Top cigarettes. Cigarettes blog news.

British American Tobacco project is about to start a single SAP

2012-01-27T06:21:00.000-08:00

British American Tobacco is expected to begin in September 2012 to try out new single SAP enterprise resource system.

More than 180 markets in the business of the company, is planning to 2016 in all business aspects of a comprehensive new system began trial from Malaysia, and is implemented in the Asia Pacific region.

It will replace the British American Tobacco is currently in the global business in the SAP system using six, and three years ago using the SAP system and CS3 62 local ERP systems.

British American Tobacco would like to take a new, single global SAP system, because more than one SAP system to the existing standard is difficult.

"The biggest problem is trying to regulate the SAP system has been used it is very, very difficult to change."

"We have to add more things for them to make them ... This standardization increases the global cost. In the same way using several SAP's efficiency is very low," BAT data in a single SAP project director Joan · Wei Neisi said.

The company's independent quality assurance and external management consultants partner with a magnet to implement the system.

Magnet company from the outset of this project to work with British American Tobacco, from the design stage to implementation and deployment phase. This is regarded as BAT's an unusual move, because the company usually only for the quality assurance stage.

"This is used to reduce project risk," Wei Neisi said. "The project is very expensive, requires a lot of time to do it right is absolutely important."

He added: "This is not a money thing - the first success of the project will be able to make savings."

Weinei Si said, with a magnet company, British American Tobacco on the project to a wider field of vision, technology and processes to help ensure effective implementation.

British American Tobacco also use a magnet to carry out similar projects in the advantages of previous experience.

In the first phase, the new SAP system will include a series of processes, including technology, spare parts management, production planning, purchasing and logistics. The integration of a number of different product specifications solutions, British American Tobacco will be the first time, start the SAP functionality in the product specifications.

After commissioning of the project, as the second phase of the system, it will be the implementation of human resources software and SAP's advanced planner and optimizer systems.

Cigarettes Grab Spain’s Tobacco Market

2012-01-13T00:45:00.000-08:00

A number of increases in taxes on cigarette sales that were recently registered in Spain have prompted both price warfare between companies struggling for recession-hit consumers, and a sudden increase in the sale of cigarette products.
“At present the problem of cigarette market seems to worsen due to recession and an evident falling purchasing power,” stated José Luis Nueno, a professor of marketing.
According to a report realized by leading tobacco company Imperial Tobacco, about 6% of all cigarette sales in Spain belong to illicit market, more than 10% in Andalusia and nearly 20% in such regions as Málaga and Seville.
Within the past two years, tax increases in Spain have prompted a huge number of smokers switch to cheap cigarette brands or even rolling tobacco in comparison to earlier popular Virginia and such famous smokes as Marlboro and Camel.
One more option for the hard-pressed Spanish smoke lovers has been the chance to try something of Chinese-produced bootleg smokes that have become rather popular common, or to purchase cigarettes. The lowest prices for cigarettes and availability can make the illegal cigarettes more appealing.
Spain’s porous borders have always made it an appealing and very profitable market for contraband cigarette smugglers.
One of the most powerful cartels importing non-taxed tobacco products were Galician-based gangs who used high-speed boats in order to bring these products in the country. Very soon they switched to higher margin crimes, such as cocaine smuggling, and corresponding faced a wave of arrests. Mr. Nueno said that criminal operations in Spain have become much more divergent.
The great part of cigarettes confiscated by Spanish custom authorities comes through the country’s borders with Andorra, Portugal, and Gibraltar.
“Officially Spain has three regions where the use and demand for cigarettes is highest, namely Galicia, as it situated in the main proximity to Portugal. Andalusia, due to Gibraltar, and Catalonia, because of Andorra,” added Mr. Nueno.
The estimates for contraband tobacco products coming Spain are based on the extrapolation from the amount confiscated at customs.
According to statistics, in 2009, about 12.3 million cigarettes from illicit market entered Spain.

US Judge Suspends Health Graphic Warnings

2011-11-30T06:22:00.000-08:00

The judge of the United States has suspended a US regulation regarding cigarette companies to display health graphic warnings on cigarette packages, like a man blowing cigarette smoke on his child and many others.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June of this year presented nine graphic warnings that should be introduced in September 2012, which is the first significant change in US tobacco health warnings in 25 years. Cigarette packages already have text warnings from the US Surgeon General.
The new labels have to cover the top half of the front and back of cigarette packages and also should contain color images demonstrating the health consequences of smoking, including diseased lungs, bad teeth and dead bodies.
“The Congress ordered the size and location of the graphic warning before charging the FDA with fulfilling the mandate, by doing so it doesn’t empower this requirement to automatically adopt constitutional model,” said US District Judge Richard Leon.
The tobacco lawsuit is latest possible attempt by corporation to contest a right to free speech, a long and severe battle that could end before the US Supreme Court.
Reynolds American, Lorillard Inc, Liggett Group LLC and Commonwealth Brands Inc. sued the FDA in August this year.
They declared that the given labels force them to take part in anti-smoking advocacy on the government’s behalf infringing their right to free speech.
The cigarette industry has required Leon to suspend the FDA's new requirements, delaying the decision on their constitutionality.
They declare that they needed a fast resolution because they would have to launch in November and spend millions of dollars in order to comply with the requirements.
Justice Department representatives had stated that the money was an insignificant fraction of the company’s net sales, so they would not go through irremediable hazard without the temporary injunction.
Government attorneys declared the labels communicated the hazards of smoking more efficiently than words alone, and were required to discourage more people from smoking, especially youngsters.
Floyd Abrams, Lorillard’s lawyer stated that the given case was in it early stages and there was a “positive chance” that it will finally reach the US Supreme Court.
The Dow Jones cigarette index, whose participants are Altria, Lorillard and Reynolds American, was only 0.05 % higher in today’s trading.
Altria Group is not covered by the given lawsuit.
The given case covers R.J Reynolds Tobacco, US Food and Drug Administration and US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Etymology of Tobacco

2011-11-16T01:12:00.000-08:00

The Spanish word "tabaco" is thought to have its origin in Arawakan language, particularly, in the Taino language of the Caribbeanmarker. In Taino, it was said to refer either to a roll of tobacco leaves (according to Bartolome de Las Casas, 1552), or to the tabago, a kind of Y-shaped pipe for sniffing tobacco smoke (according to Oviedo; with the leaves themselves being referred to as cohiba).

However, similar words in Spanish and Italian were commonly used from 1410 to define medicinal herbs, originating from the Arabic tabbaq, a word reportedly dating to the 9th century, as the name of various herbs.

Marengo Style, Marengo Brand

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

Marengo cigarettes became popular due to their perfect, long lasting taste and an impressive smoke. Nowadays Marengo are available in four different varieties: Marengo Forte, Marengo Legato, Marengo Piano and Marengo Slims. All these cigarettes differ in taste, strength and flavor. Forte is a more strong variety, Legato – has a softer taste, Piano – the lightest variant and finally Sims, which differ in size and possesses a soft and pleasant taste that is a special variant for women smokers.
These fags are classified as tobacco products of American Blend type and are produced in accordance with all European standards. The selection of raw materials was conducted under control of the well-know Swiss company "P. Lehmann Consulting". About 30 sorts of tobacco and special components are contained in Marengo cigarettes, which guarantee a pure, saturated and soft taste.
The name of the given brand comes from the Battle of Marengo, which took place on June 14, 1800 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near Italy, which was one of the significant battles of those times.
Marengo predominant colors are: white and black, which are associated with purity and elegance.

40% of All Cigarettes Sold in New Jersey are Smuggled Illegally

2011-10-20T00:43:00.000-07:00

According to statistics 40% of all tobacco products smoked in New Jersey is brought illegally into the state, this is the highest percentage of any state in the nation, leading to a loss of more than $500 million in uncollected tax revenue annually.
The reason is evident: New Jersey set a $2.70 tax on each package of cigarettes sold, which is one of the highest rates in the nation.
Criminal gangs and various people operating with terrorist groups obtain a quick profit by smuggling a great number of cigarettes from other states and selling them in New Jersey. So, each day, smokers in New Jersey try to evade the high tax by ordering smoking products on the internet stores or go to the neighboring states, usually Delaware, where the price is very low.
“New Jersey faces a consequential problem from tobacco tax avoidance and smuggling. A growth in the rate of tax assessment will lead to fewer legal and even completely illicit sales of tobacco products,” said the author of report, Eric Friedman.
The given report which is the first official data on the financial toll tobacco smuggling takes on the state also raises questions about whether New Jersey is doing enough to fight this problem.
The calculated $519 million in uncollected tax revenue, approximately 1.5% of the 2012 budget, is similar to the amount increased by the controversial millionaire’s tax in 2009.
The great amount of cigarettes, smuggled into the state, nearly 75%, is brought by those who want to get into big money, the report said. Very often, retailers of illicit tobacco products use lower-priced, counterfeit tax stamps in order to evade detection.
Charles Giblin, a police officer at the Office of Criminal Investigation, declared that smuggling arrests have increased from 40 in 2009 to 187 last year.
Currently police officers arrested a 63- year-old man, who was buying cigarettes in Virginia for approximately $35 per carton and sold them at his shop for already $58. On the average, a carton of cigarettes is sold for $80 in New Jersey.
According to County Prosecutor’s Office, this man was selling about 500 cartons per week, which cost the state about $13,500 in lost tax revenue. When police screened his car, there were found more than $80,000 in cash.
“We are going to use whatever means and powers we have in order to eradicate smuggling once and for all. We also plan to introduce modern tax stamps, which will conceal codes that include information of each package of cigarettes. At present, retailers and enforcement officials use hand-held scanners, which show if a stamp is authentic, and also where the pack came from and where it has been,” Giblin said.

Korean world-famous cigarette maker

2011-09-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

The Korean division of the world-famous cigarette maker has been adding new brands to its premium cigarettes portfolio with flagship Dunhill and Kent brands trying to grow revenues amid rising social stigma.

Kent is the second-best selling premium cigarette brand across the world – excluding the United States and China – offered in more than 80 countries

For its Dunhill brand family, BAT created several innovative product lines, such as Dunhill Nanocut, Dunhill Fine Cut and Dunhill Switch, and launched new packaging for classic Dunhill with “Reloc” technology.

Another core segment for the company is Super Slim cigarettes.

Dunhill Nanocut and Fine Cut are intended to hit the booming market of Super Slim cigarettes currently enjoyed by Esse cigarette brand manufactured by KT&G.

Tobacco use in Indiana

2011-07-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

Tobacco use is also a well-known risk factor for heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. Using the BRFSS, questions included whether respondents were currently smoking. For all adults, the prevalence of smoking has decreased from 27.6% over the past seven years (2002 to 2009). For most age groups (excluding 18-24 and 65+), however [95% CI contains national median for 18-24 and 65+], smoking rates in Indiana remain higher than the national median.

YEAR % n =
2002 27.6 1533
2003 26.1 1391
2004 24.9 1529
2005 27.3 1416
2006 24.1 1442
2007 24.1 1359
2008 26.0 1108
2009 23.1 1943

Breast Cancer Risk is Lower among Obese Smoking Women

2011-05-05T01:58:00.000-07:00

Smoking raises the risk of breast cancer, but the risk varies by obesity status in postmenopausal women, according to findings presented by the Women's Health Initiative observational study.

An important association between smoking and breast cancer risk was observed in skinny women, but not in obese women. The results were similar despite of whether obesity was characterized by body mass index (BMI) or waist line.

Juhua Luo, Ph.D., professor at West Virginia University, analyzed the relationship between obesity, smoking and breast cancer. Luo demonstrated these research results at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting, held April, 2.

“We found a connection between smoking and breast cancer risk among non-obese women, which is comprehensible because tobacco is a known carcinogen. However we didn’t depict the same connection between smoking and breast cancer risk among obese women. All those results were surprising,” Dr. Luo stated.

The study surveyed 76,628 women aged 50 to 79 years who did have previous history of cancer. All participants were part of the Women's Health Initiative observational study. They were recruited between 1993 and 1998 and supervised until 2009.

The level of obesity was measured by BMI and by waist-line, and the all results were fixed for other breast cancer risk factors.

The results of the research demonstrated that skinny women with a BMI less than 30 who have smoked, had a rather increased risk for breast cancer. Those who started to smoke at the age of 10-29 had a 16% excess risk; those with a 30- to 49 year history of smoking demonstrated a 25% excess risk; and those with 50 or more years of regular smoking showed a 62% excess risk. However, this same connection was not depicted among women with a BMI higher than 30.

Subsequently researches analyzed the findings according to waist-line in order to ascertain if the type of fat distribution – usually compared with central obesity – affected the results. When obesity status was defined by the waist-line higher than 88 cm, similar results were found.

Despite the research finding that smoking didn’t affect breast cancer risk among obese postmenopausal women, Luo underlined that she does not want to misinform public. Previous study has demonstrated that obesity alone is a risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer.

“Smoking and obesity are among the main causes of death, both of which have essential consequences on health. This is only the first study to analyze the correlation between smoking, obesity and breast cancer risk. Probably one conclusion that can be made from this study is that more and more researches are needed in order to proof these results,” she concluded.

TobACCo And HEALTH In EnGLAnd

2011-03-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

Tobacco use remains one of our most significant public health challenges. While rates of smoking have continued to decline over the past decades, 21 per cent of adults in England still smoke. Smoking prevalence has fallen little since 2007 and we need to take new action to drive prevalence down further.

While in the past more men than women smoked, today the prevalence of smoking is about the same for men and women.ii Smoking rates vary considerably between different social groups and it is most common among people who earn the least, and least common among people who earn the most. In recent times, smoking has become one of the most significant causes of health inequalities.

Smoking is the primary cause of preventable morbidity and premature death, accounting for 81,400 deaths in England in 2009, some 18 per cent of all deaths of adults aged 35 and over.ii In 2009, a larger proportion of men than women died from smoking-related diseases, reflecting the higher rates of smoking by men in the past.

Smoking is a major cause of health inequalities. Although the number of deaths from smoking is declining, rates remain much higher in the north than in the south of Englandiii and among lower income groups. Reducing the prevalence of smoking in disadvantaged groups and areas is one of the fastest ways to increase life expectancy and to reduce smoking-related ill health.

Smoking is harmful not only to smokers but also to the people around them. Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemicals, many of which are carcinogenic or toxic.

In England, deaths from smoking are more numerous than the next six most common causes of preventable death combined (i.e. drug use, road accidents, other accidents and falls, preventable diabetes, suicide and alcohol abuse).

Smoking causes a range of illnesses, most of which only become apparent after many years of smoking. In 2009, around 35 per cent of all deaths in England from respiratory diseases and 29 per cent of all cancer deaths were attributable to smoking. Smoking also accounted for 14 per cent of deaths from circulatory diseases and 6 per cent of deaths from diseases of the digestive system.

Important Health Precautions In Case Of Flooding

2011-03-11T06:24:00.000-08:00

WHEELING -- As the water level continues to rise, so do concerns of area residents.

The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department has released a number of tips to keep homes and families safe in the event of flooding.

Flood water is known to carry disease producing bacteria that can remain alive and dangerous for long periods of time on items covered or exposed to flooding.

The Health Departments wants to remind everyone to keep their hands away from their mouth and face if they do come in contact with flood waters. Also be sure to disinfect wounds and dress them immediately.

When dealing with flood cleanup, wear protective clothing, including rubber boots, gloves and eye protection.

It is also important to wash your hands with soap and hot water to disinfect them.

After the flood waters have receded and before beginning any kind of clean-up, make sure gas and electricity is turned off to your home.

Before entering any building that has been flooded, check the foundation for cracks or shifting.

Drain or pump water out of flooded basements, but be sure not to pump too soon after waters have receded as this could cause the collapse of basement walls.

Finally, hose down all floors, walls and ceilings with clean water, preferably before they dry.

New Zealand Encourages Smokers to Kick the Habit

2011-03-11T06:13:00.000-08:00

The New Year became the best time to start with massive push to encourage many Kiwis to stop smoking.
The price of a pack of cigarettes has risen by 10%. Public Health Association (PHA) hopes that this increase in tobacco tax will make more people kick the habit this year.
“The tax increase will encourage those people who have made New Year stop smoking resolutions to quit as soon as possible,” national executive officer Gay Keating stated in the interview.
The last tax increase took place in April 2010, which practically doubled the numbers of people registering with Quitline and about two-thirds of callers interviewed stated that the tax raise was probably the main reasons to quit.
Within this year the prices on tobacco products will increase in total by 28 to 40 %.
The PHA is sure that 2010 was a banner year on the way toward smoke-free New Zealand, with raises in taxes on tobacco products and also the release of a report on Maori smoking and tobacco industry. It also requires government officials to remove all tobacco displays from all retail shop and various establishments.
“We hope that New Zealanders will change their lives in New Year 2011, and take advantage of the available stop-smoking programs,” Keating stated.
But some smokers were not disappointed by the tax increase and stated that they would continue smoking hereinafter, according to Auckland University's Centre for Tobacco Control Research
“We surveyed approximately 500 people after the GST increase and we didn’t find that people were disconcerted by the price. I suppose that they haven’t understood yet what is going on in fact,” Auckland University expert Dr. Marewa Glover declared.
“For example, if in a family there is one smoker, who smokes a pack per day, it constitutes $4,500 dollars a year, an average week's rent. It is really big money,” Paula Snowden, chief executive for The Quit Group, which governs Quitline stated.
Some smokers even switch to electronic cigarettes, where they inhale water vapor and not toxic fumes.
“We have saw a 200% increase in sales which came with the Smoke-free Day, when people began to look for a substitute for regular cigarettes and also trying to save their money,” Paul Medarov, CEO of Elusion Cigarette Company stated.
Quitline hopes that people will call for their help, as the tax increase takes effect.
“It is well known that those who apply for support are up to five times more likely to quit the habit than by their own forces. 80% of smokers wished that they had never begun smoking and we hope that the January tax increase will become a stimulus to stop smoking,” he said.
Smoking kills 13 Kiwis every day and about 1 in 5 smoke tobacco products.

Marlboro cigarettes advertisements

2011-02-09T04:01:00.000-08:00

Marlboro is a trademark of cigarette made by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the US, and by Philip Morris global (now separate from Altria) outside the US. It is well-known for its billboard advertisements and magazine ads of the Marlboro Man.Philip Morris, a London-based cigarette manufacturer, created a New York subsidiary in 1902 to sell several of its cigarette brands, including Marlboro cigarettes.

