation.
It includes a combination of educational, clinical, and social strategies that support the broad
goal of denormalization of tobacco use (CDC, 2007). The recommended strategies fall into five
categories: policies; health promotion and education, including communication interventions (for
example, mass-media–based antitobacco advertising campaigns and innovative approaches, such
as text messaging); cessation interventions (for example, cessation counseling based on the
health-care system, FDA-approved tobacco-cessation medications, and population-based
services, such as toll-free quitlines that are able to provide nicotine-replacement therapy);
surveillance and evaluation; and capacity-building, including administration and management
procedures. Direct interventions on an individual level, including health promotion and
cessation, are important, but the other strategies—including implementation of evidence-based
policies, such as price increases, reduced access to tobacco products, tobacco-free environments,
advertising bans, decreases in out-of-pocket costs of treatment, and countermarketing campaigns to change social norms around tobacco use—all encourage cessation. Therefore, cessation policies and programs should be considered as essential for creating the supportive environment necessary for quitting.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE TOBACCO USE

2009-11-06T05:46:00.001-08:00

The decision to use tobacco depends on many factors, from such personal ones as selfimage
to such societal ones as easy access to cigarettes. Using a socioecologic approach to
examine the factors that encourage and sustain tobacco use in military and veteran populations,
the committee concluded that tobacco use is the result of the interplay among individual
attributes (for example, genetic makeup and demographics), interpersonal factors (such as family
and colleagues), community influences (including work and educational settings), and larger
societal influences (such as political factors and commercial advertising). In the case of military
personnel and veterans, those factors are in operation before entry into the military system and
throughout different phases of military life, including recruitment, training, active duty,
deployment, and discharge or retirement. At the individual level, nicotine addiction and physical
and mental comorbidities contribute to the persistent use of tobacco. At the interpersonal level,
peer and family influences and the role of tobacco in facilitating social connections are
important. Leadership attitudes toward tobacco use in DoD and VA, their organizational
structure, and their current practices and policies may contribute to the lack of progress in
tobacco control. Congressional mandates, economic constraints, and military conflicts also affect
the ability of DOD and VA to become tobacco-free.

Stop smoking tips

2009-10-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

Withdrawal Symptoms - As strange as it sounds, withdrawal symptoms are good not bad for
they are true signs of healing of the brain, mind, and body. Within reason, it is fairly safe to blame
most of what you'll feel during the first three days on quitting. But after that you need to listen
closely to your body and if at all concerned get seen and evaluated. If you must, blame symptoms
on where you have been, not where you are going.
Possible Hidden Health Conditions - Each puff of smoke contained more than 4,000 chemicals,
while spit tobacco delivered up to 3,000. One or more of these chemicals may have been masking
an underlying hidden health problem such as a thyroid condition (iodine) or breathing problems in
smokers, including asthma (bronchiodialiators). Tobacco chemicals may also have been interacting
with medications you were already taking and an adjustment may be necessary. Stay alert and get
seen if at all concerned.
Emotional Phases – Chemical dependency upon nicotine was probably the most intense, repetitive,
dependable yet destructive relationship you have ever known. It infects every aspect of life. Be
prepared to experience a normal sense of emotional loss. Expect to travel through and experience
six different emotional recovery phases: (1) denial, (2) anger, (3) bargaining, (4) depression, (5)
acceptance, and (6) complacency.

State's tobacco industry helped avert new Pa. tax

2009-09-29T01:26:00.000-07:00

Pennsylvania is poised to maintain a long-standing tax exemption on the sales of cigars and smokeless tobacco, despite two attempts by Gov. Ed Rendell over the past three years to remove it.

Even though all other states tax the items, such a tax is not expected to appear in a nearly week-old budget agreement that is still being hammered into shape in the Capitol.

Earlier this year, Rendell proposed the tax to help wipe out the state's multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall. His attempt in 2007 would have helped underwrite an extension of state-subsidized health insurance to adults who lack coverage.

Resistance by Pennsylvania's legislators can be attributed to their desire to protect tobacco growers in southeastern Pennsylvania, cigar makers that employ hundreds and heavy use of snuff and chewing tobacco by miners and steelworkers in southwestern Pennsylvania.

"That would be a very unpopular tax in my communities," said Sen. Richard Kasunic, D-Fayette. "And I'd rather not have to vote on that."

In addition, Pennsylvania is home to four of the nation's eight leading cigar retailers. One, Cigars International of Bethlehem, would have to consider moving to Florida if Pennsylvania approved a tax on cigars, company president Keith Meier told the Senate Finance Committee at a February hearing on Rendell's proposal.

Legislative leaders did, however, agree to extend a new tax on games of chance played by clubs and nonprofits with liquor licenses and tickets for cultural institutions and performing arts events.

They also agreed to raise the tax on cigarettes by a quarter to $1.60 per pack while introducing that tax onto the growing sales of little cigars called cigarillos, which are not made in Pennsylvania and compete with cigars.

Public health groups argued that extending the tax to cigars and smokeless tobacco would be good public policy and a substantial source of revenue if the tax were to be commensurate with the one imposed on cigarettes.

But Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman, R-Centre, said many of his colleagues did not think the $50 million that could be raised under Rendell's proposal was worth it.

Utah miners can keep chewing tobacco

2009-09-15T03:25:00.000-07:00

Workers at two Utah coal operations won't have to give up chewing tobacco.

A union arbitrator has ruled that a ban on smokeless tobacco at Deer Creek mine and a Castle Dale coal preparation plant violates a collective bargaining agreement for 293 workers.

The operations are run by Energy West Mining Co., a unionized subsidiary of Rocky Mountain Power, which was ordered by a succession of parent companies to adopt the policy.

The United Mine Workers of America filed a grievance in December when PacificCorp, owned by MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., announced it planned to adopt the rule July 1. The ban was never enforced pending the ruling that favored the union Friday.

Arbitrator Fred Butler held that tobacco chewing isn't regulated by the workers' contracts. The only way the company can enforce the policy is through collective negotiations.

Tax causing steep decline in cigarette sales

2009-09-08T06:50:00.000-07:00

A new sales tax has put a dent in cigarette sales.

Steve Douglas says smoking is costing him a lot of money. In July, the state raised the cigarette tax by a dollar, making his two pack a day habit very costly.

"Over $100 a week, that's $400 a month, that's a car payment," says Douglas.

So Douglas, like many other smokers is cutting back.

"I went from 2 packs/day down to one pack," says Douglas.

Paul Montz is in the same boat. He goes through a pack a day and he's trying to quit.

"Both for health reasons as well as cost," says Montz. "Its become astronomical."

These local smokers aren't alone. The entire state has seen a 28% drop in cigarette sales from last year. A 17% drop from June to July of this year.

But, the numbers don't necessarily mean that everyone is quitting. Some Northern Floridians are driving across the border to buy their smokes.

"It's the principle," says Jan who wouldn't tell us her last name. "They don't need to single out smokers for tax."

Other smokers are buying cigarettes online to avoid the tax. But, that's illegal and the state has hired auditors to help monitor sales.

Paul Montz' advice to other smokers? Just quit.

"Before it was just a bad habit, now it's a financial burden," says Montz.

Anti tobacco law will be enforced

2009-08-31T01:25:00.000-07:00

This week the Health ministry will start inspections to enforce the anti-tobacco law in restaurants, bars and public places. Reina Roa, health services director for the ministry, said: “Words are finished and now we will proceed to sanction and close temporarily or permanently the places that insist on violating the law. ”
Roa said there were places in Via Argentina that keep separate areas for smokers and this is against the law as no smoking is allowed in public places.
The anti-tobacco law prohibits smoking in private and public offices, collective transportation and enclosed places with public access. Tobacco is the second major cause of death throughout the world. It is currently responsible for the death of about 5 million people each year. If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. Half the people who smoke today - that is about 650 million people - will eventually be killed by tobacco. To report smoking violations the public can call 800-5500.

Graphic Images Could Appear on U.S. Tobacco Products

2009-08-31T01:21:00.000-07:00

Graphic images may soon appear on U.S tobacco products. Lawmakers say they hopes to make people think twice before lighting up. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama signed a new law allowing the Federal Drug Administration to regulate how companies market tobacco products.

Under the new law, cigarette companies will soon be required to put new, larger warning labels on their products. U.S. lawmakers and anti-smoking advocates say the act aims to curb youth smoking.

"Young people are the population that the tobacco companies would like to have start smoking, it's the population they would like to have get hooked on nicotine," said Jim Phillips, American Lung Association of Salisbury. " A young person has a whole life time ahead of them to buy cigarettes."

Phillips says if the U.S. follows warnings already in place in other countries, the labels could include graphic pictures showing images like , blackened lungs, mouth and throat cancer. Some say while those images may be powerful, the warnings still won't get everyone to quit.

" People already know, smoking is bad for your health, there's a lot of side effects," said long-time smoker, Gilbert Kandler. " I don't think it is really going to do anything except make the fanatics against smoking feel better about themselves."

Others say the graphic images may prevent some people from smoking.

" I don't think cigarettes should be a product that kids should be encouraged to buy and I think that people should know exactly what smoking could do, said Fawn Mete. "I don't think it is a bad idea."

The FDA now has two years to issue specifics about the new warnings. Tobacco companies then have 18 months to comply.

Tobacco Tax Gaining Legislative Support

2009-08-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

The appetite to raise taxes seems to be growing as the Utah Legislature prepares for an anticipated $700 million budget shortfall. This is especially true for the tobacco tax proposed by Davis County Republican Representative Paul Ray.

“I do not support any type of tax increase normally, but again, this is a tax where the tobacco companies are making billions of dollars off of people — they’re killing people. You know, they’re using blood money, basically,” Ray says. “But yet, the state, this is the only way we have to recoup the money that we’re paying for health care for smokers and so to me it’s a legitimate way to do that.”

Ray’s proposal would nearly double the sales tax on a pack of cigarettes from 69.5 cents to $1.31. Then it would automatically re-set the tax at one cent above the national average, which Ray believes is fitting because Utah doesn’t have many smokers.

Ray says there was enough support to pass his tax increase earlier this year, but legislative leadership wanted to save it as an option for next year. There’s also talk of raising other taxes, including the gas tax and the income tax. But Senate President Michael Waddoups says the tobacco tax increase is the most likely to pass.

“I think there’s a number of revenue sources that need to be looked at,” Waddoups says. “The easy one is the tobacco tax that was discussed last year in my body. I wouldn’t say it was unanimous, but I think it is going to be the easiest one to pass.”

State leaders cut a billion dollars from the budget last year, but about 40 percent of that was restored by federal stimulus money. Without that federal assistance coming in next year, lawmakers might tap up to half of the state’s $420 million Rainy Day Fund.

Hospital going tobacco free

2009-08-26T06:21:00.000-07:00

In a move that follows other area health care providers, Wesley Medical Center will be tobacco free beginning Sept. 1.

Hattiesburg Clinic recently announced it will go tobacco free Nov. 19 and Forrest General Hospital banned tobacco products last year.

The ban includes Wesley's Hardy Street campus and off-site clinics in the community and applies to employees, medical staff, patients and visitors.

"Our hospital is concerned about the health and well-being of everyone who visits and is employed on our campus," said Wesley CEO Ron Seal. "We are committed to providing a healthy environment, and this policy puts us one step closer to realizing our full potential."

Human Resources Director Terry Trigg said the hospital formed a committee to begin the process in January.

"A committee was formed to evaluate our needs, develop our policies and gather resources for program implementation," he said. "Wesley feels this will create a healthy environment for our patients and visitors as well as improve the health of our work force."

David Hollis, Wesley's business development coordinator, said the general public and employees can take advantage of tobacco-cessation programs.

Chief Nursing Officer Andrea Brenn said a number of employees are planning a "quit strategy" by reducing tobacco usage or using nicotine replacement therapy.

"We realize that our employees who use tobacco products will have some difficult days ahead," she said. "However, we are all here for them and will support them during this transition."

Employees willing to kick the habit can participate in the Freshstart program sponsored by the American Cancer Society. The program consists of four one-hour sessions over a two-week period and functions in group-therapy format where participants address the physiologic and psychologic symptoms and issues with nicotine addiction.

"Our first group has proven to be a success," Hollis said. "We will continue to evaluate the needs of our employees and their interests in our offering programs like this on an ongoing basis."

Hollis said the general public can contact the American Cancer Society's toll free quitline - (877) 937-7848 - for personal counseling or visit the Web site www.cancer.org for information and resources.

Trigg said the change has been well received by the leadership, employees and medical staff.

"Additionally, this will help support our goal of promoting a healthy and safe environment for our patients, employees, medical staff and visitors," he said.

Tobacco Farmers Offered Grants

2009-08-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

Grants are available for assistance in replacing lost tobacco income.

The Moore County Cooper-ative Extension Service has scheduled a "how to apply" workshop on Aug. 25, at 10 a.m. at the Agricultural Center in Carthage, according to Taylor Williams, agriculture agent. Future workshops will be announced later.

Williams says all farmers who make an income from agriculture in the central Piedmont counties are eligible to apply.

Through its Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund, the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI-USA) is offering cost-share grants of up to $10,000 for individual farmers and up to $30,000 for groups to assist with the development of on-farm and community demonstrations of innovative ways to replace lost tobacco income.

The Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund provides cost-share support for farmers to try new production, marketing and processing strategies in order to earn more income on the farm.

The application process is competitive, and high priority will be given to innovative projects that show farmers a new direction or opportunity.

The Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund receives considerable support from a grant from the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.

Electronic Cigarettes are much safer than tobacco cigarettes

2009-08-11T03:47:00.000-07:00

Last week the FDA announced that their laboratory tests detected carcinogens (tobacco-specific nitrosamines) in electronic cigarettes and warned electronic cigarette smokers to stop using electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes. This scare tactic certainly made front page news, but it was not the entire story.

Nitrosamines are compounds that are in tobacco cigarettes, but are also found in beer, fish, meat and cheese. The levels of these 2 compounds were found in trace amounts in electronic cigarettes, especially when compared to tobacco cigarettes. Dr. Michael Siegel, a physician who specializes in public health and preventative medicine, states that the nitrosamine levels found in electronic cigarettes are comparable to levels in nicotine replacement products, such as NicoDerm CQ, which are approved by the FDA. "In contrast, the level of tobacco-specific nitrosamines present in tobacco
products are 300 to 1400 times higher."

The FDA seems to be trying to sway public opinion by not providing all the facts to the consumer. Sabina King of www.e-cigarettedirect.com" target="_blank">www.e-CigaretteDirect.com stated that the "FDA scare intimidated some of our customers. After learning all the facts, customers continued to place their electronic cigarette orders. We feel that electronic cigarettes are a healthier option for cigarette smokers. Our sales have increased at astounding rates every month. This demonstrates the need of these potentially life-saving products by consumers."

Electronic cigarettes are touted by some to help them quit smoking. Many e-cigarette smokers claim they feel better and breathe easier using electronic cigarettes versus traditional tobacco cigarettes. Distributors of electronic cigarettes say that their products have helped many people kick the habit.

Electronic cigarettes are intended to replace traditional cigarettes. They produce no second-hand smoke, allowing e-cigarette smokers to 'smoke' inside establishments that normally ban tobacco cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes contain only 20 ingredients, as opposed to tobacco cigarettes that contain over 4,000 chemicals, including known toxins and carcinogens.

Several leading tobacco researchers, including Dr. Siegel and Dr. Joel Nitzkin of the AAPHP Tobacco Control task Force have criticized the FDA and request that the FDA validate their warning with more substantial scientific evidence.

Philip Morris is test-marketing roll-your-own tobacco

2009-08-11T03:41:00.000-07:00

Philip Morris USA has started test-marketing roll-your-own cigarette tobacco, its first venture into that market.

This summer, the nation's No. 1 cigarette-maker started selling pouches and canisters of L&M brand tobacco in Maine and Michigan, spokesman Bill Phelps said.

"It's a very small market, but it's growing fast," he said.

Last year, roll-your-own tobacco sales jumped 17 percent to more than 20 million pounds, U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau statistics show. During the past five years, sales jumped 60 percent.

One reason: It costs significantly less than a pack of cigarettes to make roughly the same number of cigarettes from roll-your-own tobacco.

Henrico County-based Philip Morris, for instance, is selling three-quarter-ounce pouches of L&M brand roll-your-own tobacco, enough to make a bit more than 20 cigarettes, for $4 in Maine and Michigan. The pouches include rolling paper.