By 1924 they were publicity Marlboro as a woman's cigarette based on the slogan "Mild As May".The brand was sold in this capability until World War II when the brand faltered and was temporarily removed from the market. At the end of the war, three brands emerged that would establish a firm holds on the cigarette market: Camel, Lucky Strike, and Chesterfield. These trademarks were supplied to US soldiers during the war, creating an instant market upon their return.

During the 1950s Reader's Digest magazine published a series of articles that linked smoking with lung cancer. Phillip Morris, and the other cigarette companies took notice and each began to market filtered cigarettes. The new Marlboro with a filtered end was launched in 1955. In the early 1960s Philip Morris invented "Marlboro Country" and distilled their manly imagery into the rugged cowboys known as the "Marlboro Men." The brand is named after Great Marlborough Street, the location of its original London Factory. Richmond, Virginia is now the location of the largest Marlboro cigarette manufacturing plant. Mild Seven is the second most popular cigarette in the world, and with good reason. It has become more and more in demand. This is the premier brand of Japan Tobacco and is still Japan’s favorite smoke.

Quit smoking, but invest in Camels

2011-01-19T04:39:00.000-08:00

Tobacco stocks aren’t for everyone. They require a certain ethical flexibility, since you are profiting from the sad sight of addicted souls puffing away outside in the winter’s chill.

But if you’re like me, those concerns just don’t compare to the allure of outrageous corporate profits and growing dividends. Nik Modi, an analyst at UBS, likely agrees: He upgraded his recommendation on Reynolds American Inc. (RAI-N32.22-0.39-1.20%) – the maker of Camel cigarettes – to “buy” from “neutral.” He also boosted his target price on the stock to $38 (U.S.) from $33.

He is actually bullish on tobacco stocks in general, thanks to a stable pricing environment in cigarettes, growth in the “smokeless” cigarette category and high levels of cash distribution. But he believes that Reynolds stands out, even next to industry heavyweight Altria Group Inc. (MO-N24.08-0.08-0.33%), which I own.

The reason: Reynolds has suffered from earnings headwinds over the past three years, but with a few problems solved its earnings growth on a per-share basis should now outshine its peers.

“Reynolds has communicated roughly $60-million in cost savings opportunities through the end of 2012, but we believe there is at least the potential for further cost opportunities that could provide upside to margins and EPS growth rates,” Mr. Modi said in a note.

As well, the company’s cash distribution story is particularly compelling.

“Over the past three years, Reynolds has distributed roughly 77 per cent of its net income to shareholders through buybacks and dividends,” Mr. Modi said. “We believe that this will rise to 95 per cent over the next three years driven by improved free cash flow generation (from better fundamentals and less pension drag) and leverage ratios at the lower end of the company’s target. We expect Reynolds to begin share buybacks in mid 2011.”

By comparison, he expects Lorillard Inc. (LO-N76.51-0.56-0.73%) will return 84 per cent of its net income to shareholders over the next three years, while Altria will return 75 per cent. This is particularly important, given that Mr. Modi derives his price target to a large extent on expectations that Reynold’s dividend will yield 5.7 per cent. Currently, the shares yield 6 per cent.

Smoking Children with Diabetes Increase the Risk of Heart Disease

2010-12-22T06:19:00.000-08:00

Tobacco use is spreading among children and adults with diabetes and unfortunately few health workers are recommending then to stop smoking, according to a research.
Children and adults who have diabetes are already at an increased risk for heart disease before they start smoking, but several studies have analyzed the correlation between smoking and heart disease risk factors in children with diabetes.

Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Diabetes, researches analyzed smoking and heart disease risk factors of a group of 3,466 children and adults with diabetes aged 10 to 22 years.
They found out that 10% of children having first type diabetes and 16% of children with second type were currently using some tobacco product as: cigarettes, smokeless tobacco or cigars. Less than half of them stated that they had been advised by their health provider to stop smoking.

“We found that a significant proportion of young people with diabetes are current cigarette smokers, who greatly increase the risk for heart disease. Smoking is preventable, that is why adequate smoking prevention programs are needed in order to stop hear disease in young people with diabetes,” stated, Reynolds, PhD and research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research and Evaluation.

The study discovered that the prevalence of current tobacco use in young people with first type of diabetes constitutes 1.3 % of 10- to 14-year-olds, 14.9 % of 15- to 19-year-olds, and 27 % of those 20 years and older. Among young people with second type of diabetes, 4.4 % of 10- to 14-year-olds were currently smokers, 12.9 % of 15- to 19-year-olds were smokers, and 37.3 % in youth 20 years and older were smokers.
The researches also found incipient characters of heart disease among those individuals who smoke. Those young people who were past and current smokers had higher levels of such indices as: LDL and HDL (cholesterol levels) and more physical inactivity than those who do not smoke.

“Smoking is an absolutely preventable risk factor for cardiovascular and various other diseases. While this holds for all children, it is particularly true for children with diabetes,” stated study co-author Stephen R. Daniels, professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Pediatrician at The Children’s Hospital in Denver.

The risk of hear disease is rather increased in adults who have diabetes in comparison to adults without diabetes, and smoking may greatly increase the risk. Approximately 90% of adult smokers began smoking before attain their majority. The American Diabetes Association underlines the importance of smoking prevention programs for those individuals.

Consuming Various Kinds of Fruits and Vegetables Lowers the Risk of Lung Cancer

2010-12-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

Consuming various fruit and vegetables per day is the one of the best methods which many experts frequently advise for preventing cancer. A study of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) conducted by researches from 10 countries has proved that, in case of lung cancer, the most important thing is not only the quantity but also the variety of fruit consumed, which can lower the risk by 23%.

“The given study is analyzing deeply the relationship between dietary regime and lung cancer. Besides from the amount consumed, it is also relevant to consider the variety. A varied dietary regime lowers the risk of cancer, first of all in smokers” stated María José Sánchez Pérez, co-author of the study and director of the Granada Cancer Registry in Andalusia.

The results of this study have demonstrated that consuming more than eight sub-groups of vegetables lowers the risk by 23% if compared with eating less than four sub-groups. Also it was found out that the risk drops by 4% for each unit added to dietary regime from another sub-group.

An essential link was detected in smokers. For every two supplementary units of various kinds of fruits and vegetables in the dietary regime, the risk of lung cancer drops significantly by 3%. So in case smokers raise the variety of fruit or vegetables they consume they could have a reduced risk of developing this type of cancer.

(EPIC) includes 23 centres from 10 European countries as - Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It is working with a sample of 500,000 European subjects, only 41,000 of whom are from Spain.
“Lung cancer continues to be the most widespread type of cancer in the majority of developed countries all around the world. That is why, despite the gratifying results of this study that the most effective method of stopping it continues to be lowering the prevalence of smoking rate among the population,” Sánchez Pérez stated.
The effect according to the type of cancerous tissue.

A broad spectrum in fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a reduced risk of developing epidermoid carcinoma of the lung, with a supplementary two units of fruit and vegetable eating bringing to a 9% lessening in risk. The given result is evident among smokers (where the risk drops by 12%).

More essential associations between fruit and vegetable eating and the risk of developing lung cancer were not detected for the different types of tissues affected.

Racial Discrepancies in Smoking-Related Morbidity

2010-12-08T07:05:00.000-08:00

It was estimated that approximately 443,000 deaths in the United States happen each year because of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. All these deaths cost the nation $97 billion on lost productivity and $96 billion in health-care costs. Only in Missouri smoking lead to 9,600 deaths during 2000-2004. In order to restrict the dangerous health consequences of smoking, states decided to introduce comprehensive tobacco cessation programs which would detect inequalities among population and target those incommensurable affected by secondhand smoke.

The given report also compares the national health burden of smoking among whites and Afro-Americans in Missouri by evaluating the number of smoking related deaths in these population groups within 2003-2007. The data show that the average annual smoking related morbidity level in the state constituted 18% higher for Afro-Americans than for whites. The relative difference in smoking related morbidity levels between Afro-Americans and whites was higher for men – 28% than women 11%. For Missouri, these findings are an important criterion for estimating the success of tobacco control programs in lowering the consequences of tobacco use.

During 2003-2007, smoking lead to 9,377 deaths - 8,400 among whites and 853 among Afro-Americans. For instance in Missouri were registered 18% (51,856) of deaths among persons aged 35. Smoking caused 32% of deaths from cancer, 15% circulatory deaths, and 46 % of all respiratory deaths in Missouri within this time. For both Afro-Americans and whites, the major cause of smoking related deaths was cancer.

However smoking related mortality for Afro-Americans constituted only 9% of the total number of deaths, the same rate for Afro-Americans in Missouri was 18% higher than for whites. Also was registered a significant discrepancy, 28% of death among black men and 11% among Afro-American women.

The smoking – related years of potential life lost (YPLL) level for Afro-Americans also constituted 18%, this is higher than for whites and differed most for men. Afro-American men had an YPLL rate 25% higher than white men, and the same was for women.

Differences in smoking-related morbidity exist all over the world and happen because of variations in population demographics and smoking. Also differences in tobacco cessation programs, policies and tobacco industry occur in this field. Racial and ethnic discrepancies in smoking-related mortality are also associated with social status, levels of cigarette smoking and not the least but the last the differences in genetic factors.

Essential racial discrepancies in smoking-related morbidity existed in Missouri during 2003—2007, with a number of 52 per 100,000 more Afro-American dying each year from smoking.

Smoking Could Affect Sperm

2010-11-24T06:30:00.000-08:00

Two newest researches give evidences that smoking may effect sperm-both in smoking men who may become fathers, and also in sons born to women who smoked while being pregnant.
Also according to the research both men and women who want to conceive should stop smoking.
“The results of this study show that smoking has a negative biological effect on spermatozoa DNA integrity,” stated the author of one study, Dr. Mohamed E. Hammadeh, head of the reproductive laboratory in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of the Saarland in Saar, Germany.

Research conducted by the Hammadeh and his colleagues showed that those men who are heavy smokers may have fertility problems being the result of a drop in levels of a protein that is crucial to sperm development, as well as damage to sperm's DNA.
The other research shows that women who smoke at the early stages of their pregnancy may eventually compromise their sons' reproductive health.

In the firs research conducted by the Hammadeh's team, the scientists compared sperm from 53 heavy smokers, who regularly smoke 20 cigarettes per day, against that of 63 nonsmokers.
After three to four days of sexual abstinence, a single semen sample was taken from all study participants, in order to measure the levels of two forms of a specific type of protein contained in sperm, called protamines.

As researches stated protamines, are the important players in sperm development that help to stimulate the process by which chromosomes are formed and packaged during cell division.
Dr. Hammadeh and his team found that in the smoking group, one form of protamine appeared at levels that were 14% below concentrations detected in the sperm of those men who do not smoke. These findings were enough to constitute a form of "protamine deficiency" and in turn increase risks fro infertility among the smokers.
Also was found that smoking-linked "oxidative stress" is related to the increase in harm to sperm DNA.
The second study was conducted by Dr. Claus Yding Andersen, a professor of human reproductive physiology at the University Hospital of Copenhagen in Denmark. It particularly was aimed on detection of the impact of maternal smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy upon the development of the make fetus.

After classifying the future mothers according to smoking habits, the scientist found that the number of "germ cells" that are developing into sperm and eggs in females were 55% lower in testes of embryos obtained from women who smoked.

Based on these data early in fetal growth, Anderson and his colleagues stated that the evident affect of smoking on cellular production could continue in male offspring carried to term. And thus it could mean a higher risk of deteriorated fertility in sons.

So, these findings should help both men and women to kick the habit for the sake of their future children.

Smoking Ban Significantly Improves Indoor Air Quality

2010-10-20T06:34:00.000-07:00

Air quality inside several selected bars, restaurants and other public places in Madison County has improved significantly since June 2007 when the country’s Board of Health prohibited smoking in public places.

Invisible particles produced by smoking have been lowered by 94.5% in 11 locations selected for research, according to data presented by the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy and provided to the Madison County Board of Health on Wednesday evening.

Samples were taken carefully using a small, easily hidden quality control attachment in
2005 and then again between October 2009 and May 2010, stated Hillarie Sidney officer of the policy center. No one in these locations knew about this quality control attachment that is why there is no possibility that they could change their behavior in order to improve the received data, she stated.

The quality control attachment may detect even the smallest particles as for instance 2.5 microns in diameter. A micron is about 1/100th, which is the diameter of human hair, Sidney said.
Before the Madison County ban was adopted, the particle quantity averaged about 200 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Later on, it had dropped to 11. The average particle quantity for outdoor air is 35 per cubic meter.

The Madison County figures compare favorably to data in Lexington, where the quantity was 199 before a smoking ban was adopted and 18 later on.
”That we are a little bit better than Lexington is a considerably improvement,” stated Jim Rousey, director of the Board of Health.

In Louisville, the quantity was 338 before an indoor smoking ban came into force, and 9 later on.
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, there is no allowed level of second-hand smoke, Sidney declared.
One of Madison County’s supervised locations had a particle quantity of 54, which might be the result of several people smoking near a doorway, Sidney said.

The smoke-policy center has also supervised air quality in a hookah bar in Lexington and found that particle quantity was of 116 and 179, Sidney stated. Hookahs or also known as water pipes are most popular devices in the Middle East and southern Asia through which tobacco is smoked.
Both the Lexington and Madison County smoking bans permit smoking in businesses that principally sell tobacco products.

Sidney said Lexington toughened its regulations to permit smoking only in stores that gain 75 % or more of their profit from the sale of tobacco products, but the hookah bar there met that requirement.

In this early, the Madison County Board of Health dismissed a hookah bar application, stating that was provided inappropriate information, but the applicant has expressed his intention to apply again.

Smoking is Dangerous for Kids

2010-09-30T07:18:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of studies which show how harmful cigarettes smoking can be for smoker and even for those around them.

For example a study of paternal smoking in Hong Kong observed that kids whose fathers usually smoke are ponderous at seven and 11 years old than among those who have non-smoking fathers. But another investigation of kids in Britain and Brazil found that mothers who use to smoke may influence the smoking behavioral problems in their children.

But in Hong Kong, researchers at the University of Hong Kong investigated a group of 6519 children born in 1997, for which health registers and information on family smoking was accessible. Among the group, more fathers than mothers light up, and children of smoking fathers showed a greater modification from their BMI than those whose fathers didn’t smoke.
Because as it is known, fathers in the Chinese culture have a minimal role in diet and lifestyle choices of their children than mothers. Scientists argued that the fathers' smoking habit affected their children's obesity via biological ways, through secondhand smoking exposure.

Another study, led by Marie-Jo Brion at the University of Bristol, intended to regulate for the entire usual factor that might affect children's mental and social health state. These involved factors such as depression in the parents, parental education, the family's social position and income, and of course parental alcohol consumption.

By comparing two kinds of populations, a middle class group in Britain and a lower income group in Brazil, where smokers’ rates are higher, then the scientists also expected to prevent smoking effects that are autonomous of socioeconomic status. If the effects of smoking continue to persist in both groups, they supposed that it would suggest a stronger possible causal relationship.
At the end of investigation researchers observed that mother’s smoking increased by an amount of 53% the risk that kids in both populations would be aggressive, break rules, bully, defraud or else display mischievous manner, compared to kids of non-smoking moms.

But the effect of paternal smoking was approximately half that of maternal smoking. So, researchers concluded that smoking effect on behavior is happening during pregnancy. Among both groups, an average of 18% of mothers continued to smoke more than 20 cigarettes per day during pregnancy, despite public health messages warning about the possible harmful effects of the smoking habit on the growing unborn child.

E-cigarette maker agrees to halt sales in Oregon

2010-08-10T03:16:00.000-07:00

A leading distributor of electronic cigarettes has agreed to halt sales in Oregon, Attorney General John Kroger announced Monday.

Kroger said Smoking Everywhere Inc. did not seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and provides no evidence to support claims that its so-called "e-cigarettes" are a safe alternative to conventional tobacco products. He also expressed concern that the company geared it marketing toward young people.

Oregon last year became the first state to go to court to block the sale of the devices, some of which are designed to look like traditional cigarettes.

Smoking Everywhere's electronic cigarettes have a battery-powered heating element and a replaceable plastic cartridge that contains chemicals, including liquid nicotine. The heat vaporizes the liquid for inhalation.

In settling the suit, the Florida-based company admitted violating Oregon's Unlawful Trade Practices Act. Besides no longer selling its products here, the company agreed to pay more than $95,000 to the state Department of Justice. The company's president, Elico Taieb, will pay another $25,000 and is barred from doing any business in Oregon that involves tobacco, nicotine or electronic cigarettes.

Taieb did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Ray Story, a Smoking Everywhere owner who's in litigation against Taieb, did not approve of the settlement. "At the end of the day, he's made some very dumb mistakes, and he's continuing to make those," Story said.

The Food and Drug Administration has clashed with e-cigarette companies on the question of whether the product helps people quit smoking. If it's marketed as a medical device, then it needs FDA approval.

The agency banned the import of electronic cigarettes into the U.S. last year, but a federal judge overruled the action in January. The U.S. Court of Appeals takes up the matter next month.

Story contends Smoking Everywhere is a cigarette company and needs to act as such. That means not advertising on the radio and not selling the product over the Internet, where there's no guarantee it won't be delivered to a minor. Story said he and Taieb have disagreed on that point.

"That's where Smoking Everywhere has an issue, because they're selling it on the Internet."

Story said e-cigarettes are less harmful than conventional cigarettes and less intrusive to nonsmokers. He sharply criticized Kroger for keeping the product away from Oregonians.

"The attorney general there really doesn't know what he's talking about," he said. "A state cannot ban a product without it banning every product within that same category."

The attorney general last year got two travel store chains to stop selling e-cigarettes in Oregon and persuaded another e-cigarette company, Sottera Inc., to leave the state.

Smoking Everywhere declined a request to restrict its Oregon sales, leading to the lawsuit filed almost a year ago in Salem.