Cigarettes sell for about $6 a pack in those relatively high-tax states.

Tobacco-control advocates say high taxes are one of the best ways to cut smoking.

"Our fear is what happens when federal and state taxes rise. . . . Rather than quitting smoking, some smokers just switch to discount brands, and some switch to roll-your-own," said Eric N. Lindblom, director of policy research at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a nonprofit public-health advocacy group.

Philip Morris' entry into the market could have a major impact, in part because of the company's marketing muscle, he said.

But selling roll-your-own under a cigarette brand name also could transform the market and attract smokers who never considered the traditional roll-your-own brands such as Drum or Bull Durham, he said.

Philip Morris acquired the L&M brand in 1999 and has positioned the one-time flagship of the old Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. as a discount brand.

Compared with conventional cigarettes, though, the roll-your-own market still is small.

The number of cigarettes that smokers made with roll-your-own tobacco amounted to the equivalent of about 5 percent of the number of cigarettes sold last year, a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis of tax data shows.

A major wild card affecting growth could be recent federal tax increases on tobacco.

While federal cigarette taxes just jumped by 61.66 cents a pack to $1.0066, -- a 158 percent increase -- the federal excise tax on roll-your-own rose more than twentyfold, to $24.78 per pound. That translates to $1.16 for a three-quarter-ounce pouch.

The change reflects new estimates of how much tobacco is in a cigarette and is aimed at ending roll-your-own tobacco's long-standing tax advantage, Lindblom said. The estimate assumes there is about 0.65 ounce of tobacco in a pack of cigarettes.

So far, it seems to have had an effect: Roll-your-own sales are down 17 percent this year, bringing them back nearly to 2007 levels, federal tax figures show.

What will happen now to the market as Philip Morris tests the waters could be critical, Lindblom said.

"It appears they want to control the full spectrum of tobacco products," he said.

Southwest Florida cigarette sales go up in smoke

2009-08-05T02:09:00.000-07:00

It’s been a month since cigarette smokers in Florida have been paying more than $6 a pack — and the state says the new $1 tax is on track to net about $1 billion next year.

Amy Baker, coordinator for the Florida Legislature’s Economic & Demographic Research office, said the total in new tax money for July won’t be known until mid-month, but the $899 million predicted for the year in cigarette taxes would more than triple what the state brought in last year on all tobacco products.

That extra buck has many smokers changing, if not quitting their habits, including buying cartons online. And some retailers in Lee report sales are off as much as 30 percent.

“People are cutting down. They’re trying to make a pack last longer,” said Sue Burbar, owner of Gas & Shop Food Mart on Hancock Bridge Parkway in Cape Coral. “One of my employees goes outside, smokes a half of a cigarette, puts it out and then finishes the rest later.”

Burbar said sales are down 30 to 40 percent.

Jim Smith, president of the Petroleum Marketers Association, which represents 5,300 of the state’s 9,200 convenience stores/gas stations, said from his Tallahassee office that the tax is hurting small businesses.

“All we have right now is anecdotal evidence and what our members along the northern border of the state are telling us is that sales here are down 10 to 15 percent,” Smith said, adding that tobacco products account for 34 percent of a convenience store’s sales outside of gasoline. “That’s a third of their profit — gone.”

The reason for the decline doesn’t have much to do with people quitting, Smith suspects.

“Certainly some people have chosen not to smoke,” he said. Others, however, are driving across the Florida border to Alabama and Georgia and stocking up. Others are finding Internet sites that offer cartons for as low as $16 compared to the $46 price tag of a store-bought carton, he said.

The state collected $279 million in taxes on all tobacco products last year and generated between $18 million to $22 million per month from taxes on cigarettes alone, Baker said.

Blue mold alert issued for east Kentucky tobacco

2009-07-24T05:42:00.000-07:00

Growers located in the vicinity and east of the initial find, especially those with young plants, should scout their fields for the disease and apply a preventative fungicide, said Kenny Seebold, Extension plant pathologist in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.

The disease was present on nearly 100 percent of tobacco in two fields totaling about 15 acres, and significant levels of the disease were present in nearby fields. The disease likely arrived over the July 4 weekend. The find is significant because the disease is widespread in the infected areas, and recent weather conditions were favorable for the disease to spread.

"In many years, blue mold shows up in an isolated case or the weather is too dry to promote rapid spread," Seebold said. "However, the cooler-than-normal temperatures we have had were ideal for the disease to spread."

In addition, many growers this year delayed planting because of the wet spring, which means there are still significant amounts of young plants. Blue mold is more likely to damage these plants. In a normal year, much of the state's tobacco is topped by now and not as susceptible to blue mold.

Growers near the infection site and eastward should apply a fungicide to contain and prevent the disease. Quadris or a combination of a mancozeb fungicide with a fungicide containing dimethomorph are the most effective against blue mold.

"When applying fungicides for control of blue mold, good coverage is critical for getting adequate control of disease," he said. "This means using an appropriate application volume and drop nozzles to get fungicide materials down into the lower plant canopy."

Those who have already topped their tobacco or will do so in the next few days may not need a fungicide application, but they need to have good sucker control because blue mold is attracted to suckers.

Growers west of Clark County have a low risk for disease development so spraying is not as critical, but some may want to apply a fungicide to prevent blue mold's onset. These farmers should look for the disease and be prepared to spray if favorable disease movement conditions are predicted or if blue mold is found in your area.

Council passes tobacco ordinance

2009-07-24T05:38:00.000-07:00

The New Orleans City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Thursday that would ban new businesses from selling tobacco products within a 1000 feet radius of city schools, churches, playgrounds and libraries.

The final vote was seven to zero.

Now, Mayor Ray Nagin has 10 days to veto the ordinance, otherwise it will become law.

Existing businesses that already sell tobacco products within the boundaries will be excluded from the new law.

The ordinance was proposed by Councilwoman Stacy Head. She said in an interview with Eyewitness News on Monday tobacco should be treated the same way as alcohol.

"We don't allow liquor sales often very close to churches and close to schools and close to parks,” Head said. “We should have the same rules for tobacco. It's gonna help, again, set an environment around a school that's going to be more wholesome."

Native American Indian Youth “Anti-Tobacco Summit”

2009-07-22T04:34:00.000-07:00

Native Americans from across Georgia gathered in Hawkinsville to warn young people about the dangers of tobacco in the Native American Indian Youth Anti-Tobacco Summit.

It’s a three-day event that started Tuesday and runs through Thursday at noon. The goal of the summit is to teach children from an early age how harmful tobacco can be, while preserving its traditional uses, like during religious ceremonies or for medicinal purposes.

Lance Allrunner, with the Native American Cancer Research Corporation says tobacco products people buy in the store is different from tobacco used for traditional reasons. He says commercial tobacco has more toxins. He wants to see more young people working to make positive changes.

“Teach our young people about the traditional values being with the state people around policy-making. That’s a big part of what we want young people here to understand,” said Allrunner.

16 year-old Karissa Bedell of Perry, Florida attended the summit. She says she sees teens smoking and doing other drugs, but she doesn’t understand it. She hope she can take what she learns at the summit, and show others the way.

Tobacco board to begin asset sale

2009-07-20T05:57:00.000-07:00

A different kind of auction sale will be held this week at the tobacco auction exchange in Delhi.

No tobacco will be tendered. Instead, it will be the tools, equipment and furnishings that were used in recent decades to bring the golden leaf to market.

The sale is a visible reminder that the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board, as previously constituted, is no more. The board, as a marketer of tobacco, passed into history this spring. An interim board was installed June 1 whose major responsibility is getting a fair dollar for its assets.

Once the forklifts, pallet carts, roller tables, oak desks and office chairs are sold this Wednesday, the board will set its sights on its real estate.

"We plan to advertise for a request-for-proposals for the possible sale or lease of the Delhi Exchange," president Fred Neukamm of Aylmer said.

The assets of the tobacco board belong to former quota holders. A report tabled at last week's meeting estimates the board's net worth at $2.7 million.

This spring, the federal government bought out 271 million pounds of tobacco quota. At $1.05 a pound, the payout amounted to $285 million. Now that the money has been paid, the board has been dissolved as a marketing agency.

Once the board's assets are sold, former quota holders will be entitled to a share of the proceeds based on the total amount of their poundage. They will also have the option of pooling their share into a collective undertaking in some other area such as green energy.

Neukamm said the tobacco belt has great potential as a producer of biomass for the production of clean electricity. Ontario Power Generation is exploring the feasibility of converting the coal-fired generation station in Nanticoke to biomass.

The new tobacco board consists of five members. They were appointed this spring by the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission. The board has an interim operating budget of $220,000. The funds are derived from a penny-per-pound charge on the 22-million pound crop being grown this year by licencees under contract to manufacturers.

The interim board plans to hold a membership vote this fall on its future direction. It remains to be seen whether the 118 licensees are interested in having a trade group like the tobacco board represent their interests. There were strong indications that former quota holders don't want their interests entangled with those who continue to grow tobacco.

Pentagon Won't Ban Tobacco Use in Military

2009-07-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

The Pentagon said today that it will not ban the use of tobacco in the military, the Associated Press reports.

The announcement comes after a study commissioned by the Pentagon and the Department of Veteran Affairs recommended terminating the use and sale of tobacco products on military property. The study also recommended the military ensure enlistees are smoke-free.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday that Defense Secretary Robert Gates doesn't want to add to the stress levels of troops fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by taking away tobacco products. He also said that Gates plans on pursuing the goal of a smoke-free military, according to the AP.

When the news broke that the Pentagon was considering a tobacco ban, many voices came out in protest. Jeff Emanuel wrote in a CBSNews.com op-ed that the servicemembers shouldn't be subject to a blanket smoking ban.

"Yes, tobacco has been proven to cause both short and long-term health problems - but are we really going to preach about health benefits of their activities to Americans we pay (albeit poorly) to be shot at for a living?" Emanuel asked.

Retired Navy veteran Bobby McCarter, meanwhile, said that he is "totally against" the smoking ban, MSNBC reports. McCarter, who served 20 years in the Navy, said that the men and women in combat need a "cigarette break for stress relief."

Newsweek's Adam Weinstein, who has spent seven months on Camp Victory in Baghdad, said that the general reaction of the soldiers to the study was this: "Bullets and mortars. Desert heat and polluted Mideast air. And now this? Shut up, do-gooders; go hug a tree someplace, and let me have my menthols."

Some do support an idea of the ban for the greater good, however. While Emanuel says that tobacco use is an "ingrained" part of military culture, Weinstein points out that the study suggests the ban over a period of 20 years and that the stereotype surrounding smoking in the military "can – and should – change."

"If the health risks of smoking among soldiers can be done away with, even incrementally, then it’s time to start," Weinstein said. "It would lead to a fitter force. It would cut down on the staggering health-care costs for veterans. And it would save lives in the long term—an oft-stated priority for the generals and admirals who command America’s serving sons and daughters."

Emanuel, however, says that the physical standards already in place in the military show that a ban on smoking would not lead to a "fitter force."

"If soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines can meet the physical standards their respective chains of command have set for them, what they legally do in their own time should be considered entirely irrelevant, as it has been demonstrably shown to have no effect on their ability to meet those standards," he argues.

Oneida County fares well on Wisconsin Wins tobacco compliance project

2009-07-17T05:13:00.000-07:00

The Oneida County Health Department has been conducting tobacco compliance checks throughout the county. Beth VanderWielen, a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is working on the Wisconsin Wins project and visiting about 186 Oneida County tobacco license holders to find out which businesses are complying with the law and which ones may need to provide their employees with more training regarding tobacco sales.

“The experience so far has been uneventful” said Beth VanderWielen, Oneida County Student Intern. “I’m glad to see that the majority of retailers refuse tobacco sales to minors and are appreciative of the program.”

The Oneida County rate of illegal tobacco sales to minors has taken a significant decrease over the last eight years. In 2001, the illegal sale rate was over 38% and at the midpoint of 2009, it is 3%. There have been 113 checks completed with only 3 businesses selling tobacco to a minor. Both retailers as well as their employees who make illegal sales are subject to fines.

“My goal is to help youth attain healthy, happy and productive futures,” said VanderWielen. “Cigarettes alone are responsible for more deaths than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs combined.” The CDC estimates that adult male smokers lose an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers loose 14.5 years of life as direct result of smoking.

VanderWielen will be attending the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health’s Medical Doctorate program this fall.

Survey finds big drop in Indiana teen smoking

2009-07-15T05:22:00.000-07:00

A new survey finds that cigarette smoking among Indiana's high school students has dropped by about 40 percent since 2000.

The Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey says that 18.3 percent of the state's high school students smoked last year, down from 31.6 percent at the start of the decade. The drop was even bigger among middle school students, falling from 9.8 percent in 2000 to 4.1 percent in 2008.

The Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation agency's report also found that fewer than 10 percent of teens are established smokers, meaning they smoked on 20 of the past 30 days.

Agency director Karla Sneegas tells The Indianapolis Star that likely means fewer youths becoming one- to two-pack-a-day smokers.

Learning to quit smoking

2009-07-13T06:29:00.000-07:00

Istarted smoking when I was 16, pilfering cigarettes from my mother's purse or swiping unfiltered Pall Malls whenever my dad left his opened pack untended. Then I got a job that summer and began buying my own -- Newports with menthol and filters, a brand preferred by all the young tobacco initiates I had begun to share my habit with.

The rituals of smoking were many, and we adopted them all, along with the identity they gave us, the new sense of ourselves as grown-ups, even if we were faking it, aping our elders as a means of proclaiming our difference from them -- a neat trick.

We'd all strike poses learned from the movies, or practice smooth moves in the art of lighting up. We studied how to flip away a cigarette butt in a gesture of defiant insouciance, or how to cup a cigarette against the wind. We learned how to light one cigarette from another, or to light one from a gas stove without singeing our hair. We taught ourselves how to blow smoke rings.

Some of us made a fashion statement by enfolding a cigarette pack in the sleeve of a T-shirt, and others thought it a mark of adolescent elegance to cock a cigarette behind one's ear.

We also picked up courting practices that included the touch of a hand as we lighted cigarettes for our girlfriends. We attempted to look sensitive in the way we pulled smoke into our lungs ever so contemplatively, then exhaling slowly, desperately trying to impress.

Those first cigarettes I smoked would lead to a couple hundred thousand more, consumed over more than 30 years, long after any of it seemed cool, and much past the time when smoking was a choice. What began as a desire for acceptance and admission to adulthood became the mark of a pariah, bearing the stamp of loserdom, as smokers huddled near the entrances to our workplaces. We'd take quick drags on our illicit smokes while colleagues exited and entered the buildings with looks of disdain or beleaguered tolerance for our pathetic need.

The arc of American tobacco addiction began during World War I, when doughboys fresh off the farms were given tobacco and rolling papers as part of their ration kits, an explicit government endorsement of a practice that I'm sure killed more of those young soldiers than enemy bullets ever would. My grandfather picked up the habit in uniform and passed it down to me -- as did guys such as Humphrey Bogart and a legion of other actors and writers of my granddad's generation who enshrined the practice as the hallmark of toughness or sophistication.

Women were taught to smoke largely as a means of weight control (perhaps that benefit is why our president is so elegantly slim). Thousands of ads from the 1920s through the '50s promised glamour and trim silhouettes to our grandmothers and mothers. Those ads helped persuade my mom to start smoking before she conceived me when she was 16, by which time she was already a nicotine addict. Even doctors joined in the campaign to get women to smoke, endorsing some brands over others and promising menstrual mood control and suppression of "nerves."

The social pressure to start smoking is less today than it was in Mom's day -- or mine -- but, every day, 3,500 Americans under 18 try their first cigarette, and 1,100 make it a habit, according to the American Cancer Society. Some are enticed by flavorings designed to attract the young. The tobacco bill passed last month bans most flavorings, though a political compromise exempted the one -- menthol -- that helped hook me. But overall, giving the federal government new powers to regulate tobacco is a good thing, likely to save lives.

Mark Twain famously said that quitting smoking was easy, that he'd "done it hundreds of times." I found it equally "easy," swearing off cancer sticks on an almost daily basis until I finally managed to smoke my last cigarette 15 years ago.

My mother quit a few months ago. It was "easy" for her too. She has lung cancer.

Jaime O'Neill is a writer in Northern California.