Tobacco Control in Ontario Today

2010-06-16T03:17:00.000-07:00

The health evidence which encouraged those addicted to tobacco to quit in large numbers began to emerge in the 1960s.
Tobacco industry products have no safe level of use and are highly addictive. They are also the only consumer products that kill when used as intended by those who make them, and kill half of their long-term users prematurely.
No other industry’s products have caused anywhere close to the number of deaths and cases of disease resulting from tobacco addiction—more than 13,000 annually in Ontario alone.
Ontario Medical Review • April 2010 1 severity of addiction of individuals in the 1960s to the 1980s, it is clear that large numbers quit with or without the benefit of legislation, high taxes, or cessation programs.
Beginning in the early 1990s, Ontario governments implemented increasingly comprehensive legislative, programmatic, and financial responses to tobacco addiction. Sales to youth under 19 were prohibited. Workplaces and public places were made smoke-free (a policy extended to vehicles transporting children under 16 in 2009). Retail tobacco advertising and displays were prohibited. In order to reduce addiction initiation,media and programinitiatives intensified targetedmessages to young people. Following the 1994 federal and provincial tobacco tax reductions in response to the smuggling crisis, provincial tobacco tax levels began to climb again. (Ontario’s stalled in 2006 as a result of the proliferation of contraband tobacco, discussion of which follows below.) These advances have led some in themedia and the government to ask whether tobacco control is in fact “done.” Others ask whether tobacco addiction should be categorized as simply one among many other chronic diseases and associated risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, physical inactivity, and alcohol and drug abuse.
The absolute number of Ontario smokers today—about 2.1 million — is a much smaller proportion of the population compared to past decades, but still remains relatively high. Some have asked if this can be due to recent immigration to the province from jurisdictions where smoking prevalence is high. In fact, recent survey research data show that:
• The large majority of Ontario smokers speak English at home (1.8million);
• Are white (1.6million);
• Are born in Canada (1.6million);
• Learned and understood English as their first language (1.5 million).

Despite high incidence of addiction in their countries of origin, the same survey found that 9% of South Asian Canadians, and 10% of Chinese Canadians, reported smoking behaviour levels of prevalence that are considerably below the general population average. The picture is different for Ontario’s aboriginals, whomake up 5%(or 106,500) of all Ontario smokers, with a 40% smoking prevalence rate. There are also signs that the impact of efforts tominimize tobacco’s effect on Ontario society may have begun to weaken.
Unlicensed cigarettemanufacturers in Ontario,Quebec, and New York State are distributing illegal cigarettes across Ontario, and have taken up an increasing share of the tobacco market. By 2009, between one in five and one in two cigarettes smoked in Ontario were classified as contraband.

Contraband also fosters an atmosphere of lawlessness and disrespect for authority in many communities where the trade flourishes. Finally, it undermines existing tobacco control programs and legislation. Contraband tobacco is much cheaper than licensed tobacco, is free of government taxes, warnings, and many retail restrictions. The cheapest and most prevalent form of contraband is clear plastic bags of 200 cigarettes. These are manufactured and packaged in a half dozen locations in Ontario, Quebec, and northern New York State

Ontario’s response to the tobacco problemtoday can thus be characterized both by success and the significant challenges that still must be addressed. Physicians face a similar duality: progress in the evolution of treatments and patient outcomes, but challenges with respect to treatment complexity and resources, as will be described in the next section. The simple fact is that there are still far toomany Ontarians suffering from entirely preventable tobaccoinduced illnesses.

Beautiful women smoking cigarettes

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

Cigarette Smoking More Dangerous for Sick Smokers

2010-04-27T07:20:00.001-07:00

Everyone has known for decades that smoking can harm the people’s health, especially those with prostate cancer. For example a recent study after investigated 21, 600 men with prostate cancer found that cigarette smoking not only can raises the risk of generating prostate cancer, but it also intensify the risk of dying because of this dangerous disease.

Scientists explained that prostate cancer is the most frequent cancer in American men with 186, 000 diagnoses in 2008, and 28,000 deaths due to the disease, but the cause is not understood yet. That’s why anti-tobacco researchers continued their research.

This actual study is based on various studies which had the same theme. Sometimes risk factors are not evident in smaller studies only because they are small.
In this study researchers grouped the men into two groups: never smoke and ever smoked. But previous studies categorized them by packs per day. Researchers also did not factor if the men changed their smoking habits and did not look at changes in their disease status.

Eight of the previous studies that looked at over 8,000 men analysis did categorize the men by how many packs they smoked per day and the researchers of this last analyze concluded that the heaviest smokers had a 30% increased risk of dying from prostate cancer when compared to non-smokers.

This recent study also found that among men under age 55, those with a history of smoking were at higher risk of having cancer that had extended beyond the prostate. The risk of having such a disease is higher for current smokers than that for former smokers.

As breast and colon cancer, prostate cancer is more spread in developed states. All diseases appear because of various bad habits. For example, lifestyle factors such as exercise, alcohol consumption, and diet have been shown to be strongly associated with the risk of developing breast and colon cancer. So, the high risk of developing and dying of prostate cancer is bound with lifestyle factors like smoking.

Statistics show that tobacco use is thought to cause about 30% of all cancer deaths and a total of 440,000 premature deaths in the US each year.

Cigarette Smoking More Dangerous for Sick Smokers

2010-04-27T07:20:00.000-07:00

Household environmental tobacco smoke and risks of asthma

2010-03-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

The reported prevalence of childhood asthma/wheeze is increasing around the world. The changing pattern of these diseases has not been fully explained, in part because of an incomplete understanding of its pathogenesis. The change has been too rapid to be accounted for by changes in gene frequencies. It is also unlikely that it can be totally accounted for by changes in either clinical diagnostic patterns or increased recognition of respiratory symptoms by the general population.
This shift does, however, suggest a role for environmental exposures in the etiology of this evolving epidemic. It is estimated that around 1.3 billion people worldwide smoke, and the number is predicted to increase in the coming years as smoking rates continue to increase among youth, primarily among young girls.
Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is common in children and causes substantial morbidity. Estimates of population attributable risk for household ETS exposure in children range from 9% for asthma prevalence to 25% for hospital admissions due to respiratory symptoms. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately half of the children in the world are exposed to ETS, mostly in their homes. In Taiwan, schoolchildren are not typically exposed in public due to the legislative ban on public smoking and regular health promotion campaigns; home exposure is likely the dominant source of ETS. It was reported that approximately 60% Taiwanese children under the age of 17 were exposed to household ETS, and therefore an estimated 3.3 million children were at risk for adverse health effects from this exposure.
Evidence of the effects of ETS exposure on childhood respiratory outcomes is inconsistent. Although an effect for paternal smoking has been reported, exposure to maternal smoking has consistently had the strongest association with adverse respiratory health effects. The strength of the association between maternal smoking and asthma/wheeze is in part due to larger ETS doses from maternal smoking than from other sources. Although there is evidence that maternal smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of asthma/wheeze in childhood, the effects of in utero exposure on the occurrence of respiratory symptoms have not been extensively studied or compared with other household sources of ETS.
The Taiwan Children Health Study (TCHS) offers an opportunity to investigate the effects of household ETS exposure on the occurrence of respiratory symptoms in Taiwanese children. At cohort entry, we used lifetime tobacco smoke exposure histories to investigate the relationships of multiple sources of ETS exposure with parental- reported respiratory outcomes. The individual and joint effects of parental smoking habits were also examined for associations with early-onset and late-onset childhood asthma.

American Cancer Society to Manage New Effort Against Tobacco in Africa

2010-02-16T09:46:00.000-08:00

ATLANTA -The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given a grant of $7 million over five years to the American Cancer Society to lead and coordinate the African Tobacco Control Consortium, a global coalition of public health-oriented organizations focusing on using evidence-based approaches to stem the tobacco epidemic in Africa. In addition to the Society, the consortium includes the Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI), Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).

In a part of the world that is notably affected by HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases, cancer is emerging as a serious public health threat. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, much of the rise can be attributed to widespread tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the world, and according to the World Health Organization, if current trends continue, tobacco use will cause one billion deaths worldwide during this century.

As the managing organization, the Society will collaborate with consortium partners to implement an ambitious tobacco control program across the 46 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The overall goal will be to reduce tobacco use in these countries by implementing proven strategies at the national and local level. The consortium will:

assist national governments and civil society to implement policies such as advertising bans, tobacco tax increases, graphic warning labels, and the promotion of smoke free environments that are in line with the requirements of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first public health treaty;

advocate for further tobacco control resources in the region;

protect existing laws from tobacco industry efforts to overturn them and halt crucial progress;

conduct research to improve/inform future tobacco control work.

“We are excited to be part of this important new effort,” said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., the organization’s chief executive officer. “Tobacco companies have begun to target developing countries as tobacco control efforts in high-resource countries have yielded tough restrictions, and we will make sure that the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have the information and tools to protect their citizens from preventable diseases and death caused by tobacco.”

“This development will be instrumental to help achieve a coordinated response to the rising rate of tobacco consumption and looming tobacco epidemic in the Africa Region,” said ATCRI’s Acting Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi of Nigeria.

As part of its ongoing efforts to save lives and help people stay well, get well, find cures, and fight back against cancer, the American Cancer Society has expanded its efforts around the world. In December 2009 several leaders attended the largest-ever gathering of health and government leaders in Africa for a conference on preventing a projected cancer epidemic in Africa. The Society also funds more than 75 tobacco prevention and cancer control grants in African countries, and has conducted workshops to educate journalists and advocates about tobacco and cancer control issues. It is also a leading voice in the Global Smokefree Partnership, which recently published a report calling for greater protection of Africans from secondhand smoke, and exposing the efforts of tobacco companies to fight against tobacco control progress in African countries.

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing about $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.For more information on our global programs, now in more than 20 countries, visit www.cancer.org/international

Andrew Becker
Director, Media Relations
American Cancer Society

The tobacco industry

2010-01-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

“More people smoke today than at any other time in human history. One person dies every ten seconds due to smoking-related diseases. Research evidence in the past five years shows a bleaker picture of the health danger of smoking than previously realised. Tobacco is the biggest killer, much bigger in dimension than all other forms of pollution.
Children are the most vulnerable. Habits start in youth. The tobacco industry knows it and acts accordingly. This is a medical challenge, but also a cultural challenge. Let us all speak out: tobacco is a killer. It should not be advertised, subsidised or glamourised. Adolescents should not be allowed to mortgage their lives to the seductive advertisements of the industry.
Girls and women are being targeted all over the world by expensive and seductive tobacco advertising images of freedom, emancipation, slimness, glamour and wealth.
Tobacco companies should be accountable for the harm caused by tobacco use. The day I took office I launched the Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) to spearhead the struggle to reverse the worsening trends in health caused by tobacco and to add momentum to a critical public health struggle.
The initiative aims at heightening global awareness of the need to address tobacco consumption. It also seeks to build new partnerships and strengthen existing partnerships for action against tobacco; to commission policy research to fill gaps; and, to accelerate national and global policy to implement strategies. The way it works illustrates the way we wish WHO to work in the future making the most of our own resources and knowledge and drawing heavily on the knowledge and experience of others.
Our goals are to:
• build “a vibrant alliance” between WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, and “partnerships with a purpose” with non governmental organisations, the private sector, academic/research institutions and donors.
• try to get more people to work on and support tobacco control activities and ensure that more resources are committed to tobacco research, policy and control.
• develop the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world's first public health treaty. The treaty will only be effective if it works in conjunction with, and builds upon, sound domestic interventions. The good news is that the epidemic does not have to continue this way. There is a political solution to tobacco – a solution routed through ministries of finance and agriculture as well as health and education. We know that tobacco control measures can lead to a reduction in smoking as witnessed among some member states. WHO, the World Bank and public health experts have identified a combination of the following as having a measurable and sustained impact on tobacco use:
• increased excise taxes;
• bans on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and marketing;
• controls on smoking in public places and workplaces;
• expanded access to effective means of quitting;
• tough counteradvertising;
• tight controls on smuggling. These must all be implemented if the predicted expansion of the epidemic as outlined in this atlas is to be prevented. The picture is far from bleak. Globally, we have seen a sea change over the past few years. A groundswell of local, national and global actions is moving the public health agenda ahead.

A message from
Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland
Director-General
World Health Organization

Tobacco use - cause of illness

2010-01-13T06:37:00.000-08:00

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death and illness in the United States, causing more than 443 000 deaths each year. The consequences of tobacco use include harms to the health of the fetus, such as low birth weight and sudden infant death; harms to children from tobacco use and secondhand tobacco-smoke (SHS) exposure, including respiratory illness, infection, and decreased lung function; the uptake and establishment of tobacco use and nicotine addiction by the next generation; fires attributable to smoking; the economic costs of purchasing tobacco and tobacco-use materials; litter and debris from tobacco products; additional cleaning and maintenance of facilities in which tobacco is used; the health care and emotional costs of diseases associated with tobacco use and SHS exposure; and the costs to families and society because of poor health and lost productivity.

Most tobacco users (80%) started using tobacco products before 18 years of age.Initiation of tobacco use is often instigated by exposure to tobacco use by parents or peers, depiction in movies and other media, advertising targeting children and adolescents, and other environmental and cultural factors. The connection between children and tobacco use is so strong that the commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration declared tobacco use a “pediatric disease” in 1995.

Tobacco use is a pediatric disease because of the extent of harms to children caused by tobacco use and SHS exposure, the relationship of pediatric tobacco use and exposure to adult tobacco use, the existence of effective interventions to reduce tobacco use, and the documented underuse of those interventions. This statement provides guidance for providers of pediatric services, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and its members, and summarizes other AAP policies that have addressed tobacco use and control. Because tobacco use has significant effects on children and families, its management has been reviewed in many AAP policies and official documents.

The information and recommendations described in this statement are consistent with recommendations in the other AAP publications cited as well as with tobacco policies from other clinical professional membership organizations, including the Academic Pediatric Association, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, the American Academy of Family Practice, 21 the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and the American Medical Association. The policy is accompanied by 2 technical reports: “Secondhand and Prenatal Tobacco Smoke Exposure” and “Tobacco as a Substance of Abuse.”The AAP recognizes the dangers of tobacco use and SHS exposure to children’s health. Tobacco control was named a strategic priority by the AAP in 2005, and the Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence (www.aap.org/ richmondcenter), dedicated to the elimination of children’s exposure to tobacco and SHS, was established in 2007 to foster tobacco-control initiatives at the AAP.

Elderly Smokers displeased because Smoking Ban

2009-12-15T05:20:00.000-08:00

Elderly inhabitants decided to start a fight against smoking ban, in order to protect the smokers’ rights which want to continue to hang American flags from their apartments and to smoke within their friends.

"HUD don’t care, housing don’t care, we’re like slaves to them", an angry Ann Musk said in opening comments to about 50 Warwick Housing Authority tenants gathered at the Meadowbrook Terrace community room.

The group is worried by the authority’s action by prohibiting smoking at all its lodging complexes, both inside individual units and anywhere on authority property, by Jan. 1, 2011. New inhabitants should accept the new conditions with any other objections.

Also the Meadowbrook tenants have been advised because of recently renovated ornaments which they will no longer be permitted to hang them, including flags. Will be accepted only flags which will be placed in a stand.

Inhabitants became angry not only because smoking and flag bans but because of many other causes. Fr example during a 45-minute organizational meeting, tenants complained that their units have not been painted, and the electrical fixtures have not been renovated and that there is mold in their apartments. Also, they complained that the authority keeps establishing new restrictions.

"They keep taking things away from us", said one of displeased inhabitant, Greene Musk. She explained that quit smoking cigarettes after a heart attack, but she knows how much smoking can mean to people.

After the meeting, Michael Lyckland, executive director of the Warwick Housing Authority, said that there is a no smoking trend for the Housing and Urban Development funded housing units across the country.

Lyckland declared that for the policy, safety and health are major reasons. But the safety and health reasons failed to fly with the tenants.

While there is no set indication, Lyckland said that if a unit is occupied for a long period it will be painted. Otherwise, he explained, as a tradition, a unit is repainted when tenants move out and before new ones move in. He declared that about 20 percent of the more than 500 city elderly housing units are repainted every year.

Parents’ Smoking Harms their Kids Health

2009-11-27T05:38:00.000-08:00

As it is known, cigarette smoke is harmful for children. That’s why in many countries cigarettes smoking were banned in public places especially where kids are. But a recent study found that almost half of Victoria's cigarette smokers still light up around children, despite a no-smoking policy.

However another new research launched of a new ad campaign by Quit Victoria, titled "Cigarettes are eating you and your kids alive", found an important amelioration in the attempts of parents to keep tobacco smoke away from their kids.

Researchers found that in 1998 just over half of surveyed households had home smoking bans, but in the recent survey just under three quarters of respondents said about their household's regular smokers which smoke always or usually smoked outside.

If there is a child in the house, it is even more likely (82 percent) the smoker will go outside. Parents were much more likely to protect their children from cigarette smoke when they were aged under five, explained researchers. There was a belief that as their child gets older they are better able to tolerate or avoid smoke exposure.

But households in lower socio-economic areas were less likely to urge home smoking bans.

Statistics showed that there has been an increase over the last 11 years in the proportion of smokers who do not smoke at all when they are around children: from 45 percent in 1998 to 56 percent in 2008.

Dr. Rob Roseby of the Royal Children's Hospital Centre for Adolescent Health, said: "Passive smoking leads to a long, sad catalogue of risks in children. Smoking causes trans-generational disease. Children and toddlers are exposed primarily at the home, and then later at places like child care or shopping centers."

Many studies have showed that if a parent smokes their child is twice as likely to go to hospital with pneumonia, twice as likely to get ear disease that must be treated with surgery. They also have increased risks of asthma, coughs and sneezes, SIDS and life-threatening meningococcal infection.

Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews, who launched the new anti-smoking campaign, said that Victorians owed it to their children to take a tough stand on this issue.

Taxpayer Subsidies for US Films with Tobacco

2009-11-27T05:36:00.000-08:00

Forty‐one US states and several countries compete for big‐budget Hollywood
film projects by offering valuable public subsidies. In 2008, states offered an
estimated total of $1.4 billion to motion picture producers. On average, individual
states now cover 24 percent of production costs for commercial feature films.
Because an estimated 1.3 million current adolescent smokers in the US
were recruited to smoke by tobacco imagery in films, about 400,000 of whom will
ultimately die from tobacco‐induced diseases, this report estimates the size of recent
public subsidies for youth‐rated (G/PG/PG‐13) films with tobacco imagery. It
explores making tobacco imagery a determinant factor in eligibility for public film
subsidies so that these awards no longer work in contradiction to public health.

A survey of the 147 films released to US theaters in 2008, each among the top
ten box office earners in at least one week, finds two‐thirds of US‐developed, youthrated
film projects with tobacco imagery were filmed in the US, a rate typical of all
films released by US studios over the past decade. Filmed in a dozen states now
offering subsidies, these 35 movies contributed 71 percent of the 11.4 billion
tobacco impressions delivered to US theater audiences by youth‐rated films in 2008.