Asia's one-woman anti-tobacco campaign still going strong

2009-07-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

For most of the past 25 years, Hong Kong-based, British-born doctor Judith Mackay has been the tobacco control movement in Asia.
She has pushed for tougher laws and higher tobacco taxes, lobbied for bans on advertising, and advised and cajoled governments in Hong Kong, Laos, China, Vietnam and most other Asian countries.
She drafted Mongolia's first post-Soviet anti-smoking law in her hotel room on the last night of her trip there, after spending most of the visit under suspicion of being an American spy.
Her success is based on her ability to convince the right person with the right power to make changes that will save lives. And she is happy to take advantage of non-democratic regimes.
"That is one of the reasons I was so active in the 1980s. Once you had democracies, you have white papers and green papers, you had public debates and forums and it went on forever," the 65-year-old said from her Hong Kong home.
"I found I could jump over quite a few fences in one go," added Mackay, who has been a senior policy adviser to the World Health Organization for more than 10 years.
Her vigour has inevitably drawn the attention of the tobacco industry - she was once described by a trade organisation as one of the three most dangerous people in the world.
She has been threatened with lawsuits, had secret dossiers prepared on her and even received death threats from one pro-smoking group.
Mackay was born in Yorkshire and went to medical school in Edinburgh, where she was briefly a smoker, before giving up after a few months because her roommate had asthma.
She later moved to Hong Kong and worked in a hospital, but the satisfaction of saving lives dimmed as she realised that so many were coming in with the same, smoking-related problems.
She became a full-time campaigner, representing Asia at conferences ("There was really only one person working in Asia," she said of herself), educating government ministers and pushing for changes, even if they were merely symbolic.
She convinced Cambodia to ban tobacco advertising during children's television programmes, even though there wasn't any. Such decisions put down a marker which can then be extended and expanded incrementally, she said.
"China has just banned vending machines selling cigarettes. I am not sure if anyone has seen a vending machine there," she said.
John Crofton, the British campaigner who found the first cure for tuberculosis and is Mackay's mentor, said she has been a powerful force.
"I have immense admiration for her energy, drive, skill in managing people and her utter devotion to saving the world from its most lethal habit," he said.
Mackay shows no sign of slowing down, despite reaching retirement age, but she remains careful not to hector governments.
"My whole modus operandi is not telling people what to do. I say 'what do you think might be the next step forward for China?' I put decisions and thinking on to the people in the country," she said.

News roundup: FDA to control cigarettes

2009-07-07T06:02:00.000-07:00

Many newspapers, particularly in the mid-Atlantic states, fronted the bill passed by the Senate giving the FDA control over cigarettes. The Virginian-Pilot, right, carries an AP story that explains that the FDA "would ban use of candied and other flavored tobacco used to entice young smokers, stop advertising that targets children, make it harder for underaged youth to buy cigarettes, (and) require stronger warning labels..."
The Charlotte Observer quotes North Carolina tobacco interests as saying "new regulation would cost jobs, hurt farmers, and maintain the market dominance of tobacco giant Philip Morris of Virginia, maker of Marlboros." The Winston-Salem Journal notes that the development is not all gloom and doom for the industry, pointing out that costs linked to compliance will be passed on to customers. The Los Angeles Times writes that most tobacco companies "bitterly opposed the bill but acknowledged that the vote was a measure of how much attitudes toward smoking had changed in recent years." The New York Times quotes industry analysts as saying the likely 6-cent increase per pack should be manageable for tobacco companies because "as long as they have a market of addicted customers, even if that clientele is dwindling, they can raise prices to remain profitable."

Employment in tobacco manufacturing establishments

2009-07-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

In 1997, almost 2 percent of all those employed in manufacturing industries employing 10 or more workers were in tobacco manufacturing. The number employed in tobacco manufacturing increased between 1971 and 1980, reaching a peak of nearly 53 000 in 1980, then fell to 22 600 in 1997.
These fluctuations originated from public sector employment policies. The public sector’s share in employment in tobacco manufacturing increased from 80 percent in 1971 to 95 percent in 1980, and then fell to 71 percent in 1997. In 1997, wages paid in the tobacco processing industry represented 2.5 percent of all wages in manufacturing.
Payments by the tobacco industry increased significantly, from US$34 million in the 1970s to US$214 million in 1980, and then fell to US$167 million in 1997. Per capita tobacco industry payments to employees in 1997 were about 25 percent higher than in other manufacturing industries and were about double (after accounting for taxes) Turkey’s prevailing per capita income of around US$4 000 in 20077.

Philip Morris executives

2009-06-17T05:20:00.000-07:00

The government presented decades of evidence that scientists within the Defendant corporations and outside scientists hired by the corporations and their joint entities were continually conducting research and reviewing the research of other scientists regarding cigarettes and health, addiction, nicotine and tar manipulation, and secondhand smoke. The evidence at trial demonstrated that the results of this research—essential to the core of Defendants’ operations, including strategic planning, product development, and advertising—were well known, acknowledged, and accepted throughout the corporations. These results established that cigarette smoking causes disease, that nicotine is addictive, that 33 light cigarettes do not present lower health risks than regular cigarettes due to smoker compensation, and that secondhand smoke is hazardous to health.
Dr. William Farone, a scientist who worked at Philip Morris for eighteen years and whom the district court found to be “impressive and credible as both a fact and expert witness,” id. at 186, testified about the understanding within Philip Morris on the question of whether cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer and other diseases: There was widespread acceptance that smoking caused disease. I never talked with a scientist at Philip Morris who said that smoking doesn’t cause disease. [This was based on the] compelling epidemiology such as that recounted in the Surgeon’s [sic] General’s reports, and our knowledge about the chemicals that were created by cigarettes and what was delivered to the smoker, hundreds of times per day on average.
When asked whether, in his discussions with Philip Morris executives, any of them challenged the validity of the scientific evidence that smoking causes disease, Farone answered, No. Their comments generally focused on how the company could or should respond, not to whether the scientific evidence was valid. Remember, a main reason why they hired me in 1976 was to help develop a less hazardous cigarette. It seemed to me at the time I was hired, and certainly was the case during my entire time there, that hiring me for that job was itself implicit recognition that the cigarettes that were out there being sold were causing disease.

Camel Midnight Madness

2009-06-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

Bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship

2009-06-02T05:41:00.000-07:00

For the global tobacco industry to survive and thrive, it must keep existing customers hooked and attract new customers to its addictive, deadly products. To accomplish this, it spends tens of billions of dollars a year on advertising, promotion and sponsorship. One of the most effective ways countries can protect the health of their people is to ban all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship – something few countries have done.

Only 20 of the 179 countries (and 1 territory) that responded to questions on advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans, representing just 5% of the world’s population, have complete bans. Another 106 Member States have minimal or moderate bans on tobacco industry advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and 54 countries have no restrictions of any kind.

Countries have enacted complete, moderate or minimal bans in roughly the same proportions regardless of their relative wealth, clearly showing that bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship are within all countries’ reach. The assessment of a country’s advertising ban is based on its laws on tobacco industry promotional activities and whether legislation applies to direct or indirect marketing. Direct marketing focuses on all forms of advertisements. Indirect marketing includes price discounts, product giveaways and sponsorship of sporting and entertainment events and festivals.

Menthol cigarettes less harmful for health?

2009-05-25T06:18:00.000-07:00

A women tried to give up smoking Montana cigarettes but did not succeed even when she was pregnant. Her husband said that she considered menthol cigarettes less harmful for health than other cigarettes because they are slimmer and taste better.

She even entered smoking cessation program and took nicotine replacement therapies, including patches and gum. People, who were attending cessation courses, remember that she was crying and complaining that she simply could not get rid of the habit. After she was told she had lung cancer, she had her right lung removed and underwent chemotherapy but did not manage to recover. She perished away on January 1, 2005.

Two years ago, a similar lawsuit was filled to the Florida Supreme Court, which considered it as a collective suit from smokers whose health was undermined after years of smoking. During the investigation it was proven that cigarette manufacturers were liable for such smokers’ health complications as lung and throat cancer and was sentenced to pay compensation for punitive damages.

Tobacco taxes history

2009-05-18T03:18:00.000-07:00

1995 New York City passes Smoke-Free Air Act and strengthens Clean Indoor Air Act. 1994 Executives of seven largest US tobacco companies swear in Congressional testimony that nicotine isn't addictive and deny manipulating nicotine levels in cigarettes.
Tobacco taxes cut in Canada to deal with smuggling problem. Mississippi files first of 24 state lawsuits seeking to recoup millions from tobacco companies for smokers' Medicaid bills. Diana Castano, whose husband died of cancer, files case against the tobacco industry. It grows to include millions of smokers and an alliance of 60 lawyers for the plaintiffs. MacDonalds bans smoking in all its restaurants 1993 Vermont bans smoking in indoor public places, the first US state to do so.
1992 Nicotine patches introduced. US Supreme Court rules that warning labels on packs of cigarettes do not protect tobacco companies from lawsuits. 1990 Smoking banned on US interstate buses and all domestic airline flights of six hours or less. 1988 US Surgeon General concludes that nicotine is an addictive drug in his 20th report. 1987 US Congress bans smoking on airline flights of less than two hours. 1983 Rose Cipollone, a smoker dying from lung cancer, files a landmark lawsuit, which drags on for nine years. She is finally awarded $400,000, but the decision is overturned. 1973 First US federal restriction on smoking. Officials rule all airlines must create non-smoking sections. 1971 Government bans cigarette advertisements on radio. Voluntary agreement by tobacco companies leads to print health warnings on packs in the UK. 1970 Broadcast ads for cigarettes are banned in America. Last advert is for Virginia Slims and is screened in 1971.
1965 Federal Cigarette Labelling and Advertising Act requires US Surgeon General's warnings on cigarette packs. UK Government bans cigarette ads on television in the UK. 1964 US Surgeon General Luther Terry announces that smoking causes lung cancer. 1950 Evidence of a link between lung cancer and smoking published in the British Medical Journal. Research by Professor (now Sir) Richard Doll and A Bradford Hill. 1914 Outbreak of World War I sees cigarette rations introduced. Smoking hugely popular with soldiers in battlefields of northern Europe and cigarettes became known as 'soldier's smoke'.

Marlboro Country Man Cowboy 66

2009-05-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

1966 Marlboro Country Man Cowboy on Fence Cigarette Ad
Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country.

With a Cigarette I Am Not Alone

2009-04-30T06:18:00.000-07:00

The Cigarette - A Modern Hourglass Frequently the burning down of a cigarette functions psychologically as a time indicator. A smoker waiting for someone who is late says to himself, "Now I'll smoke one more cigarette, and then I am off." One person explained, "It is much easier to watch a cigarette get smaller and smaller than to keep watching a clock and look at the hands dragging along." In some countries, the farmers report distances in terms of the number of pipes, as, for example, "It's about three pipes from here to Smithtown."
A cigarette not only measures time, but also seems to make time pass more rapidly. That is why waiting periods almost automatically stimulate the desire to smoke. But a deeper explanation of this function of smoking is based on the fact that smoking is ersatz activity. Impatience is a common feature of our times, but there are many situations which compel us to be patient. When we are in a hurry, and yet have to wait, a cigarette gives us something to do during that trying interval. The experience of wanting to act, but being unable to do so, is very unpleasant and may even, in extreme cases, cause attacks of nervous anxiety. Cigarettes may then have a psychotherapeutic effect. This helps to explain why soldiers, waiting for the signal to attack, sometimes value a cigarette more than food. "With a Cigarette I Am Not Alone" Frequently, our respondents remarked that smoking cigarettes is like being with a friend. Said one, "When I lean back and light my cigarette and see the glow in the dark, I am not alone any more...."
In one sense, a cigarette seems to be something alive. When it is lighted it appears to be awakened, brought to life. In a French moving picture (Daybreak) the hunted criminal, played by Jean Gabin, holds out as long as he has his cigarettes. He barricades himself against the police and stands siege courageously for some time -- until his last cigarette is gone. Then he gives up. The companionable character of cigarettes is also reflected in the fact that they help us make friends. In many ways, smoking has the same effect drinking has. It helps to break down social barriers. Two smokers out on a date light up a cigarette as soon as they get into their car. "It's just the right start for an evening," they say.
Immediately they feel at ease, for they have found an interest they both share. We could report many true anecdotes to illustrate how cigarettes bring people together. One such story was related by a middle-aged lady: "A long time ago, on a steamer, there was a boy I was quite eager to meet... but there was no one to introduce us.... The second day out, he was sitting at a table right next to me, and I was puffing away at my cigarette. The ashes on my cigarette were getting longer and longer, and I had no ash tray. Suddenly he jumped up and brought me one. That's how the whole thing started. We are still happily married." "I Like to Watch the Smoke"

MS lawmakers talk reasons for cigarette tax stalemate

2009-04-23T04:19:00.000-07:00

Mississippi house and senate negotiators will try again next week to hammer out an agreement on how much to raise the cigarette tax after failing to do so on Tuesday. At a public forum in Biloxi on Wednesday, much of the discussion centered on how talks in Jackson the day before had gone nowhere.

Communities for a Clean Bill of Health, which is pushing for a significant cigarette tax increase, sponsored the meeting.

Roy Mitchell, of the C.C.B.H., told the group that he sat in on Tuesday's conference meeting in Jackson.

"Frankly, we're very frustrated. There's a lack of compromise here," said Mitchell.

Rep. Dirk Dedeaux of Perkinston said, "Three members of the house conference committee sit across from three members of the senate conference committee, and they just stare real hard at each other."

The state house wants to tax cigarettes an extra 75 cents a pack. The Senate is set on 64 cents. Some lawmakers say that 11 cent gap isn't too wide for compromise.

"Folks who were there told me that our lead conferee from the senate, Senator Kirby, said something like he'd have trouble getting 75 cents passed in the Senate,"said Sen. David Baria of Bay St. Louis. "I don't think so. I think we came very very close to passing $1 per pack total tax. I think the senate will be amenable to passing 75 cents per pack."

Baria says a stumbling block could be that some senators will vote whichever way the governor asks them to vote.

"That is assuming that Governor Barbour will turn some of these senators loose to vote for it and not threaten to veto it. That's an important part of this whole deal . That Governor Barbour doesn't threaten to veto 75 cents a pack, or 70 cents a pack or whatever number," Baria said.

The conference committee is set to meet again in Jackson on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Baria, Dedeaux and Representative Randall Patterson of Biloxi say they were optimistic an agreement will be reached before the extended session is over, but they'd like it done sooner.

"Every day that they stand off on reaching a compromise is another day that we are not collecting this revenue. It's less money that we have for the current physical year deficit that we are in," Dedeaux said.

While lawmakers are largely focused on the revenue, health advocates say a higher cigarette tax will payoff with healthier citizens.

"Every ten percent increase in the cigarette tax results in a seven percent reduction in teen smocking and a four percent reduction overall in smoking," said Mitchell.

Legislators advise people wanting to urge their representatives to support the cigarette tax increase to call or send a letter, because most lawmakers are bombarded with thousands of emails every day. However, if you do send an email, make it clear at the very top that you are a constituent.

Combination of elements in cigarettes ads

2009-04-16T03:58:00.000-07:00

Another Lucky Strike Cigarettes ad can be found on the Gatwick Trilogy page. If one analyses ads such as this, noting the individual elements and features, rather than simply 'taking in' the ad as a whole, there are other semi-subliminal features that can generally be noted. Each feature is calculated to enhance the likelihood that viewers will internalize the key elements of the intended message (or messages).
In this case one can also note that to the rear of the young mans left knee, embedded on his jeans, is a 'face' with a large gaping mouth and two beady eyes. The nose is only hinted ad but it is just above the mouth, where a moustache would normally be. This can be taken as a reminder that smoking is an oral activity. Reminders of orality are also common in Marlboro ads.
A perceptive viewer might also discern another criss-cross patchwork of 'lettering' above the mouth. The combination of these elements constitute a salutary, if semi-subliminal, reminder that smoking and sex are activities calculated to relieve anxiety and manage moods. And, despite the brand related caption, An American Original, there is nothing original about such an association. Freud and other psychoanalytically inclined researchers noted this many years ago. Their application has always provided advertisers with levers to exploit the fallibility's and weaknesses of potential and actual customers.

The most advertised brands of cigarettes

2009-04-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

The most advertised brands of cigarettes, estimated UMM, were: "Winston Light", "Pall Mall", "Kent", "Priluki", "Monte Carlo Lights", "Prime-Class", "Marlboro" and "L&M lights" .