Based on this film sample and on film industry production cost data, states
awarded an estimated $830 million in public subsidies to films with tobacco, including
$500 million to youth‐rated films with tobacco. For comparison, the states budgeted
$719 million for all tobacco control in 2009. More than half of states subsidizing
films (22/41), including New York and California, spend or earmark more money for
commercial film subsidies than for anti‐tobacco programs. An estimated 60 percent
($830 million/$1.4 billion) of state film subsidies go to smoking films.
To qualify for a subsidy, film projects must meet detailed eligibility standards.
Eligibility rules should be modernized to add two criteria congruent with widely
endorsed policies to reduce the film industry’s role in promoting youth smoking:

• Youth‐rated (G/PG/PG‐13) feature films with any tobacco imagery or
reference will not qualify for subsidy unless, in the judgment of the program
administrator, the tobacco depiction accurately reflects the dangers and
consequences of tobacco use or is necessary to show the smoking of an actual
person or real historical figure, as in a documentary or biographical drama.

• Regardless of rating, producers of films with any tobacco imagery or
reference must warrant in a legally binding manner that no one associated
with the production has received any consideration or entered into any
agreement in regard to the tobacco depiction in that production.
For accountability and transparency, subsidy programs should be required to
make public reports on tobacco status, eligibility determinations and subsidy
awards for individual film projects.

Caring for Our Recovery

2009-11-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

First, the good news, the risk of relapse declines with the passage of time! While
roughly 95% of uneducated smokers who attempt to stop smoking relapse within a year,
the relapse rate declines to just 2 to 4% per year from years 2 to 10, and then falls to less
than 1% after 10 years.392 Keep in mind that these rates occurred among ex-users who
generally had little understanding of nicotine dependency and no formal respect for the
Law of Addiction. If compliant with the Law our risk of failure remains zero.
But just one powerful hit of nicotine and the addict is back! While ignorance of the Law
is no excuse, most ex-users do not remain ex-users because of understanding or respect
for “one puff” relapse rates seen in recovery studies. They do so because once home they
discover that life without nicotine is better than when using it.
While the relapse rate for years 2 though 10 may seem small, when added together the
risk becomes significant. One recent study suggests that as many as 17% who succeed
for 1 year may eventually relapse.393 These ex-users do not relapse because they dislike
being home. They do so because they lose sight of how they got there, who they are, and
the captivity they left behind.
Among educated ex-users there appear to be three primary factors associated with
relapse:
(1) a natural suppression of memories of recovery’s early challenges,
(2) the exuser
tries to rewrite or amend the Law and
(3) the ex-user thinks he/she has found a
legitimate excuse to break or ignore it. When these factors combine with an offer of a
cigar, alcohol use around those still using394 or occur in an impulsive-type person,395 the
risk of relapse is magnified.

Policy Statement—Tobacco Use: A Pediatric Disease

2009-10-22T05:38:00.000-07:00

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death and illness in the United States, causing more than 443 000 deaths each year.
The consequences of tobacco use include harms to the health of the fetus, such as low birth weight and sudden infant death; harms to children from tobacco use and secondhand tobacco-smoke (SHS) exposure, including respiratory illness, infection, and decreased lung function; the uptake and establishment of tobacco use and nicotine addiction by the next generation; fires attributable to smoking; the economic costs of purchasing tobacco and tobacco-use maerials; litter and debris from tobacco products; additional cleaning and maintenance of facilities in which tobacco is used; the health care and emotional costs of diseases associated with tobacco use and SHS exposure; and the costs to families and society because of poor health and lost productivity.
Most tobacco users (80%) started using tobacco products before 18 years of age.
Initiation of tobacco use is often instigated by exposure to tobacco use by parents or peers, depiction in movies and other media, advertising targeting children and adolescents, and other environmental and cultural factors.3–12 The connection between children and tobacco use is so strong that the commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration declared tobacco use a “pediatric disease” in 1995.
Tobacco use is a pediatric disease because of the extent of harms to children caused by tobacco use and SHS exposure, the relationship of pediatric tobacco use and exposure to adult tobacco use, the existence of effective interventions to reduce tobacco use,14 and the documented underuse of those interventions.15 This statement provides guidance for providers of pediatric services, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and its members, and summarizes other AAP policies that have addressed tobacco use and control. Because tobacco use has significant effects on children and families, its management has been reviewed in many AAP policies and official documents.16–18 The information and recommendations described in this statement are consistent with recommendations in the other AAP publications cited as well as with tobacco policies from other clinical professional membership organizations, including the Academic Pediatric Association, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology,20 the American Academy of Family Practice, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry,22 and the American Medical Association.
The policy is accompanied by 2 technical reports: “Secondhand and Prenatal Tobacco Smoke Exposure”and “Tobacco as a Substance of Abuse.”The AAP recognizes the dangers of tobacco use and SHS exposure to children’s health. Tobacco control was named a strategic priority by the AAP in 2005, and the Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence (www.aap.org/ richmondcenter), dedicated to the elimination of children’s exposure to tobacco and SHS, was established in 2007 to foster tobacco-control initiatives at the AAP.

3 shops hit for underage tobacco sales

2009-09-29T00:57:00.000-07:00

Three local businesses recently were found in violation of state laws against selling products to minors, according to a press release from the authorities.

the inspections were conducted by the Southington Police Department’s Detective Division and Special Investigators of the Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services, Tobacco Prevention and Enforcement Program.

Under the direction and supervision of the Department of Mental Health special investigators youths under 18 employed by the Tobacco Prevention Enforcement Program attempted to purchase tobacco products at 37 establishments.

The three establishments found to be in violation are Sam’s Foods Store, 2201 Meriden Waterbury Turnpike in Marion; Milldale Mobil, 1896 Meriden Waterbury Turnpike in Milldale and Quick Mart located at 802 West St.

The offending clerks at these establishments were each issued an infraction violation with a $200 fine.

The clerk at Sam’s Foods Store was identified as Iftikhar Ahmed, age 49, of Flushing, N.Y.. Ahmed sold two Dutch Master Cigars valued at $1 each.

The clerk at Milldale Mobil was identified as Arthur Riley, age 19, of Meriden. Riley sold one Vanilla cigar valued at $1.35.

The clerk at Quick Mart was identified as Parul Patel, age 43, of Glastonbury. Patel sold one pack of Camel brand cigarettes valued at $6.32.

Tobacco laws to change in October

2009-09-15T02:50:00.000-07:00

On June 22, President Barack Obama signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, or the FSPTCA. This law grants the FDA permission to control and regulate all tobacco products.

According to the FDA’s Web site, the FDA plans to, by October, prohibit cigarettes from having “candy, fruit or spice flavors as their characterizing flavors.” The FDA is expected to set in more regulations as time passes. Such regulations may include:

By January 2010, tobacco manufacturers and importers are expected to have to submit product information to the FDA.

By April 2010, the FDA plans to reissue a 1996 regulation aimed at reducing tobacco use among minors.

By July of 2010, it is expected that tobacco manufacturers will no longer be able to use the terms “light,” “low” or “mild” without a special order from the FDA. The FDA also plans to revise warning labels on smokeless tobacco products

By October 2012, the FDA plans to strengthen the warning labels on cigarette packs.
In St. Cloud, some businesses rely on the sale of flavored tobacco products.
The Smoke Shop, located on Division Street, is one such shop

The manager of the Smoke Shop, Alex Dodin, said that Djarum cigarettes and Dream cigarettes were going to be banned along with flavored cigarillos as of Sept. 22.

He said he was not sure what else would be taken off the market and said these news laws against flavored tobacco would strongly affect his business.

“What else are they going to smoke after this?” Didon added.

Ezekial Butler, SCSU junior and CA for Stearns Hall, had some opinions on the proposed ban.

He said that he occasionally enjoyed the Dream cigarettes and will stock up before the ban takes hold.

“They [The FDA] have a decent reason to ban flavored cigarettes, but it’s unfair to those who are of age that enjoy them,” Butler said. “Even though I plan on quitting, this new ban is not going to stop me from smoking.”

The new laws that are planned to be put into affect are aimed at decreasing smoking among adolescents, but it may also have consequences for those who sell and those who enjoy smoking tobacco legally.

Importer tries to get around clove smoke ban

2009-09-08T04:40:00.000-07:00

The nation's top distributor of clove cigarettes is offering fans a new way to get their fix after the spice-flavored cigarettes are banned later this year — cigars.

The new filtered cigars — close to the size of a cigarette and flavored with clove, vanilla and cherry — allow Kretek International Inc., which imports Djarum-brand tobacco products from Indonesia, to avoid new federal laws banning flavored cigarettes other than menthol.

The ban on flavored cigarettes, which critics say appeal to teenagers, goes into effect at the end of September. It doesn't include cigars.

The difference? Cigarettes are wrapped in thin paper, cigars in tobacco leaves. While the cigars also are made with a different kind of tobacco, the taste is similar. The cigars come 12 to a pack, rather than 20 for cigarettes, but cost nearly half as much.

The ban is one of the first visible effects of a new law signed by President Barack Obama in June that gives the Food and Drug Administration wide-ranging authority to regulate tobacco, though it can't ban nicotine or tobacco outright.

The new law gives the FDA the power to ban other products like flavored cigars, but that hasn't happened yet.

Whether the cigars are truly different or just an attempt to circumvent the ban by making superficial changes is in the hands of the FDA, said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

"The key is the legislation gives the FDA the authority to respond to these types of frankly totally irresponsible actions," Myers said.

Myers joined executives from the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and the Amercian Legacy Foundation late last month urging the FDA to take a closer look at the issue.

Often associated with hippies and other bohemians, clove cigarettes may be the most well-known target of the ban. Some major cigarette makers experimented with mint- or chocolate-flavored blends earlier this decade, but many of those products are no longer made after coming under fire, accused of targeting children.

John Geoghegan, director of brand development for Moorpark, Calif.-based Kretek International, said the private company has been "puzzled about (the ban) since the very beginning" because clove cigarettes constitute less than 1 percent of cigarettes sold in the U.S.

"For people to say, 'Well, clove is a starter cigarette or a trainer cigarette' or something was just preposterous," Geoghegan said, citing company research about when and how consumers begin smoking.

Kretek International holds a 97 percent U.S. market share with its line of Djarum clove cigarettes, a staple of Indonesian smoking culture.

The U.S. market for clove cigarettes is about $140 million annually, with about 1.25 million clove smokers. Cloves have been imported to the U.S. since the 1960s and are mostly smoked by people younger than 30.

While Geoghegan said clove cigarettes make up about 65 percent of Kretek International's business, the ban is "damaging but not fatal" because of the company's other products like lighters and pipe tobacco.

Now, clove smokers are being forced to decide whether to switch to the new cigars, or quit. Many will likely stock up or try to buy product over the Internet.

And how the ban will work remains a point of contention for shop owners who sell clove cigarettes. But the FDA says the message is clear: Flavored cigarettes are banned, and the agency has the authority necessary to enforce the prohibition.

"So, what do we do with the stuff that's on the shelves? Who eats that? Is it legal to sell until it's gone or what?" asked Jim Carlson, owner of two CVille Smoke Shop stores in Charlottesville, Va., about 70 miles northwest of Richmond.

Carlson said he sells about 3,000 packs of the flavored cigarettes a year.

"You don't make a lot of money, but still it's income ... and it brings customers into the store," he said.

Lake Isabella, Calif., resident Terry Day, 42, used to drive 240 miles round trip to buy clove cigarettes when he lived in rural Valentine, Neb. He said he might try the cigars but was dubious about whether he would like them.

"I certainly don't like to be forced into that choice," said the clove smoker of 14 years. "I'm probably going to buy me enough to last until Oct. 1, then I'm just going to have to quit."

Tobacco Maker Names Chairman

2009-08-31T00:48:00.000-07:00

British American Tobacco PLC on Wednesday tapped former Bank of Ireland PLC Governor Richard Burrows as its new chairman.

Mr. Burrows will take over from Jan du Plessis, who will become chairman of Rio Tinto PLC, on Nov. 1.

Mr. Burrows resigned from the Bank of Ireland in May, following a troubled fiscal year in which the bank's net profit dropped to €69 million ($97.5 million) from €1.7 billion a year earlier and had to seek €3.5 billion in financial assistance from the Irish government. Mr. Burrows apologized to investors at the time for the loss of shareholder value and the cancellation of the company's dividend.

BAT, meanwhile, demonstrated the resilience of the tobacco industry last month when it posted a 16% rise in first-half net profit to £1.45 billion ($2.4 billion).

Sales of cigarettes are continuing to hold up pretty well in the recession because smokers are reluctant to give up tobacco. Also, any dropoff in volume can be offset with price increases. The company's shares have risen 3.4% in the past year.

Analysts weren't concerned by Mr. Burrows's Bank of Ireland record, concentrating instead on his highly successful career in the fast-moving consumer-goods industry.

He was chief executive of Irish Distillers from 1978 until its takeover by Pernod Ricard SA in 1988. He continued to work within the French drinks company and eventually served as co-chief executive of Pernod Ricard from 2000 to 2005.

The BAT chair is a nonexecutive position, but a higher-profile role than at other similarly sized companies. During his five years in the job, Mr. du Plessis took responsibility for commenting on any political issues -- such as antismoking legislation -- leaving Chief Executive Paul Adams to concentrate on operational matters.

Mr. Burrows will be paid an annual salary of £525,000 and will work a two-day week for BAT. The salary is below the £686,000 Mr. du Plessis received to reflect the short working week, the company said.

Tobacco Festival should make big comeback next

2009-08-26T05:45:00.000-07:00

The South Carolina Tobacco Festival is returning for its 53rd year in Lake City, although the schedule is leaner this year as a result of the economy. The decision to offer a scaled-down series of events for the 2009 festival, which will run from Sept. 18-20, was a conscious and unanimous one by the Greater Lake City Chamber of Commerce’s board.

In spite of the bleak economic scenery surrounding us, Lake City is fortunate to still have a festival, and an abbreviated schedule is a small sacrifice to make as our local businesses fight to stay alive.

One minor rumor was that the Tobacco Festival wasn’t happening at all this year. While it might not be totally identical to the Tobacco Festival we’re familiar with, several events are still planned, starting with the Street Dance the night of Sept. 18, a Friday. The event will feature the Band of Oz and will run from 8 p.m. to midnight.

The biggest changes to the festival’s schedule are the lack of a parade down Main Street as well as entertainment at the town square stage on Saturday, Sept. 19.

But that doesn’t mean you should just stay home that day; get up early and go support a good cause when the Florence Florence County Disabilities Foundation will hold “Lake City’s Largest Yard Sale” at its thrift shop at 219 N. Church St.

Also on Saturday, the festival beauty pageant will take place at the Blanding Street Auditorium, at 125 S. Blanding St.

Finally, on Sunday, the Lake City Country Club will hold a golf tournament.

The chamber of commerce already is making plans for next year’s festival.

“The hope is that we’ll be able to do it even bigger and better than in the past, and we’re even working on that now,” chamber Director Rita Smith said.

When the economy improves, we hope businesses will be able to resume their sponsorships of the festival. A large number of local businesses have been quite generous to the festival, as shown by the lists of contributors in previous years, so we have a good feeling that things will be looking up.

Smith said most people she’s spoken with have been understanding of the decision to scale back the festival this year. Many vendors have called to show interest in selling their goods at this year’s festival have asked Smith to keep them in mind for next year, she said.

With interest already mounting in the 2010 festival, an economic rebound would bring back a Tobacco Festival like those so many of us have regularly attended with our families.

And, as Smith said, it could be even bigger and better than before.

Festivals are good for the morale in towns and cities. They give residents a chance to have fun and take pride in their community.

The people of Lake City and the surrounding areas still have an opportunity to do that as the Tobacco Festival stays alive, and it’s something to be thankful for.

It’s my choice and I choose to smoke

2009-08-25T04:36:00.000-07:00

“Quitters never win and I’m no quitter.” “It’s my choice and I choose to continue using nicotine!” The fact is, we lost “choice” the day nicotine took control. But that doesn’t stop the tobacco industry from spending billions on store marketing to build a mighty facade that screams, “smoking is an adult free-choice activity.” Every time we step up to the counter to purchase tobacco the signs and displays hammer our brains with the message that using it is all about flavor, pleasure and aroma. Apparently few tobacco executives “choose” to buy into the lies.

A former Winston Man, David Goerlitz, asked R.J. Reynolds executives, "Don't any of you smoke?" One executive answered, "Are you kidding? We reserve that right for the poor, the young, the black, and the stupid." Once hooked, our only real alternative is the up to 72 hours needed to purge nicotine from our system. Choice? What users have chosen is to avoid withdrawal.

As Joel puts it, it isn’t that we like using nicotine but that we don’t like what happens when we don’t use it. Then there are those of us who claim to smoke knowing full well that it’s killing us. We say we don’t care what happens, that we don't want to get old, that we have to die of something, so why not smoking. Most of us using these “self-destruction” rationalizations do so to hide the fears born of a history of failed attempts, and of a false belief that we’re somehow different than others, and that we’ll never be able to stop using. Try to find anyone who isn't shocked when cancer, emphysema, heart attack or stroke does occur. As Joel writes, "no one ever called me enthusiastically proclaiming, 'It worked, it's killing me!' On the contrary, they were normally upset, scared and depressed."

Choice? Once out from under our dependency’s control then free choice is restored. But just one puff, dip or chew and our freedom and autonomy will again be lost, as our brain is soon begging for more.

Ohio dealt decisive blow in tobacco funds dispute

2009-08-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Strickland administration will mount an appeal to a Tuesday court ruling that would prevent the state from using $230 million in smoking prevention funding to help pay for home-care services under Ohio’s latest budget.

Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge David Fais’ decision bars the state from touching $230 million from the dissolved Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation. The battle over the money began in April 2008, when Gov. Ted Strickland outlined plans to use tobacco foundation money to partly finance a $1.57 billion jobs stimulus plan in the state.

With the money frozen while the legal fight played out, the state shifted the intended use of the cash to optional Medicaid services, a children’s Medicaid expansion and cancer screenings, said Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst.

In the ruling, Fais wrote that two pieces of legislation backing a liquidation of the foundation and transfer of the money are unenforceable because they “clearly violate” tenets of the state Constitution. Assets in the foundation’s endowment fund are now in the state Treasury’s custody, but they’re to be used solely for tobacco prevention programs mounted by public or private agencies.