Outdoor advertising is the most common way to promote and popularize brands of cigarettes. Besides it, there is also advertising in printed form, the information in points of sale for consumers, sponsorship, or BTL.

Today many politicians initiated partial ban advertising of cigarettes, which also includes the abolition of outdoor advertising. For example, in June this year to the Verkhovna Rada were filed two bills relating to additional bans tobacco advertising. Moreover, such actions are assumed to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which Ukraine ratified officially on June 6, 2006.

Karelia Tobacco Company in Greece

2009-04-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

Karelia Tobacco Company Inc. is the Greeces leading cigarette manufacturer and exporter. The Company’s principal activity is the manufacturing of cigarettes and other related to tobacco products. Karelia Company became now an international Company, which exports cigarettes and tobacco products to more than 60 countries all over the World. Karelia is family-owned company and is very proud of its status and traditions. George Karelia produces a wide range of tobacco products and different brands. Karelia Company produces “Kasetina”, the archetypal Greek brand, as a part of the local heritage in Greece.

As the traditional “Kasetina” was the inspiration for the new George Karelias and Sons brand, Karelia designers used the same box structure to create a premium cigarette brand that evoked the companys long history and expertise and communicated the very high quality of the tobacco blend.

Tobacco Companies concentrate their advertising

2009-03-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

Tobacco Companies concentrate their advertising in countries like Russia, where volume is growing at about 2% annually, with about 280 billion individual cigarettes sold. Greece is one of the place cigarette makers can still pitch their product: Tobacco advertising is allowed in outdoor and print-media advertising, and was the country's second-largest overall ad-spending category in 2001, at €107 million ($114.9 million). That was up from €96 million and fourth place in 2000, according to ZenithOptimedia, a research and media-buying agency owned jointly by Publicis Groupe SA of France and Cordiant Communications Group PLC of Britain. In Spain, which also allows outdoor tobacco ads, tobacco companies spent €26 million on outdoor ads in 2001, up from €24 million the year before.

Tobacco is the biggest category in outdoor advertising in Russia -- where outdoor represents 40% of all ad-spending, compared with 5% world-wide. In 2001, tobacco advertisers spent $49 million on outdoor ads in Russia, up from $21 million in 2000, according to ZenithOptimedia.

Marlboro cowboy domando cavalo

2009-03-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken

2009-03-10T05:20:00.000-07:00

Cigarette maker Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken has rolled its own cigarettes since 1910. The German company controls about 20% of its home market and is one of the largest tobacco companies in Europe. The company produces a variety of brands, including Davidoff, Peter Stuyvesant, R1, and West. It sells its cigarettes through affiliated operations in more than 130 countries around the globe. Health-related legal complications have as yet not touched the company, since the majority of its sales come from areas outside those litigious towards cigarette makers. The UK's Imperial Tobacco bought Reemtsma in 2002 and made it a subsidiary.

Camel cigarettes brand

2009-03-04T03:34:00.000-08:00

The company Japan Tobacco International, one of the world's largest manufacturers of tobacco products, has changed the design concept and advertising Camel Cigarettes brand. JTI no longer calling the adherents of these cigarettes in new adventures, and invites them just a moment of pleasure. At most, believe in the JTI, the modern smoker's simply no time.

JTI zateyala campaign to replace the Camel Cigarettes design, as well as Russia dokatilas wave of the summer. Beginning June docco unit in the Russian JTI hot. All employees of the corporation, including secretaries, retail outlets and changed the "old" Camel Cigarettes with a new one. "For English language that seems to be" subbotnik "?" - peresprashivaet, smiling, Antoine Ernst, director of marketing Russian office. In total, the Russian unit JTI two weeks removed from the distribution 750000 packs. From billboards Camel Cigarettes on the streets of Moscow for this "subbotnik" has not witnessed severe macho - conqueror prairie, but decently dressed ladies and gentlemen vybritye smoothly, not sitting on the ground, and on the floor, and not a night bonfire, but in broad daylight chic office.

The decision on the company's change of design at first glance, it seems surprising. In 2001, in the words of Antoine Ernst, Camel Cigarettes global sales growth was 7%. This is the third brand after Marlboro and Mild Seven. The same Marlboro, for example, increased its share by only 2.5%. Against this backdrop, the refusal Philip Morris from his cowboy look would be more logical. No Cowboy left in the lady went.

International tobacco holding company

2009-02-24T00:37:00.000-08:00

International tobacco holding company hoped that the improvement of the quality of packaging cigaretteswill be well received by consumers of cigs and tobacco.

In addition to the advertising of cigs campaign, the release of a cigarettes market "Marlboro Cigarettes" in the enhanced package is accompanied by an full information campaign for adult cigarettes smokers of Marlboro brand - they will tell us about the constant improvements and fundamental values of the brand and will find reams of information liners.

Stile and cigarettes

2009-02-17T04:16:00.000-08:00

Indian Cigarettes

2009-02-12T02:12:00.000-08:00

The Indian and Seneca Lakeside Trading convenience shop were open Friday selling both gasoline and online cigarettes. The store has been closed since.

The stores are expected to remain open as long as there is no court order demanding otherwise. Cayuga Nation officials made the decision in the wake of a recent court order barring local law enforcement from conducting or continuing any investigation related to its sale of cigarettes.

The nation obtained an independent opinion concerning all aspects of its retail operations at these cigarettes stores. Based upon this legal opinion, the nation decided to re-open these stores.

Friday peoples stood in line at the Union Springs store. Most of them were waiting to buy cigarettes.

Boxes full of cigars and cigarettes, smoking and chewing tobacco, and other tobacco products were stacked at the front of the store. Though many of the shelves were bare, Lakeside staff worked to re-stock the cigarettes and other tobacco merchandise.

Every Year Smoking Kill Million People

2008-11-19T23:46:00.000-08:00

China is the largest grower and consumer of tobacco in the world. According to World Health Organization, in China smoking kills million people every year. In general China is considered to be a land of cheap and plentiful cigarettes. In China smoking is a part of being a man, that’s why six of every ten men smoke.

In fact, male smoking is so widespread that one of every three smokers in the world today is a Chinese man.

Not surprisingly then, every lunch hour of every working day, you can see outside the entrance of a Beijing downtown office tower a lot of men who lighting up.

In China cigarettes are cheap – as little as 35 cents per pack – and plentiful. Annually China manufactures more than 2 trillion cigarettes, consuming more than 99 percent of them themselves.

"The peak of the disease usually follows about 30 years after the peak of consumption," explains Dr. Sarah England, a Canadian scientist who works on tobacco-related issues for the World Health Organization in Beijing.

This week, Chinese health officials came together with WHO representatives in Beijing to review strategies aimed at tackling the problem. It's all part of a multi-year plan to make China healthier.

China ratified the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005, promising to reduce citizens' demands for tobacco in stages. Already it has banned smoking in primary and high schools, and prohibited tobacco advertising on television and radio as well as in newspapers and magazines.Next year, labeling cigarettes with big, bold warnings covering 30 to 50 percent of packaging will become mandatory. And by 2011 China will ban indoor smoking countrywide.

But still, obstacles remain. First, the agency is a huge money-maker, earning an estimated $35 billion per year. Second, its leadership has shown outright resistance – even warning of a national nicotine fit.

"We take the health dangers of smoking very seriously," Zhang Baozhan, the deputy chief of the tobacco agency, conceded on Chinese state television last year.But that's not all. There are also troubling signs that China's tobacco administration has been working at cross purposes with the health ministry's stated goals – trying to expand markets rather than diminish them.

While a strong Chinese social taboo against women smoking has kept the overall percentage of female smokers to just 2.6 percent of all women, "ladies' cigarettes" have begun to appear on the market with increasing frequency.

One, called "Low Side Stream Lady," comes in a pink container resembling a perfume box and boasts "super slim" and "rose flavor" cigarettes.The back of the pack also features a message: "This special product was created by Cigaronne as an appreciation to all women in style, because you deserve the best." England noted that the age of new smokers is also dipping with children as young as 10 starting to smoke.

Under the WHO convention, China promises to raise taxes in an effort to discourage smoking. Experts said that should help the most price-sensitive smokers, the young and the poor especially, to get off tobacco if they can.

A New Smoking Policy will be enforced

2008-09-30T03:49:00.000-07:00

St. John Fisher College, a private liberal arts college located in Pittsford, New York, an eastern suburb of Rochester, has changed its policy on cigarette smoking for the 2008-2009 school years. Fisher is requiring smokers to smoke 50 feet away from any of the buildings on campus.

In this way the air from the college will be cleaner and the students will not have to walk through smoke for to enter a building and so smoke will not enter buildings through the ventilation system. This new policy was installed by Campus Safety and Security.

Even the students from this college complained that, when they had to go to a class they would have to pass through the cigarette smoke and they do not like this.

For to reinforce this policy, around the college were putted several cigarette butt holders spread throughout the campus. They have been placed fifty feet away from all of the buildings with signs on them in order to inform the students of the places at which it is now acceptable to smoke.

The punishment for the rule, according to Mike McCarthy, director of Safety and Security, is that "For now, we are just informing students of the policy. After that, it is a violation of policy, and the student will be documented."

Before the new policy was enforced, "Students couldn't smoke in any of the buildings. They could only smoke outside, which meant that they could smoke right by the doors of any building," McCarthy said.

McCarthy assured that this new policy will have positive effects on the campus, because students will easily walk to without having to worry about inhaling smoke.
Several students were pleased by the passing of this policy.
"It's good because no one likes the smell of smoke and secondhand smoke," Freshman Jen Cassetti said.
Freshman Joe Prestigiacomo agreed, "I hate cigarettes and how they smell. I don't mind if they smoke 50 feet away, because then I don't have to smell the cigarette smoke."

As it is known second-hand smoking is just as bad as smoking a cigarette itself. According to the American Lung Association, in the Unites States second-hand smoking causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 22,700-69,600 heart disease deaths in non-smokers.

Every Cigarette is Doing You Damage

2008-09-18T04:33:00.001-07:00

According to a study, the sentence "Every cigarette is doing you damage", prevented almost 60,000 deaths and ensured over 10,000 cases of lung cancer and 10,000 cases of heart attack were avoided.

Lead author of the report, Professor Susan Hurley, said: "By using mass media campaigns to encourage people to quit smoking, millions of healthcare dollars will be saved and even more importantly the burden of smoking caused disease on individual Australians and their families will be eased."

Executive Director of Quit, Ms Fiona Sharkie, reported: "Victorians will once again be exposed to confrontational images of fat being squeezed from the aorta of a smoker, as some of the most powerful Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) messages are brought back to television in updated versions focusing on the graphic health warnings found on cigarette packs."

The reworked NTC campaign provides explicit visual insight into how every cigarette is doing smoker damage, and strengthens the connection between what is going on in a smoker's body with the images they might be seeing on the pack.

Ms Sharkie said that the decision to show smokers of the damage they were doing to the main artery to the heart was very deliberate, with smokers having up to four times the risk of suffering sudden cardiac death than non-smokers.

Sharkie added: "Despite smoking causing 40% of heart disease in those less than 65 years of age, almost 2 out of 3 smokers cannot spontaneously identify smoking as a cause of heart disease."

In a study was found that smoking is the largest cause of preventable death and disease in Australia, and it is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease but the good news is that quitting could put a smoker on the road to a healthy heart within a year.

The single most important thing that a smoker can do for a healthy heart is to quit.

Researchers showed that twelve months after quitting the increased risk of dying from heart disease is half that of a continuing smoker and after fifteen years the risk of heart attack is almost the same as that of a person who has never smoked.

Smokers More Likely To Bleeding after Throat Surgery

2008-09-04T23:52:00.000-07:00

Doctors say that patients who undergo an operation that removes excess tissue from the throat along with a surgical tonsil-removing procedure have an increased level of bleeding if they are smokers. But people who smoke do not have an increased level of bleeding if they undergo tonsillectomy alone.

Tonsillectomy is a common operation that bears a substantial risk of complications. Over the years, indications for the surgical procedure have changed, but there is still a great risk of post-operative bleeding.

Sean M. Demars, M.D. and colleagues studied 1,010 tonsillectomy patients and levels of post-operative bleeding from 2000 to 2005. The researchers also gathered data on sex, age and smoking status.

About 6.7% of patients presented bleeding and smokers had this rate of 10.2% compared to a 5.4% rate experienced by non-smokers. The researchers state that the large difference was found “to be attributable to a marked increase in post-operative hemorrhage in the patients who underwent UPPP (10.9 percent in smokers vs. 3.3 percent in non-smokers). Men who underwent tonsillectomy alone bled significantly more than women (11.2 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively).”

The authors state that being aware of the link between post-operative bleeding and smokers, “May help clinicians further counsel their patients before surgery.” They conclude: “Further investigation of this relationship is needed, with stratification of patients by the number of cigarettes smoked and attention to the length of time before and/or after surgery that patients refrain from smoking.”

World Health Organization and Smokeless Tobacco

2008-08-04T01:41:00.000-07:00

Snuff and chewing tobacco are less dangerous products than cigarettes but it still up the risk of oral cancer by 80%.

The survey of 11 studies worldwide showed people who used snuff and chewed tobacco also had a 60% higher risk of pancreatic and esophagus cancer.

The scientists sought to measure the risk of smokeless tobacco products after a number of studies differed on how dangerous these products were. They found frequency of use varies both across and within countries, depending on age, sex, ethnic origin and economic background and were highest in the United States, India and Sweden.

They also discovered that chew and snuff were less dangerous than smoking because they were not linked to lung cancer.

Cigarette filters are as detrimental as cigarettes smoking

2008-07-17T02:06:00.001-07:00

Great Britain is a state where smoking was banned in public places. However the cigarettes

continue to be the principal source of street litter, accounting for 70 to 90% in urban areas.

"Anyone walking down the street these days, especially around bars and clubs, will see streets awash with cigarette ends," said Ginette Unsworth, spokeswoman for Keep Britain Tidy.

She added: "People don't always think of butts as proper litter. Smokers who might not drop any other kind of litter drop cigarette ends because they don't want to set a bin alight and because they think the ends will biodegrade. But they don't and they can cause huge problems."

Most smokers are under the impression that cigarette filters are made of cotton. Instead, they are made from packed fibres of cellulose acetate and take up to a decade to break down. Filters also trap formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide and tar - which is the residue of some of the 160 other chemicals in a cigarette.

Cigarette butts on the streets wash away into drains and rivers, and reach our oceans. Cigarette butts became the most common item of beach litter. Also filters absorb tar and chemicals that can leach into the water. Some experiments have shown the impact of cigarettes butts. The anti-tobacco researchers found that just one cigarette filter is toxic enough to kill water fleas in eight litres of water.

Growing tobacco is also damaging. It's a chemical-heavy process, using vast quantities of fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides, much of which washes away into the environment. The soil is commonly fumigated with methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting chemical, before seedlings are planted.

Tobacco growing and curing processes are a major cause of deforestation, which causes erosion. More tobacco crops also mean fewer food crops are being grown.
People might be less likely to smoke if they're fully aware of the environmental, as well as the health, factors.

Smokers sleep worse than nonsmokers

2008-07-14T01:35:00.000-07:00

In a study American researchers reported that smokers are more unrest after a night's sleep than non smokers. Researchers who tracked the brain activity of smokers while they slept found that they spent less time in deep sleep than nonsmokers.

"It is possible that smoking has time-dependent effects across the sleep period," said Dr Naresh M Punjabi, who is Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology based at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues.

He added: "Smokers commonly experience difficulty falling asleep due to the stimulating effects of nicotine. As night evolves, withdrawal from nicotine may further contribute to sleep disturbance."

Punjabi and colleagues compared the electroencephalogram (EEG) sleep patterns of 40 smokers and 40 non smokers. They analyzed the different frequencies in the EEG sleep patterns using spectral analysis.

After this research they showed that the smokers had a lower percentage of "delta power" which equates to less deep sleep, and a higher percentage of "alpha power" which equates to more light sleep, compared to the non smokers.

American researchers hope that their finding will help them to create plans or antismoking programs that will help smokers quit.

"Many smokers have difficulty with smoking cessation partly because of the sleep disturbances as a result of nicotine withdrawal," said Punjabi.

"By understanding the temporal effects of nicotine on sleep, we may be able to better tailor nicotine replacement to minimize the withdrawal effects that smokers experience, particularly during sleep," he added.