Wurst said Strickland was disappointed by the ruling and the time it took to reach a decision. The governor has asked state Attorney General Richard Cordray to speed an appeal of Fais’ ruling “to ensure these vital services continue for Ohioans.”

“Today’s ruling will delay or jeopardize the ability of these health-care services to continue to serve the people of Ohio,” Wurst said.

Fais reiterated a position he held when issuing an injunction on use of the money last February: The state had a reasonable alternative to raiding the tobacco fund for the jobs stimulus plan by issuing bonds instead.

Tough Summer for Tobacco Crop

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

It's a sight you'll find up and down the Connecticut River Valley, field after field abandoned or already harrowed.

"It's like a ghost town," said Allan Zuchowski. "It's like a spaceship came and took all the farmers away."

It's not the farmers that are gone, but instead their tobacco crops, a result of a very cold and wet summer.

Zuchowski, a farmer in Hadley, has lost seven acres worth.

"It pays the bills. It replaces the equipment. It keeps up the buildings," he said.

Wally Czajkowski, another farmer in town, has lost 30 acres.

"It's just a big hole in the middle of our season," he said.

It's leaving a big hole in Czajkowski's wallet. His tobacco crop makes up a third of his income.

Both farmers say it's a combination of factors that have led to the devastating loss. Four diseases attacked the crops early in the season, and the cold and wet weather made it too difficult for the plants to fight them off.

One virus many tobacco farmers are dealing with leaves spots all over each leaf. When cured, the spots become holes, and the leaf becomes useless.

"Tobacco is a job that requires many hands and many hours and those hands are idle now," said Zuchowski.

"There's going to be a lot of unemployed farm workers this fall," said Czajkowski.

Both Zuchowski and Czajkowski are now paying close attention to their other crops. They must now rely on those to make up for the loss of income.

But both say they're not giving up on tobacco.

"We'll just try again next year," said Czajkowski.

Farm Labor Supply Surprising Tobacco Growers

2009-08-05T01:29:00.000-07:00

About the time the economy went in the dumper in 2001 folks started saying that the recession would improve the farm labor supply. But a fellow at an agricultural outlook seminar in Gainesville, Fla., said the supply of field laborers was just fine.

"We have a great system," he said. "It's called Greyhound. It crosses the border, picks up workers and when the job's done, it takes them back home."

No self-respecting American who could get a check in the mailbox would go sweat in a field, the speaker said. At the time, he was accurate.

Either times have changed and some of those folks who could get a check prefer to earn an honest's days wages - as my parents and grandparents taught - or, well, I don't think there is an or. You see, those checks still are available to just about everyone who asks for one and Congress keeps extending unemployment eligibility.

But farmers are reporting Americans coming to see about working in their fields. Laborer jobs. Earlier today Ray Tucker couldn't help grinning when he said an American was among the fellows harvesting the tobacco on his Kentucky farm. And Jay sounded a little proud when he said the American was keeping up with the Mexicans who came here through the H2A program.

Reynolds American 2Q Profit Up 3.6%; View Raised

2009-07-24T05:13:00.000-07:00

Reynolds American Inc.'s (RAI) second-quarter profit unexpectedly rose 3.6% as the tobacco company reported higher margins, which helped offset a decline in volume at its R.J. Reynolds Tobacco division.

Based on the company's first-half results, and more clarity in shipping patterns and the effects of a federal excise tax increase, the company raised its full-year per-share earnings view to a range of $4.40 to $4.60 a share from $4.15 to $4.45.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration was given power to regulate tobacco products, giving the government authority to monitor smoking products. Reynolds and Lorillard Inc. (LO) claimed the legislation would give larger rival Altria Group Inc. (MO) advantages, but Fitch Ratings expects well-established brands will maintain their market shares and benefit from potentially greater advertising restrictions.

Fitch, though, warned launching new reduced-risk products could be difficult under the new restrictions. Reynolds, for instance, has been developing new smokeless products to boost sales, but its efforts could be snuffed out by the FDA.

The second-largest U.S. tobacco company behind Altria reported earnings of $377 million, or $1.29 a share, up from $364 million, or $1.23 a share, a year earlier. Revenue declined 3.8% to $2.25 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share earnings of $1.16 on revenue of $2.27 billion.

Gross margin rose to 46.6% from 44.2%.

The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco division's volume dropped 6%, but earnings rose 3.4%, as higher pricing and lower expenses were more than offset by lower cigarette volume and higher pension costs. Market share for growth brands grew 2.6 percentage points to 12.7%, while Camel's market share was flat at 7.5%.

Total R.J. Reynolds U.S. market share was up 0.4%, to 28.7%.

At the Conwood unit, which makes smokeless-tobacco brands Kodiak and Grizzly, earnings decreased 4.1% but volume rose 6.7% while market share for moist snuff shipments improved 2 percentage point to 29.4%.

On Wednesday, rival Altria reported its second-quarter profit grew a larger-than-expected 8.6% on its purchase of smokeless tobacco company UST as cigarette volumes continued to fall.

In premarket trading, Reynolds American's shares recently were up 0.8% to $41.50. The stock is up by about a third from its 52-week low in March.

Shanghai World Expo Says "No" to Tobacco Sponsor

2009-07-22T04:06:00.000-07:00

rganizers of the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 have canceled a sponsorship deal for the China pavilion by Chinese cigarette maker Shanghai Tobacco in response to outcry by China’s growing anti-smoking lobby. Organizers of the Shanghai fair turned down a $29.3 million deal previously signed in May, the Shanghai Daily reported. That’s a huge amount considering how the U.S. is still struggling to raise $61 million from U.S. companies [though no tobacco companies]to build its USA National Pavilion. U.S. backers so far include 3M, Pepsi, GE, Yum Brands [KFC], Walmart, Intel and NYSE Euronext.

What’s surprising is that organizers of the Shanghai Expo ever consented to the tobacco deal in the first place. The world’s fair is themed “Better City, Better Life” with a strong focus on green technologies aimed at building a cleaner environment. But then again, the state-owned tobacco industry is hugely profitable and powerful. You can bet it will be lobbying hard against a proposed anti-smoking law to be discussed by the Shanghai Peoples Congress next month. Like the smoke-free Beijing Olympics, the Shanghai Expo has billed the Expo, which is open from May to October next year, as smoke-free. Smoking inside offices, restaurants and most public spaces is still legal in China.

China is one of the biggest growth markets for international tobacco companies such as Philip Morris International, maker of Marlboro cigarettes. For more on what it’s doing in China have a look at the cover story Nanette Byrnes and I wrote for BusinessWeek earlier this year. China has about about 350 million smokers, accounting for one third of the world’s puffers.

Councilwoman Head pushing for tobacco change

2009-07-20T05:19:00.000-07:00

Councilwoman Stacy Head is set to introduce an ordinance this week that would create new restrictions on tobacco sales in the city.

It's a fight to steer New Orleans kids away from tobacco use.

"This is an initiative that has been brought together by a large coalition of people, some faith based organizations, some organizations dedicated to trying to reduce the use of tobacco products," Head said.

The measure would ban new businesses from selling tobacco products within a certain distance from city schools, playgrounds, libraries and churches.

Existing businesses would be excluded from the ban.

Up for debate is just how far the boundary lines would extend.

Head said it could be anywhere from 300 to 1,000 feet.

Those details will be worked out during a Housing and Human Needs Committee meeting Monday.

"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."

Pastor Patrick Keen with Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Central City said the measure would be an important cog in the city’s rebuilding effort.

"It's a land use ordinance that we're addressing,” he said. “How do we use the land in New Orleans as we develop post-Katrina?”

Keen believes the proposal would help offset what he describes as an ongoing tobacco advertising blitz.

"Our children are being targeted by the tobacco industry,” he said. “There's about $251 million that's used by marketing specialists in the tobacco industry in Louisiana alone."

But some retailers feel a restriction would be unnecessary, pointing out there are already laws on the books addressing underage tobacco sales.

"If they're worried about minors, especially like from schools, they don't have to be worried about it because the state has a law and we do have strict laws regarding our store over here,” said Deya Ottallah, who manages a convenience store not far from Cohen High School. “There is no selling tobacco for minors."

Head said children do get around the laws, however. And she disagrees with the notion that her proposal could signify too much government.

"I'm a firm believer in the market taking care of many, many, many things, but I think government has an obligation to control the market when it's something as harmful as tobacco and kids," Head said.

The proposal is expected to be ready for a full council vote on Thursday

Adult smoking drops in Arkansas

2009-07-17T04:52:00.000-07:00

New survey information shows there are nearly 10,000 fewer smokers in Arkansas since the beginning of the Arkansas Department of Health's (ADH) Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program in 2002. When the program started in 2002, 25.1 percent adults smoked in the state; more current data show that those numbers have decreased to approximately 20.7 percent.

Dr. Paul Halverson, director of the ADH and state health officer said, "We are encouraged by these results." Overcoming tobacco addiction is one of the hardest things anyone can do -- especially for adults that have been smoking for a long time. We applaud these Arkansans who have beaten addiction and celebrate with them as they lead healthier lives. However, we still have more work to do as we have many Arkansans that would benefit from a tobacco-free lifestyle."

"This news is also good for Arkansas's economic health," Gov. Mike Beebe said. "When fewer people smoke, we have healthier employees, healthier families and less demand for health-care services. It all adds up to a healthier workforce, which will help us in our efforts to attract new business and industry to Arkansas."

The ADH Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program (TPCP) funded through the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, works to reduce tobacco use in Arkansas. Through community and school prevention programs, a media and public relations campaign known as Stamp Out Smoking, and cessation services for tobacco users looking to quit, TPCP continues to see the positive effects of its efforts.

"It's rewarding to see our hard work pay off with the release of these new numbers," said Dr. Carolyn Dresler, ADH Director of the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program. "It takes all of our partners working together to achieve these kinds of results and through youth prevention efforts, quitting services like the Arkansas Tobacco Quitline and policy changes like the tobacco tax, we feel confident tobacco use in Arkansas will continue to decline."

Arkansas has made significant strides over the past year to provide more services for tobacco users who want to quit and Arkansans have overwhelmingly responded. Since 2008 the toll-free Arkansas Tobacco Quitline has received more than 22,000 calls. The Quitline, found at 1-800-QUIT-NOW, now offers free motivational coaching with a QuitCoach by phone or online and free medications while supplies last.

Alberta Faye Powell quit smoking on Oct. 20, 2008, with the help of Quitline. She said that she was successful because of the combination of the nicotine patches, coaching and "having the attitude that you are ready to quit." She said the coaches provided assistance in a professional manner and assured her that it was OK to be honest if she failed and to start again.

While helping tobacco users quit smoking provides maximum benefits for the state and the individual, it is equally as important to ensure that youth never start. Arkansas has been successful in continuing decline in youth smoking despite national statistics remaining stagnant. In Arkansas, youth smoking has decreased from 34.7 percent in 2001 to 20.7 percent in 2007.

A decline in tobacco use in the state benefits all Arkansans. It means lower health care costs, due to smoking-related illness, less exposure to second hand smoke and longer life expectancy resulting in more time with loved ones. Smoking is a major cause of heart disease, stroke, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Since the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program began in 2002 the number of hospital admissions in Arkansas for heart attack, stroke, chronic bronchitis and emphysema has declined progressively each year resulting in substantial savings in healthcare costs.

McKenna claims win in tobacco advertising case

2009-07-15T04:58:00.000-07:00

Washington's Division One Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a cartoon image included in the Nov. 2007 ad campaign by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in Rolling Stone magazine was in violation of the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

In doing so, the court overturned a June 2008 verdict in favor of the company, which ruled that the content didn't depict traditional cartoons and that the images were more thought-provoking than humorous. Tuesday's decision awarded the State attorneys fees and costs and remanded the case for damages.

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna called the ruling a reminder of how committed the states are to enforcing the public health provisions of the MSA and prohibiting the illegal marketing of tobacco products.

"This lawsuit demonstrates, even 10 years later, states have not forgotten legacy of the Master Settlement Agreement," said the Republican AG, who recently served three years as co-chair of the National Association of Attorneys General Tobacco Committee.

"This is the kind of advertising that brought about the Master Settlement Agreement in the first place and this is one of the on-going legal commitments tobacco companies made to the states. We are holding them accountable."

Eight states - Maine, Ohio, California, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Washington - sued R.J. Reynolds after the ad ran.

The Maine and Ohio judges sided with the company and California came back with a split decision. A Pennsylvania judge became the first to hold Reynolds liable, ordering the company to pay $302,000 or run a full-page anti-smoking ad in Rolling Stone. The other states' lawsuits are still pending.

"This is a significant decision in that it's the first appellate court interpretation of the use of cartoons in tobacco advertising," said Senior Counsel Rene Tomisser, who argued the case and was recently promoted to section chief of the attorney general's Complex Litigation Section.

As of now, R.J Reynolds has not said if they would plan an appeal.

Tobacco ban is premature

2009-07-13T05:48:00.000-07:00

Well-intentioned Pentagon health experts are urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ban the use of tobacco by troops and end its sale on military property. It's an admirable goal, and achievable some day. But the proposal, or at least its announcement, is ill-timed, coming last week just days after the largest one-day death toll in months for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

A plan to ban tobacco is something to announce during peacetime.

The Institute of Medicine study, requested by the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Pentagon, notes that one in three servicemembers use tobacco, compared with one in five adult Americans, USA Today reported. The study also found:

Tobacco use increased after wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, and troops worn out by repeated deployments often rely on cigarettes as a "stress reliever."

The heaviest smokers are soldiers (37 percent) and Marines (36 percent), who have done most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Combat veterans are 50 percent more likely to use tobacco than troops who haven't seen combat.

The study suggested the Pentagon consider gradually phasing out the subsidized sale of tobacco products on U.S. military bases and that it implement a series of tough anti-smoking measures, starting with new recruits. Well, with new recruits who aren't being sent off to war, anyway.

Focusing on smoking while troops are dying in combat has a missing-the-forest-for-the-trees feel. Studies and proposals don't happen in a vacuum. Or maybe they do, and that's the problem.

The military has a much more troubling health crisis right now -- and that is a record suicide rate among servicemembers. Like the smokers, the majority of military members who commit suicide saw combat, and served repeated deployments. And most were deployed repeatedly because the military has struggled at the same time to attract qualified recruits. Definitely a circular nightmare, and one in which cigarettes are not the villain.

When facing combat, fear, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, traumatic injury, stressful life events -- things military personnel and veterans can struggle with daily -- tobacco use isn't the problem. The military is working on suicide prevention programs, even as the trend continues upward, Military.com reported. More, urgent work is needed.

The study cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and VA as reasons for the ban. And the rising tobacco use is tied to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Which is maybe why the study's mixed-message recommendation is to phase-in the ban over years, perhaps "up to 20."

FDA's tobacco road

2009-07-08T04:58:00.000-07:00

For most of the last 15 years, the Food and Drug Administration's authority to regulate tobacco has been either a thwarted promise or a fitful threat, depending on your point of view.

It has been pressed by anti-smoking crusaders and public health groups, put on hold by the Supreme Court and beaten back repeatedly by the tobacco industry and its political allies. Last year, the latest such proposal was left for dead after President Bush threatened he would veto a measure, passed by the House of Representatives, if it made its way to his desk.

But on June 22, a political resurrection occurred in Washington, D.C.: Flanked by lawmakers, anti-smoking advocates and even a tobacco industry executive, President Obama (himself a smoker who's struggled to quit) signed into law a measure giving the FDA all the authority over tobacco that it has periodically sought, and more. That's a measure not only of the doggedness of some lawmakers, but how the American landscape has changed for the makers of tobacco products.

Roughly one in five American adults still smokes cigarettes -- down from a pinnacle of 40% in 1965. Most of the nation's workplaces, public buildings and restaurants no longer allow smoking. Though an estimated 1,100 kids take up smoking every day, tobacco has neither the Hollywood glamour nor ease of access it once did for those under 18. Even tobacco farmers are a vanishing breed, with many states using funds from a $206-billion legal settlement with the tobacco industry to buy them out of the business.

Tobacco use, estimated to kill 443,000 Americans and cost $193 billion in lost productivity and added healthcare costs every year, is something that fewer and fewer politicians dare defend.

One of the oldest cigar makers shuts down its plan

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

Florida will fell short of one of its iconic cigar plants in later this summer when Hav-A-Tampa closes its factory, which has been working since 1902 and fires almost 500 employees.
Hav-A-Tampa revenues were hit dramatically by constantly increasing tobacco taxes and strict indoor smoking policies that have obliged smokers to go outside for a puff.
Altadis Inc, the owner of Hav-A-Tampa made public their decision to close the plant on Thursday during a special press-conference.
The major part of employees was involved in manufacture of legendary Jewel cigars, Hav-A-Tampa's top-seller. According to Kevin Barlow, head of plant’s human resources department, many employees have been working there for 15 years or even more, with even one worker who has been employed for 50 years.
Altadis made desperate efforts to keep the factory going, but was unable to overcome dramatic sales decline caused by the economic downturn and landmark tax on cigars.
The manufacture would be transferred to another plant owned by Altadis and situated in Puerto Rico. The owner also decided to keep the Florida distribution center open.
After hearing the news of plant’s closure, Hav-A-Tampa workers were trying to figure out if they would be able to get new work in an state where the unemployment rate reached 10 percent last month.
Debra Barker, a Hav-A-Tampa worker admitted that she has been working at the plant for 15 years and there have been people who have been there even more. She said that she would get another job since she had a higher education, but it would be very difficult to get a decent job for other people who had been working at the plant after graduating from school.
Atladis spokesman said that a combination of several factors affected Hav-A-Tampa revenues, among which were the economic downfall, growth of unemployment rates and implementation of smoking bans in enclosed public places. The strict smoking bans have essentially hit revenues in central and northern states, where it's impossible to go outside in order to smoke a cigar in the winter.

Tribal members plead not guilty to contraband cigarette charges

2009-07-07T05:14:00.000-07:00

Four people who operated a smoke shop on the Swinomish Indian Reservation that was raided for untaxed cigarettes two years ago pleaded not guilty to federal charges Monday in Seattle.

Tribal members Marvin Wilbur, 71, and his wife Joan Wilbur, 72, along with their daughters-in-law April Wilbur, 44, and Brenda Wilbur, 49, were indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court last month on one count of conspiracy to traffic in contraband cigarettes and five counts of trafficking in contraband cigarettes.

The four remain free pending a trial set for September. The charges carry prison terms up to five years.

The Wilbur family ran the Trading Post at March Point, near Anacortes, which was raided in May 2007. Agents seized nearly four million unstamped cigarettes and about $120,000 in cash and bank accounts. It all has been forfeited to the government.

Prosecutors allege the Trading Post took in at least $13 million in revenue from contraband cigarettes and should have paid about $11 million in tobacco taxes.

In 2003, Marvin and Joan Wilbur unsuccessfully sued to try to stop a cigarette-tax compact between the state and the tribe that requires the tribe to collect the same tobacco taxes from on-reservation smoke shops that the state would collect.

Prosecutors say the Wilburs didn't get a tribal license to sell cigarettes and didn't pay tribal tax.

Tobacco lay

2009-06-24T06:35:00.000-07:00

Because an injunction “prohibits conduct under threat of judicial punishment, basic fairness requires that those enjoined receive explicit notice of precisely what conduct is outlawed.” Under this standard, we have held injunctions to be too vague when they enjoin all violations of a statute in the abstract without any further specification, or when they include, as a necessary descriptor of the forbidden conduct, an undefined term that the circumstances of the case do not clarify.
Indeed, we must always apply the fair notice requirement “in the light of the circumstances surrounding entry: the relief sought by the moving party, the evidence produced at the hearing on the injunction, and the mischief that the injunction seeks to prevent.”

Tobacco use

2009-06-17T04:37:00.000-07:00

In conformity with 2002 edition of World Tobacco Atlas published by the WHO, in the region of the Caribbean Sea and Central America, every year local smokers consume from 500 to 1,200 cigarettes each. Although the smoking rates among men tend to drop in recent years, this decline is very slow-going.

Moreover, generally, more educated men from the Caribbean countries do not smoke or have quit lighting up, being aware of all the negative health consequences related to smoking. Therefore, smoking is more likely to be widespread among the non-educated lower- income men.

Smoking star

2009-06-09T06:30:00.001-07:00

Movie showing smoking - Part II

2009-06-09T06:27:00.000-07:00

A spokesperson for 20th Century Fox, where all four series of the X-Men movie were filmed including the latest Wolverine movie, declared that Jackman's character was showed with a cigar only two times during the movie; moreover, the cigar was not ever lit.

She stated that despite the Wolverine character smokes a cigar in nearly each edition of the comic magazine, film director decided to avoid frequent showing of smoking in the movie.

The Medical Association of America, seeking to attract Hollywood tycoons' attention, recruited a truck carrying a billboard around the studios.

"Our designers have invented a poster showing an adolescent thinking, 'Which movie studios will cause me to smoke this summer?'” said the Medical Alliance executive.

Pamela Ramirez, the communications manager for Motion Picture Association declared that they have been rather delicate with the worries of parents regarding the aim of the rating systems.

She stated the Association started giving R rating to the films two years ago, responding to the changes in mentality and health complications related to teen smoking.

"Smoking has been rated similar to the factors like nudity or violence," she added.

Anti-smoking advocates push for R rating to any movie showing smoking

2009-06-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

The rate of smoking scenes in the movies permitted to watch by the minors has not dropped although Hollywood executives promised two years ago to avoid showing smoking scenes in the films.

According to the research completed by the American Medical Alliance scientists, showing famous actors smoking encourages adolescents to try cigarettes or other the tobacco products. Therefore the Alliance urged the Motion Picture Association to give an R rating to any film containing smoking scenes.

Dr. Thomas Jefferson from California Public Health Department cited the results of a study that found out that almost a half of all underage smokers throughout the United States might be linked to seeing smoking in movies.

"Overall, 55 percent of the top films containing smoking scenes showed within the last two years were permitted to teen audience since they have been given a G, PG or PG-13 rating," he declared.

Mathew Dow, the vice chairman of the America Motion Picture Association committee that is responsible for film ratings, cited their own numbers, basing on all the 900 movies that have been rated every year, not only the top films from Davenport's statistics.

According to the Association chairman, they have not given G ratings to any film, containing at least one smoking scene after it made a pledge two years ago.

In general, more than a half of all the films rated during the last three years contained smoking scenes, however 70 percent of such movies were rated as R movies, Dow stated. 21 percent of the films with smoking were given PG-13 rating and the rest 9 percent were given PG, he added.

In conformity with the rating system, G-rated filmed is permitted for viewing for all audiences without age restrictions, whereas a PG rating tells parents that such movie can contain some scenes which are unacceptable to see for their children. PG-13, for instance, signals that the movie contains inappropriate scenes for adolescents under 13.

No minor under 17 should be permitted to watch an R-rated film alone without a parent or tutor.

Sandi Frost, chairwoman of American Medical Alliance cited "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," as the most recent and great example of a film with free smoking advertisement. The box-office success blockbuster was given a PG-13 rating since the movie contains numerous scenes of violence.

"Hundreds of thousands of teenagers have seen the principal character in the film with a cigar between his teeth," Frost claimed. "I'm more than confident that no one would have liked that film any less in case he was not dragging."

First licensee prosecuted for flouting the smoking ban

2009-05-25T05:59:00.000-07:00

THE NEW head of Scotland's leading anti-smoking charity has called for cigarettes to be taken off shop shelves as part of efforts to dissuade the next generation from taking up the habit.
In her first interview as chief executive of Ash Scotland, Sheila Duffy also warned plans to expand smoking cessation services were at risk because of inadequate government funding levels.
And she cautioned tobacco should not be seen as a "done and dusted" health issue following the implementation of the ban on smoking in public places.
Duffy, who took up her new post this month after the retiral of previous chief executive Maureen Moore, told the Sunday Herald one idea which should be examined is the selling of cigarettes "under the counter".
"Some countries have experimented with the idea of taking tobacco off the open shelves, so you are not just going and buying it like you would buy bread and milk," she said.
"In the longer term, I think it is something we should seriously consider because this product is so dangerous it would never be allowed to be sold openly if it came on to the market today."
The legislation on smoking in public places - which came into force in Scotland in March 2006 - has been followed by further measures aimed at curbing the nation's nicotine habit. In October last year, the legal minimum age for buying tobacco was raised from 16 to 18, bringing it into line with alcohol.
Other plans which may soon come under consideration include a licensing system for shops selling tobacco, proposed by SNP MSP Christine Grahame.
Last month the government pledged £11 million a year for smoking cessation, to allow health boards to continue services and develop new ones in settings such as workplaces and social clubs.
But Ash Scotland has raised concerns that - taking inflation into account - this level of funding will represent a reduction of nearly 6% by 2010. And, while the overall budget for tackling smoking has increased by £2.5m to £13.8m, Duffy argued it was still inadequate.
"Alcohol is receiving three times as much funding as tobacco control," she said. "We are not saying don't tackle alcohol abuse - you need to tackle alcohol - but tobacco is no less dangerous."
Her comments yesterday met with a mixed reaction from politicians and campaigners. The British Medical Association has also called for a ban on displaying cigarettes at the point of sale. A spokeswoman for BMA Scotland said the practice "normalised" cigarettes, especially when they are placed next to every day items.
"Research has found young children become more aware of tobacco brands when cigarettes are on display and they are more likely to express an interest in buying named brands," she said.
Labour's health spokeswoman, Margaret Curran, pointed out tobacco was still a major killer in Scotland and added: "It would be a disaster if the good work of encouraging thousands of Scots to quit tobacco was damaged by a lack of investment."
Mary Scanlon, health spokeswoman for the Conservatives, agreed cessation services and support were vital, but said selling cigarettes "under the counter" was a simplistic approach that would have little impact. "It is not the display of cigarettes that makes you want to buy them, it is because you are addicted to smoking," she said.
Neil Rafferty, of pro-smokers' rights group Forest, argued: "Cigarettes are a perfectly legal product and as long as they are a legal product then adults should be able to make a normal consumer choice."
He added: "It is typical anti-smoking hypocrisy. We are told in Scotland that alcohol is doing our country enormous damage, but no-one is going to suggest alcohol be hidden under the counter."
The Scottish government is due to publish a five-year smoking prevention action plan this year, which will draw on 31 recommendations made by experts in a report published in 2006.
Public health minister Shona Robison said: "Proposals for under-the-counter sales will be considered within this action plan.
"I am confident the £11m a year I announced last month for smoking cessation will allow boards to continue existing services and develop new ones."

A New Bill against Smoking in Croatia

2009-05-18T02:07:00.000-07:00

Smoking was banned in public places in many states except Croatia. But today Croatia is set to implement a public smoking ban, including bars and restaurants.
"A six-month temporary period for bars, restaurants and the tobacco industry is expiring Today and the law restricting the use of tobacco will be fully implemented," Health Minister said.
Statistics showed that in Croatia smoke 68 percent pf the population. That’s why ministry believes that the new anti-smoking legislation will protect non-smokers and will decrease the smokers’ number.
The legislation allows a six month transitory period for bars, restaurants and the tobacco industry to conform to it.
After this period, smoking at bars will only be allowed out on terraces, while restaurants can allocate a separate room for smokers where they can’t serve food or drink in these areas.
Fines of up to 2,100 euros (2,800 dollars) for individuals and up to 21,000 euros for employers will be imposed on those violating the smoking ban.
The health ministry considered that tobacco kills 10,000 people every year while an additional 3,000 die from passive smoking in Croatia.
Croatia already had laws banning smoking in health and education facilities, and marking out separate smoking areas in other public spaces.
But these rules have often been ignored, especially in bars, restaurants and offices. Because bar and restaurant owners, in particular have protested strongly, claiming it will seriously affect their business.

More actual smokers would decide to give up the habit

2009-05-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

That fact brings major joy to local health advocates as they state that the higher the cost of cigarettes is the fewer minors would buy them and start smoking and the more actual smokers would decide to give up the habit.

Although the aim of Illinois lawmakers is rather laudable, some opponents like Rep. Frank Mautino stated that taxes should be raised only to collect additional revenue and by no means to force people to do or not to do something.

"May be we would also tax Cheeseburgers, soda or pizza, because we think they are not healthy for Illinois residents? That is simply ridiculous,” declared Mautino.

Another thing that brings fears to the lawmakers is the expected loss of revenue, since smokers would look for options when trying to get a puff. They could either go to neighboring states or order cigarettes online, or even use illegal black market that is blossoming nowadays.

Even if smokers remain in Illinois, they would buy fewer cigarettes, admits Joseph Elfish, manager of Illinois Association of Convenience Stores and Petroleum Marketers.

Although experts predict around 15 percent drop in tobacco products sales, Illinois Association of Convenience Stores’ analysts anticipate almost 25 percent decrease. That would force owners of small shops to get out of business.

It would leave thousands people jobless and without source of livelihood. People would be especially thankful to the government for their relentless efforts to improve people’s health, when they are fired.

Lawmakers want another tax increase?!

2009-04-30T06:03:00.000-07:00

Just two weeks after the largest ever cigarette tax increase went into effect, Illinois authorities consider another increase, this time in the state tax that would jump by $1 over two years in case it is approved.

William Sheridan has been the executive manager of 7 gas stations with convenience stores for almost 10 years. He said he remembers the times when sales of cigarettes exceeded 100,000 packs per month in one of his convenience stores. It was two years ago until Cook County administration imposed $2 sales tax kicked in three years ago. After the sales tax went into effect the store sells an average of 20.000 packs of cigarettes each month.

That was before the latest increase in the federal cigarette tax came into force making each pack 62 cents more expensive. Sheridan complained the sales went 15 percent down during last month in comparison to the same period last year.

However, it seems that Illinois lawmakers are still not satisfied. They are debating over another $1 state tax increase, despite the price of a pack of cigarette nears $9 in several Illinois cities.

Lucky Strike means fine tobacco

2009-04-23T03:53:00.000-07:00

Tobacco Companies Violate the New Tobacco Rule

2009-04-16T03:21:00.000-07:00

Smoking was banned in many countries but Tobacco Companies continue to attract young people by producing cigarettes in cute and fashionable packages. That’s why researchers consider that Tobacco Industry violate the new tobacco rules. Under the new Tobacco Hazard Prevention and Control Act that took effect on January 11th, businesses can be fined if they encourage the purchase of cigarettes by means of advertisement posters, electronic panels, animation, bonus points or any discount program, placing more than one box of cigarettes on the counter and selling candies, snacks or toys in the form of cigarettes.

Despite the vigorous regulations, tobacco companies still market fruit-flavored cigarettes to young ladies to give the impression that smoking these cigarettes has the same health benefits as eating fruit, said scientists.

Lin Ching-li, director of the foundation’s Tobacco Control Division, reported: "Many young ladies, perhaps because they are unable to consume enough servings of fruit, believe that by smoking peach cigarettes, they are getting the same amount of nutrition as they would from a real peach. This is completely wrong, but young ladies pass it on to each other and create this kind of misconception."

History of Montecristo

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

Distributed widely throughout the world and sold originally by Dunhill New York, the Montecristo brand cigar currently accounts for almost 50% of all Cuban cigars exported each year, making the Montecristo the most popular Havana cigar in the world. The Montecristo was originally branded in 1935 under the name “the H. Upmann Montecarlo Selection”.When appointed the British distribution agent, the John Hunter firm shortened the brand’s name to Montecristo. The John Hunter firm also redesigned the brand’s logo to its distinctive red and yellow box with the triangular crossed swords.These delicious, full-flavored cigars are highly recognizable to the pallate due to their unique tobacco blend, and their highly distinctive flavor. The Montecarlo brand is also highly popular as the result of it’s exeptionally consistent quality.

Highest standard of quality

2009-04-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

Relying on the skills and experience of the decades, Karelia cigarettes insist on the highest standard of quality. The state -of-the-art production services are among the first in Europe, producing for about 15 billion cigarettes per year.These exquisite cigarettes have been created from a superior blend of tobaccos to produce a cigarette of perfection. Grown in tender beams of hot Greek sun, Karelia Cigarette possesses an irresistible bouquet of tobacco flavor. Karelia presently exports its Premium brands to over fifty countries within Greece and Europe mainly, but to North America, Asia Pacific Africa and South America also not without participation of our online shop.Recently the company started the Karelia Tobacco Company (UK) Ltd., that is, the new subsidiary in order to sell its brands on the English market.
Karelia Tobacco Company Inc. is the Greece’s leading cigarette manufacturer and exporter. The Company’s principal activity is the manufacturing of cigarettes and other linked to tobacco products. Karelia Company became now an international Company, which exports cigarettes and tobacco products over the World. Karelia is family-owned company and is very proud of its position 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.

Davidoff most luxury things

2009-03-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

Davidoff brand is most luxury things. There are excellent cigars, cigarettes and pipe tobacco. Beautiful accessories that are embodiment of elegance of quality are also produced under Davidoff mark.
Everything that is produced under Davidoff brand are worldly recognized as of premium quality. All tobacco products of this company brand are shadowed under same brilliance star.
Mentioning trade name “Davidoff” first that comes into mind is luxury. This is referred to Davidoff cigarettes too. They are beyond doubt from superior tobacco that was created for smoking persons that wish to taste beauty of life.
Blend of Davidoff cigarettes is of time-experienced quality that becomes a prominent international tobacco brand name of this famous firm.
Emotions that offer this cigarette brand are full of outstanding fragrance that is accompanied by delicate flavor. Taste of Davidoff smoking cigs you will never forget or compare.
It is very hard to render luxuriousness and elegance of Davidoff smoking tobacco using words from nowadays vocabulary. This cigarette brand will be undeviating placed on premier rank on tobacco markets from entire world forever.
The prototype of Davidoff tobacco brand is allied in elegant hard packs that are differentiated in colors and smoking taste. This premium tobacco is presented in variety of Davidoff Classic, Davidoff Lights and Davidoff Slim Lights.
These smoking cigarettes are different in color, but not in gorgeousness of quality.

Camel Wides Art Issue - designed by Katja O

2009-03-18T07:46:00.001-07:00

Exclusive version of cigarettes Parliament

2009-03-10T05:01:00.000-07:00

The company Philip Morris arrives at the Russian market exclusive version of a family of cigarettes Parliament Reserve. New species of cigarettes will be distributed exclusively by reservation. Experts believe that if properly positioning Parliament Reserve will be successful.

Cigarettes will be issued in a new format in the form of packaging portsigara recommended price of 200 rubles. for the stack. Sales of the new series will not be limited in time, but will be limited circulation: one-customer can order from one to three blocks of Parliament Reserve. Book new cigarettes could be only through distributors Mercure and only in Moscow. "The order will be delivered to the house, which also will stress the core brand values: exclusivity, modernity and high quality - the series is designed for affluent consumers who appreciate this.

Recall Philip Morris already ran two series of limited edition in past New Year holidays - one for Marlboro Cigarettes and Parliament Cigarettes. Limited Series Marlboro had a stack of silver, which has opened the side like lighters, and the bonus Parliament Cigarettes changed the color to blue metallic tutu. But unlike Parliament Reserve, the two series can be purchased at retail prices, and restaurants: Marlboro - at the BP gas station and about 200 locations HoReCa, Parliament Cigarettes - in expensive restaurants.

Images of a Camel Joe

2009-03-04T00:52:00.000-08:00

The city of Paris court dismissed the claim of opponents of smoking groups to the American tobacco giant RJ Reynolds, which produces cigarettes under the brand Camel.
The National Committee of smoking opponents argued that the use of Camel 15 - ty packaging options with various images of a camel, Joe - a very attractive image of a juvenile - encouraged children and adolescents to gather full "collection" Camel packs.
However, the court dismissed the claim, stating in its decision that "although the law and prohibits advertising, promotion and free distribution of tobacco, it could not determine which images are used in the presentation packs, except for the mandatory placement reminder of the negative impact of smoking on health."
Nevertheless, the court charged the RJ Reynolds Tobacco 8 thousand euro fine and 1.5 thousand euro compensation of losses due to the fact that the company has changed autocratically text warning on the dangers of smoking, millions of reams of Camel, attributing at the beginning "in accordance with the law 91-32. Changing text, in the opinion of the judges, has led many consumers less serious about prevention.

Manufacturers Marlboro

2009-02-23T05:06:00.000-08:00

Manufacturers Marlboro cigarettes also followed this principle, but less aggressively than their competitors. R.J. Corp. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings, which occupies 2 - first place in the American tobacco market, in recent years has produced a series of new varieties of its Camel cigarettes, and launching the use of new types of packaging, in particular the original plastic "flask".
Meanwhile, Marlboro, as in 1976, remains the red-and-white packaging, which became a symbol of America and one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Today, the image of many already tired. "Philip Morris lacked innovation - argues Herzog. - Registration packages may not change for a long time, and this created a danger for Marlboro. fact, consumers like to absorb new products. advent of a new product line Marlboro - step in the right direction, but this is likely , will not be enough. " In the arsenal of Altria, it is true, there are other means, such as cigarettes with a reduced toxicity.
In due time, Philip Morris agreed to shift their costs of resolving lawsuits consumers on the shoulders of consumers. But higher prices caused the fall in demand for Marlboro cigarettes and contributed to the success of the many smaller competitors. Philip Morris has gone back on their word, starting to lower prices for its main competitors and followed. But this in turn damaged the image of high-quality cigarettes.

Vogue - one of the most popular cigarettes

2009-02-18T00:20:00.000-08:00

British American Tobacco Russia began delivery of cigarettes at retail point of the main line of Vogue Cigarettes in an updated tutu.

Vogue Bleue, Vogue Lilas Vogue Menthe, and the new model will appear at the Russian stores at the end of August 2007, the first time they will be packaged in foil with a picture of the old design. Also in the stack of nested liners information on the changes in the basic line of Vogue Cigarettes. In mid-September launch of the updated Vogue Cigarettes will be supported by an advertising campaign in the press and points of sale.

Russia - the second since Ukraine's market, where three major version change Vogue Cigarettes. Updating stamp design happens in all markets "British American Tobacco."

"Vogue - one of the most popular in Russia, women's cigarette class premium." That's why Mark always strives to match the mood of its customers. becoming more modern and fashionable, Vogue followed its discerning tastes of the audience "- said Mark Herman, head of the department of consumer marketing" BAT Russia. "

Restarting only affect the external appearance of tutus, receipt, gum and nicotine content in Vogue Bleue, Vogue Lilas and Vogue Menthe remain the same. Maximum retail price updated Vogue is 44 rubles.

Mark Vogue first appeared in Germany in 1987 and in 1990, Vogue Cigarettes were represented in Russia, where cigarettes were the first super slims format on the market. During the first semester of 2007, Vogue took 8% premium segment of the Russian tobacco market and 18% of the growing podsegmenta super slims.

Marlboro cigarettes

2009-02-10T05:10:00.000-08:00

Big Tobacco’s tactics

2009-02-03T06:21:00.000-08:00

The writer citing “the acid rain scare of three decades ago” to support his argument that climate change is a scam probably has a sense of irony equal to his understanding of science.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s acid rain program is a good example of a successful strategy to combat a serious problem. This program has achieved its goals of reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides through a cap-and-trade system on primarily coal-burning power plants. Since its implementation in the 1990s, it has successfully reduced acid rain levels by 65 percent at a cost much less than forecast.

As for global cooling, this was the brief darling of the pop press in the 1970s and was never taken seriously by the scientific community. It is in no way comparable to the present widespread scientific consensus that climate change is real and mostly due to human activities.
Regarding the “650 respected scientists” dismissive of global warming: There was also a time that the online tobacco
industry could muster many “respected scientists” to dispute that cigarettes cause cancer.

In fact, the strategies used then are now employed by climate change polemics. That is, recruiting just enough naysayers to confuse and instill doubt, despite the preponderance of evidence and expert opinion to the contrary, so those currently benefiting by the status quo can continue to profit to the detriment of everyone else. taxes

Prisons snuff out tobacco products

2009-01-29T06:49:00.000-08:00

Corrections officer Rod Coston spends his afternoons and evenings guarding prison inmates as they walk between buildings at the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia.
Most days, he smokes a pack of online cigarettes during his eight hours on the job. But starting next Sunday, Coston won't be able to turn to his favorite stress reliever while he's at work.
The state's 41 prisons go tobacco-free that day. Until then, inmates and prison staff can continue smoking in outdoor prison areas, although they haven't been able to smoke inside since the 1990s.
"I don't even know if I'm capable of going eight hours without a cigarette," said Coston, 46, who smokes around 20 cigarettes a day on the job and another pack away from work. "It's part of me, and I don't know if I can physically do it. I won't know until I do walk in on that day and see if I can get through the day."
Corrections officials began moving toward the total tobacco ban a year ago, when lawmakers put language into the 2008 corrections budget bill requiring prisons to be tobacco free.
The department offered inmates smoking cessation classes as it readied for the ban to take effect. Inmates have been able to buy fewer cigarettes and more nicotine patches and gum at prison stores in recent months, and no cigarettes have been sold since Jan. 1. Visitors have been told they won't be able to bring tobacco products into the prisons.

Cigarettes debut in America

2009-01-21T06:32:00.000-08:00

Peuple wonders: Would a Pennsylvania law that took effect Jan. 1 requiring stores to sell only "fire-safe" discount cigarettes have a made a difference?
Raiford's mother and brother died in a July house fire in Homewood that investigators blame on an errant cigarette. Cora Mae Raiford, 83, was overtaken by flames and smoke on the second floor of her house. Kenneth Raiford, 56, who investigators believe was smoking on the porch, died in West Penn Hospital after suffering burns over most of his body.
"I don't believe God makes mistakes," Raiford said last week. "But if had been in place, who knows if things would have turned out differently.
"I am always going to miss my mother and brother. Sometimes you have got to protect people from themselves, and this is an opportunity to do that."
Fire-safe cigarettes burn more slowly and self-extinguish if left unattended. Pennsylvania is one of 22 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that mandate them. Fifteen other states have laws that will take effect this year or next, according to the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes.

The law will save lives, say advocates and fire officials.

"Cigarette-related fires are the leading cause of home fire fatalities, killing an average of 700 to 900 Americans a year," said Lorraine Carli, spokeswoman for the National Fire Protection Association. "We are very optimistic that these types of cigarettes will make a significant improvement."
The paper in fire-safe cigarettes is thicker in two or three spots -- rings of less-porous paper that create "speed bumps" to prevent the smoldering paper from progressing toward the butt if the smoker does not take a drag often enough.
Critics say the fire-safe smokes taste different and the paper forces them to suck harder on the cigarette to keep it burning.
"The feedback has been mixed," said RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. spokesman David Howard. "It's different and it obviously takes some adjustment. We tell customers there has been no change at all in the blend. ... Yes, we've heard some (negative) reactions, but others have said they see no change at all."
RJ Reynolds will sell only fire-safe cigarettes by 2009, even in states that do not mandate them, Howard said.
Bill Phelps, a spokesman for Altria, parent company of Phillip Morris USA, said the cigarette manufacturer will continue to make fire-safe and regular cigarettes. He said Phillip Morris would like to see a national standard put in place rather than a patchwork of state laws. Past attempts to implement federal legislation failed, prompting a shift in strategy to seek state requirements, said U.S. Fire Administrator Gregory Cade.
Howard and Phelps said using fire-safe papers costs more than using standard papers, but the companies and not consumers will absorb the price increase.
Fire-safe cigarettes could save lives of smokers and nonsmokers, said Pittsburgh Deputy Fire Chief Colleen Walz.
Cigarettes that are dropped into wastebaskets or on furniture can smolder and then ignite after the smoker leaves the area, putting others at risk, she said.

100% Tobacco Free

2008-08-12T01:13:00.000-07:00

RALEIGH, N.C. - “No smoking or use of tobacco products will be permitted in any College facilities or vehicles or on any campus grounds …” So begins Wake Tech’s “tobacco-free” policy, launched in 2007. By the end of this week, that policy will be standard operating procedure at all Wake Tech campuses and training centers. Wake Tech will be 100% tobacco free on August 1, when the college’s Main Campus becomes the last Wake Tech campus to put the tobacco-free ruling into effect.

President Stephen C. Scott and the Board of Trustees resolved to eliminate smoking and tobacco products on all Wake Tech campuses more than a year ago; they have been systematically putting the new policy into effect on Wake Tech campuses since then.

“We recognize that the use of tobacco products is not only a health hazard, but a practice that poses serious safety and environmental risks as well,” said Dr. Scott. “We believe that prohibiting the use of tobacco at Wake Tech is a vital step in providing the healthy learning and working environment we want for our students, faculty, staff, and visitors.”

The policy is one part of a comprehensive health promotion program that includes education, prevention, cessation support, and policy reform that has long been a priority for Wake Tech’s administration. Wake Tech is a recognized leader in training the region’s nurses and allied health care providers.

The NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission awarded Wake Tech $75,000 to help bring about significant change college wide. The grant funds have been used to hire a full-time Health and Wellness Coordinator to oversee and promote the tobacco-free policy, as well as other health initiatives, across all campuses. Grant funds have also made it possible for Wake Tech to offer free smoking cessation programs each semester for those who want to kick the habit. Faculty and staff members were trained by the American Lung Association to facilitate the 8-week cessation program sessions.

The Northern Wake Campus opened in August 2007 as a totally tobacco-free campus. In January of this year, the new Public Safety Training Center followed suit when it opened, and Wake Tech’s Western Wake and Health Sciences campuses officially became tobacco free at that time as well.

Voluntary compliance will be emphasized for the first year that the new policy is in place. After that, students who violate the policy could receive a fine or be required to perform community service on campus. Employees could be subject to a written reprimand, probation, or termination.

EU executive wants higher tax on cigarettes

2008-07-18T05:53:00.000-07:00

BRUSSELS, - Minimum duty on cigarettes should increase to reflect inflation, putting all European Union states on an equal footing and weaning more people off tobacco, the bloc's executive said on Wednesday.

"This proposal ... suggests a number of important amendments to existing community legislation in order to modernise and simplify existing rules, make them more transparent and better integrate public health concerns," the European Commission said.

Consumption of cigarettes in the 27-nation bloc fell 10 percent between 2002 and 2006 while excise duties rose by an average 33 percent.

"In order to trigger a similar decline in consumption over the coming five years, further increases in excise duties would be desirable," the Commission said.

A 25 percent hike in cigarette prices would be needed to achieve a 10 percent cut in demand, the Commission said.

The proposal is part of the executive's regular four-yearly update on the bloc's tobacco excise duties. Unanimity among the EU's member states is needed to adopt tax proposals.

The EU executive proposes giving member states greater flexibility in levying excise duties as part of efforts to cut cigarette consumption.

It also wants higher duties on roll-your-own tobacco to bring them in line with tax on cigarettes.

"In line with the structure of minimum rates on cigarettes, it is proposed to introduce a compulsory monetary and ad-valorem minimum requirement for fine-cut tobacco," the proposal said.

This would mean an increase in the minimum rates for fine cut to 60 euros per kilo.

Excise duties on cigars and cigarillos is also needed to take into account inflation for the 2003 to 2007 period, the Commission said.

Camel Redesign

2008-07-14T06:05:00.000-07:00

A redesign of the Camel Lights packaging (the first since the brand's inception in 1913), coupled with a remix of the cigarette's long-standing recipe, poses a challenge to consumer brand loyalty.

The graphics on the package have been streamlined and stylized with bolder metallic colors and the cigarette has been enhanced with a blue stripe. It's still too early to tell what, if any effect the rebranding, launched in March, will have on sales, says RJ Reynolds Tobacco spokesperson David Howard. Camel Lights sell higher than all other Camel styles but Howard says, "part of the push behind this packaging refresh" was that the Lights' share of the market had become relatively flat. "In our focus group testing with adult smokers, both franchise smokers—current Camel smokers—as well as smokers of competitive brands, the response was very positive. Franchise smokers said that they liked the packaging as much if not more than the current packaging, they also liked the blend as much and found it at parity with Camel."

Rosie, a 22 year old from Allston and a Camel Lights smoker, was confused by the under-the-radar switch. "I thought I had mistakenly been sold a package of Camel Turkish Golds." The new design may have colored her impression of the cigarette's flavor at first. "I checked the package and thought maybe the taste was in my head, like I had just gotten a stale pack."

Elizabeth Miller, assistant professor of marketing at Boston College, says history has proven such switches risky. "There is always a danger when you change your formula when you're trying to attract new people, that you might make loyal users upset," she explains. "The classic example, of course, is Coke, when they changed their formula in the 80s. People were extraordinarily upset and they had to change it back."

Retaining the base of their franchise smokers was a priority for the Winston-Salem, North Carolina tobacco company, as was catching the attention of smokers of competitive brands. Whether either goal is ultimately achievable, particularly with smokers—who are, perhaps more than any other type of consumer, drawn to the predictability of ritual and the familiarity of their brand of choice—is debatable.

Susan Fournier, associate professor of marketing at Boston University, conducted six months of research on consumers' reactions to change. Products like cigarettes or caffeine tend to breed more resistance. "These are literally addicted people, and brand-addicted people," she says.

The experiment found that the stronger the subject's relationship was with the brand—"people who had a metaphoric relationship more akin to a partnership"—the more jarring the reaction when a product was altered. People with weaker relationships to brands, what Fournier calls "flings," were more open to change. "For people who were in flings, they thought of changes as exciting, because it brought new vitality to the brand," Fournier says. "Whereas the other people felt betrayal, like, 'Oh! You're not the brand I married!'"

As with romantic relationships, many react to perceived scorn by acting out. "I will definitely try out new brands," says Rosie. "I'll probably switch at least for a while, in the hopes that other folks do too and the new Camel Lights end up losing them money."

Joshua Sheppard, 21, used to buy Camel Lights by the carton. "But now I am hesitant to even pick up another pack," he says. "Even though it breaks my heart, I've been favoring Parliament Lights lately."

These reactions seem incongruous with the intent of Camel Lights' redesign and the new "higher end" recipe which calls for "premium" tobacco, using more leaves from higher on the tobacco plant's stalk.

"It doesn't taste like higher grade tobacco at all," says Rosie. "I suppose it's more 'flavorful,' but personally I think less is more. It's harsher, and the smell is way more intense."

Howard acknowledges iconic branding creates resistance to change, but insists, "Innovation cannot be restricted to brand new things. You've got to be willing to even take something as iconic as your Camel base and say, 'Hey, can we take something that's already great and utilize innovation to make it even better.'"

alternative cigarettes

2008-07-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

An alternative method of puffing away at the pub has drifted into the national consciousness and is causing quite a stir in the industry.
So-called electronic or alternative cigarettes give users the sensation of smoking, even producing a vapour that can be inhaled and exhaled while delivering the nicotine hit, but are legal as no harmful smoke is emitted.
One brand on the market is called the SuperSmoker.
Its Ultimo model, which retails at around £78, allows smokers to dodge the smoking ban, which has now been in place for a year.
Inventors say the system helps people lead a healthier lifestyle and is much cheaper, claiming it can knock 65 per cent off of normal smoking costs.
It is legal to use inside pubs and clubs as it causes no harm to those sharing their air.
Cartridges are placed into a pre-charged atomizer and users suck on it like a normal cigarette.
The firm say it looks, tastes and smokes like a conventional cigarette but has no detrimental health effects on others and say it doesn’t cause cancer.
We asked 58-year-old smoker Graham Bates from Herne Bay to trial the SuperSmoker Ultimo on a trip to his local.
He said: “I felt a little strange using it. It does have a certain sensation of smoking but you have to suck pretty hard to get much out and it leaves a sugary taste on the lips.
“I used it in the pub and the barman did initially ask me to stop but I showed him the product and he was fine with it. He said he had seen them before and had no issues with people using them.”
Mark Bradley, assistant manager of the Prince of Wales pub in Railway Street, Chatham, said: “I’ve actually got one of the electronic cigarettes.
“I went to the London Bar Show last week and they were giving them out. I think they’re brilliant and bought some for my staff.”
Sam Griggs, trainee assistant manager of the Druid’s Arms in Earl Street, Maidstone, said: “I think they’re a good idea.
“I’ve not seen anyone using them in the pub. We’ve only got a little garden and it normally gets packed with smokers so products like this may become quite popular.
“It might cause a bit of conflict, though, as other customers may think they’re real cigarettes.”
Graham Moore, landlord of the Dukes Head in Sellindge, said: “I wouldn’t have any objections to them being used here. If they are legal to use indoors and don’t disturb anyone else then that’s fine.”
Ian Gray, from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, has looked into the sensation.
He said: “We have been the advisors to all the regulatory authorities on this matter and are hearing about it more and more.
“Our main concern was that officers wouldn’t be able to tell the difference but it’s clear if you are close to them they’re not normal cigarettes.”
He added: “They are perfectly legal to use because, in our view, this isn’t smoking. If people are using them it’s very unlikely that a local authority would want to make a prosecution as the legislation is to protect people from second-hand smoke but if there is none of that then there’s not really a basis for a prosecution.”
Mr Gray says the craze is catching on: “They seem to be using them a lot in the North. I suppose if you don’t want to go outside, it’s a real alternative.
“They seem to be particularly popular in bingo halls where older people who may not want to get up and go outside and all that goes with that such as collecting your coat.”

Cigarette tax kicking butt

2008-07-04T06:30:00.000-07:00

PITTSFIELD — Smokers felt the first burn of the state's new $1 tax increase on cigarettes yesterday.
"It's disgusting, people can't live today with all of these taxes, it's killing business," said a patron of A-Mart on North Street, who identified himself as "Stoney."
The statewide cigarette tax increase of $1 went into effect yesterday, after passage in the Legislature late Monday and Gov. Deval L. Patrick's signature yesterday.
In January, the average nationwide price of a pack of cigarettes was $4.25, as reported by a study tracking state cigarette prices, but in Massachusetts, an average pack cost $5.41.
With the total tax now at $2.51, Massachusetts now
Projections are that the tax hike will raise up to $174 million in revenues to help support the state's health insurance programs. Medical News Today, an online newsletter reported in February that the state's subsidized health insurance coverage could cost the state as much as $1.35 billion over the next several years.
"If they were smart, they would have the same tax that New Hampshire has," said Mark Parrott, manager of A-Mart in Pittsfield, where he was tagging new prices yesterday.
The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids reports that New Hampshire's cigarette tax is $1.08 per pack.
"They claim that they will raise $175 million with
this tax increase, but they will actually raise less, because they are not going to get the same number of consumers that they had before," said Parrott. "Some are going to quit smoking, and others are going to go to (buy in) other states."
For smokers, the cigarette tax adds to the increasing cost of gas and other commodities. But lawmakers hope the new tax will cause consumers to quit smoking.
But some smokers won't quit.
"Smoking is undoubtedly an addiction, in fact, it is more addictive than many more expensive drugs," said Emily Blanchard, community health worker for the Berkshire Area Health Education Center.
"Everyone has their own individual struggles, for one person it might be more difficult to quit than it would be for another person," she said.
During the month of June, the state was offering free two-week supplies of nicotine patches to individuals who called 1-800-trytostop. The program may continue depending on how successful it was, Blanchard told the Eagle.
Though Gloria Wilson feels the tax is too much, none of her friends seem upset by the increased tax, she said.
For many smokers, cigarettes use has been a part of their lifestyles since they were teenagers, said Wilson, a Pittsfield resident.
"I have smoked since I was 14," she said.
Pittsfield resident Anne Bishop, who was smoking a cigarette at a North Street park on Tuesday, said she's been smoking since she was in high school.
"I could quit if I wanted to, I have in the past, I could quit if they kept increasing the tax," Bishop said, but she indicated no intentions of quitting now.
She said cigarettes are not the products that should receive a tax increase.
"I think instead of increasing (the tax on) cigarettes, they should increase a liquor tax," Bishop said. "Drinking is more of a problem to quit, they should increase an alcohol tax. People drink, and then that makes them smoke more," she said.

Philip Morris presents at JP Morgan Global Tobacco Conference

2008-06-30T02:22:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - Philip Morris International Inc.’s (NYSE / Paris Euronext: PM) Chief Operating Officer André Calantzopoulos will address investors today at the JP Morgan Global Tobacco Conference at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London.
The presentation and Q&A session are being webcast live, in a listen-only mode, beginning at approximately 9:25 a.m. London Time. An archived copy of the webcast, together with selected slides, will be available on the same site until 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, July 18, 2008.
Highlights of the presentation include Philip Morris International’s (PMI) key brand strategies and an update on major market performances.
The presentation may contain projections of future results and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
PMI is subject to other risks detailed from time to time in its publicly filed documents, including the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2008. PMI cautions that the list of important factors is not complete and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that it may make.

Scottish city to offer smokers food vouchers in return for quitting cigarettes

2008-06-30T02:19:00.000-07:00

LONDON — Authorities in a Scottish city are offering smokers food vouchers if they quit.

Health officials in Dundee say ex-smokers will be given $25 a week on an electronic card. The credits can be redeemed in stores for fresh food and groceries, but not alcohol or cigarettes.

Participants in the pilot program will get help giving up cigarettes and will have to undergo weekly carbon monoxide breath tests to prove they have not started again.

Authorities said Saturday that the project will start in the fall. They hope it can help 900 people quit smoking over the next two years.

Dundee is Scotland's fourth-largest city and has one of Britain's highest smoking rates.

Use tobacco money to balance budget

2008-06-20T06:10:00.001-07:00

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki says he hopes legislators consider approving his plan that could raise $600 million to $775 million in revenue without increasing taxes to address the budget shortfall.

"These are extraordinary times, and Nevada needs to take extraordinary measures," Krolicki said Thursday by phone from Beijing, where he is heading a state trade mission.

Under his plan, the state would sell bonds and use the revenue to cover current debts. The bonds would be repaid from the annual payments the state receives from tobacco companies.

Nevada receives about $50 million a year from the tobacco industry to compensate for the medical costs to the state of tobacco-related illnesses.

"The situation is so dire now it makes sense to use tobacco securitization to balance the state budget," Krolicki said. "You can't nickel and dime your way out of a $1 billion budget shortfall."

Legislators next week are scheduled to go into a special session to cut $100 million to $200 million more in state spending because of falling tax revenues. Lawmakers and Gov. Jim Gibbons already have approved $914 million in cuts to the two-year budget that ends June 30, 2009.

Krolicki's plan isn't without its critics.

In a letter Wednesday to Gibbons, state Treasurer Kate Marshall said her office has been unable to secure the "working papers" on the assumptions Krolicki used to arrive at the estimated proceeds from his plan. If the Legislature considers the proposal, Marshall said, she wants to work with the attorney general "to determine the extent to which such action would put the state at risk of engaging in fiduciary failure."

Marshall also pointed out that Krolicki in 2003 told the Senate Committee on Government Affairs that a tobacco securitization plan would be a "tremendous fiduciary failure" and should not be used to "balance today's budget."

At the time, Krolicki was state treasurer.

Krolicki said that in earlier sessions he advocated legislators issue bonds against the tobacco money. But at the 2003 session, he said, he opposed the plan because "it is too expensive and the market is not right."

The situation has changed dramatically since 2003, Krolicki said, and the plan is needed because there is no guarantee Nevada will continue to receive money from the tobacco industry at current levels.

The tobacco money now is used to cover some of the expenses of the Millennium Scholarship and SeniorRx programs.

"It is one of the few options that can raise a considerable amount of money without raising taxes or substantially harming a considerable amount of people," Krolicki said.

Legislators and the governor are looking at ways to cut spending without laying off workers.

Krolicki said his plan is available on his Web site and in handouts he has distributed to the media. He said he proposed creation of a working group, which would include the treasurer, to review the plan before any bonds were sold.

"I would be pleased to work with her (Marshall) and show how the model works," he said. "She is making noise now in a nonconstructive way."

Since Marshall assumed his job in January 2007, the two have been at loggerheads.

Krolicki has been investigated by the Nevada Division of Investigation because of concerns Marshall raised over his handling of a college tuition program and office e-mail messages. No charges have been filed against him.

Uganda: Tobacco Firms Should Be Socially Responsible

2008-06-20T06:06:00.000-07:00

I wish to draw attention to the damage tobacco growing has caused to the environment in West Nile, the North, Bunyoro and south-western Uganda.
Several acres of woodland have been felled for flue-cured tobacco production in Maracha, Arua, Koboko, Yumbe, Hoima, and Masindi districts. Forests that would otherwise have filtered carbon emissions and protected arable land from erosion are removed, and temperatures in the tobacco-growing districts are rising.
Firms like British American Tobacco, Leaf Tobacco and Commodity, as well as Continental, in their fallacy, give eucalyptus seedlings to farmers supposedly to replace chopped forests without considering the long maturity period and its impact on the water table.
The tobacco firms do not plough back their high profits yet they hype their cosmetic social responsibility programmes. South African Breweries' "Drive Arrive Campaign" resulted into 10% decline in road accident-related deaths in 1998. What have the tobacco companies done?
Apart from the trivial contribution through the mandatory 2000 Crop Ordinance that Arua enacted, tobacco companies have not done much for the community. Since tobacco growing is laborious and an all-year round activity, many food crops are foregone by tobacco farmers, which has caused food insecurity.
Besides, during peak seasons, students stay home harvesting tobacco, leading to poor academic performance and child labour. Tobacco companies have not trained farmers to invest their little earnings and this leaves them in a cyclical poverty trap.
The negative impact of tobacco growing includes the accumulation of chemical compounds in soils and declining fertility. Tobacco production negatively affects people's health. The effects include nicotine poisoning, pesticide exposure, respiratory effects, musculoskeletal and other injuries.
The Government should assist tobacco growers in West Nile to produce alternative crops that thrive well there without fertilisers or pesticides. The sh48b the Government gets in tax revenues from tobacco exports and products should not shroud the negative effects on tobacco on the population.

Wegmans, DeCicco Markets Ditch Cigarettes

2008-06-04T04:55:00.000-07:00

Anti-smoking groups are praising Wegmans Food Markets and DeCicco Markets for discontinuing the sale of tobacco products at their stores.

The American Lung Association of New York State presented Wegmans with the Lung Champion Award to recognize the Rochester, N.Y.-based grocer’s January 2008 decision to stop the sale of such items at all 70 of its locations, which are in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland.

“The American Lung Association of New York State commends Wegmans for its leadership in removing cigarettes from store shelves and putting the public health of its employees and customers above profits,” said Deborah Carioto, president of the organization. “Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in this country, and with the single act of halting tobacco sales in its stores, Wegmans has set what I hope will be a trend among major retailers in this country.”

Besides banning the sale of tobacco products, Wegmans now offers a quit-smoking program for its employees. It said 550 are currently enrolled.

“Wegmans believes that the many young people who work in our stores will be affected by the message the company they work for is willing to give up profits out of concern for their health,” said Wegmans vice president Mary Ellen Burris.

Pelham, N.Y.-based DeCicco Markets, with locations in both Westchester and Rockland counties, stopped selling tobacco products at five of its six grocery stores in February. The sixth location, which opened in Ardsley, N.Y. last year, has never carried tobacco products.

DeCicco was honored at the sixth annual “No Thanks, Big Tobacco” appreciation event sponsored by the Elmsford, N.Y.-based Tobacco Control Partners of the Lower Hudson Valley.

Stephens City Town Council approves tax on cigarettes

2008-06-04T04:50:00.000-07:00

STEPHENS CITY — A pack of smokes will cost 25 cents more in town when a new tax adopted Tuesday takes effect.

The Town Council voted 6-1 at its regular meeting to approved an ordinance creating a 25-cent excise tax on a pack of 20 cigarettes. Mayor Ray Ewing, Vice Mayor Joy Shull and councilmen Ronald Bowers, John Hollis, Lindel Fravel Jr. and Micheal Grim voted to approve the ordinance on the final reading. Councilman John Harter gave the dissenting vote.

"There were enough people in this town that didn't like the idea, and somebody had to vote against it," Harter said, explaining his vote.

Bowers disagreed.

"I think it's a fair tax because you're putting it on an elected product," Bowers said.

Currently, four businesses within town limits sell cigarettes and would have to charge the tax. Sellers must display a cigarette stamp provided by the town. Taxes will be collected by the town treasurer. The tax per individual cigarette will be 1.25 cents, but the total revenue should be around $25,000, according to Town Manager Mike Kehoe.

In other business, the council:

* Adopted a resolution to address "Virginia's transportation funding crisis," by which the town supports the efforts of the governor and the General Assembly "to act swiftly and decisively to approve legislation that will address the transportation funding crisis at the statewide, regional and local levels."

The resolution also states that such legislation should include new tax and fee revenue, including tolls on new highways, to ensure safe roads, ease congestion, promote economic development and provide consumer choices.

* Held a public hearing on the proposed 2008-2009 budget. No one spoke during the hearing. The total budget is proposed at $1.45 million, compared to $1.66 million for the current fiscal year. The council scheduled a June 12 special meeting at which they plan to vote on the budget.

Also, the council approved a motion extending the deadline to pay real estate and personal property taxes to June 30. Bills were to be due Thursday.

* Voted unanimously to award a contract to American Disposal Inc. for refuse collection. The contract is for one year at $101,192. Evergreen Waste Inc. currently provides the service for nearly $90,000 but submitted a bid of $125,881 for the next year, the second-highest of three bids.

* Voted unanimously to adopt a resolution requesting that the Virginia Department of Transportation reduce the speed limit on U.S. 11 (Valley Pike), 0.95 miles south of the previous town limits, from 55 mph to 45 mph.

Smokes in literature

2008-05-26T01:28:00.000-07:00

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë
Once upon a time, the smell of cigar smoke was thought to be delicious, arousing. In the proposal scene of Brontë's novel, Jane catches the whiff of Rochester's cigar - "I know it well" - in the garden at Thornfield. It mingles with "sweet-briar and southernwood, jasmine, pink, and rose". With the heroine giddy on these blended scents, only one outcome is possible.
Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle
It was also thought that clever people smoked, and became cleverer when they did so. Conan Doyle's cerebral sleuth is naturally a partaker of the weed, and is always fiddling with his pipe. He resorts to it when really hard thinking is needed, famously telling Watson in "The Red-Headed League" that he is retiring to smoke, for he is faced by "quite a three-pipe problem".
Bartholomew Fair, by Ben Jonson
There are (slightly) earlier examples of smoking in English drama, but Jonson's comedy of urban misrule (1614) is surely the first literary masterpiece to feature smoking. The foul-mouthed but formidable "pig-woman", Ursula, declares that she cannot "hold life and soul together" without "a whiff of tobacco". "Where's my pipe now? Not filled? Thou errant incubee!" she shouts at Mooncalf.
Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert
In the 19th century, when women go to the bad they shamelessly take to cigarettes. Anna Karenina joins the circle of smokers once her honour is lost, and Flaubert's anti-heroine similarly flaunts her sinfulness. "Her looks grew bolder, her speech more free; she even committed the impropriety of walking out with Monsieur Rodolphe, cigarettes in her mouth."
All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque
From Mailer to Tom Clancy, the stoical smoke is an indispensable interlude of any credible story of soldiers in battle. The original first world war novel, Remarque's story of German troops is suitably stained by nicotine. "Over our heads a cloud of smoke spreads out. What would a soldier be without tobacco?"
The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien
Pipe-smoking (to which the author was himself addicted) is an infallible sign of humane virtue in Tolkien's fantasy magnum opus. Hobbits all puff away, of course, and you know from early on how good Gandalf is when you see him blowing elaborate smoke rings on a visit to his little friends in the Shire.
Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh
The glum Catholic convert Charles Ryder looks back during wartime to a better world of his youth: long Oxford days, strawberries and Château Peyraguey with Sebastian Flyte, and lovely "fat Turkish cigarettes". "We lay on our backs . . . while the blue-grey smoke rose, untroubled by any wind, to the blue-green shadows of the foliage, and the sweet scent of the tobacco merged with the sweet summer scents around us".
The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler
Everyone seems to smoke in Chandler's novels, women often with particular panache. Philip Marlowe himself smokes with a kind of world-weary soulfulness, as when confronted by a sudden revelation in The Big Sleep. "I sat there and poisoned myself with cigarette smoke and listened to the rain and thought about it."
Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding
"9st 2, cigarettes smoked in front of Mark 0 (v.g.), cigarettes smoked in secret 7, cigarettes not smoked, 47* (v.g.)". Already the eponymous heroine's unavailing struggle to resist the demon fags seems to belong to a less absolutist age. How many does Renée Zellweger get through in those films?

Imperial Reports Lower Profit, to Raise $10 Billion

2008-05-20T02:35:00.000-07:00

Imperial Tobacco Group Plc reported a 45 percent drop in first-half profit on costs for buying Altadis SA and said it will sell stock worth 4.9 billion pounds ($10 billion) to current investors to help fund the takeover.
Net income dropped to 233 million pounds in the six months through March from 421 million pounds a year earlier, the Bristol, England-based company said today in a statement. That missed the 370 million-pound median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Imperial agreed to buy Madrid-based Altadis in July of last year, months after unveiling the acquisition of U.S. cigarettes maker Commonwealth Brands. Most of the Spanish company's sales come from its domestic market and France, adding to its allure for Imperial, which is expanding in new locations because its main U.K. and German markets are shrinking.
``The focus will be to see how Altadis is performing,'' Rogerio Fujimori, an analyst at Credit Suisse in London, said yesterday. The takeover gave Imperial, Europe's second-largest cigarettes maker, cigarette brands including Gauloises and the world's largest manufacturer of cigars.

Investors will have the right to buy one new share for every two held as of May 15, said Imperial, the maker of Lambert & Butler and Davidoff cigarettes. It will sell 338.7 million new shares for 1,475 pence each, 44 percent less than yesterday's closing price in London trading.
Imperial rose 16 pence, or 0.6 percent, to 2,618 pence in London yesterday. The stock has slipped 3.5 percent in 2008, while larger competitor British American Tobacco Plc, the maker of Pall Mall cigarettes, is little changed.
The cigarette maker had said costs related to the Altadis purchase would lop 110 million pounds from first-half profit. The drop in earnings is ``all because of this exceptional charge,'' Fujimori said.
Imperial had said it would sell as much as 5 billion pounds of stock by July to help finance the takeover and retain its investment-grade credit rating. The company has raised its stake in Logista, the Spanish cigarette distributor controlled by Altadis, to about 97 percent following an offer to minority investors this month.

Austria takes tough stance on cigarette imports

2008-05-16T02:49:00.000-07:00

Austrian customs officials have started imposing tough fines on persons bringing Czech cigarettes to Austria and in addition they confiscate all the non-permitted cigarettes they find, the daily Lidove noviny wrote Tuesday.
Czechs taking out more than one carton of Czech cigaretteswhile travelling for holiday to Croatia via Austria could be severely punished because the Austrian customs officials have started imposing tough fines on all drivers who violate "the tobacco law" while crossing the Austrian border, the paper says.
Under the law, passed shortly before the Czech Republic joined the Schengen area without border checks last December, one person can only take out 200 pieces of cigarettes with the Czech-language health warning message while travelling from the Czech Republic to Austria.
Drivers have to pay a 50 euro fine for each additional carton of cigarettes if caught and besides, Austrian police confiscate the cigarettes from them, the paper says.
"The time when we just reprimand the people violating the law or simply return cars back to the Czech Republic is over. At present we confiscate everything that crosses the permitted limit," Franz Dorninger, head of the Linz customs administration, told Lidove noviny.
While as recently as in January and February Austrian customs officials were still lenient towards Czechs violating the tobacco law, in March they imposed 47 fines for carrying non-permitted amounts of cigarettes from the Czech Republic to Austria and 48 fines were imposed in April, Dorninger says.
"On average, the drivers who are usually caught having two additional cartons of cigarettes above the one permitted carton on them had to pay a 100 euro fine," he says.
However, statistics does not allow to find out whether the drivers punished were Czechs or Austrians, HN writes.
The Czech Industry and Trade Ministry resents the Austrian police raids on people taking Czech tobacco products out to Austria. On the basis of the EU agreements from January 1, 2008, Austria must allow the import of up to 800 pieces of Czech-made cigarettes per one person, Lidove noviny writes.
However, since Austrian cigarette sellers have threatened to stage a general trike if their government failed to protect them against the cheap Czech competition Vienna has adopted special measures.
Although it has officially confirmed that people are allowed to take to Austria up to four cartons of Czech cigarettes per one person this is only possible if the health warning message is written in German.
The import of cigarettes with the Czech health warning message remains limited to one carton.
"In our opinion, such measure runs counter to the rules of free trade within the EU," Czech Industry and Trade Ministry spokesman Tomas Bartovsky told Lidove noviny.
Industry and Trade Minister Martin Riman has thus called on Austrian Health Minister Andrea Kdolsky in written to abolish the controversial measure.
Riman was not satisfied with Kdolsky's answer in which she pointed to the protection of the health of the Austrian population.
He has thus called on the Association of Czech tobacco products traders to complain about the measure at the European Commission, Lidove noviny writes.
Despite the gradual increase in prices of tobacco products in the Czech Republic they are still cheaper there than in Germany or Austria. Foreigners thus buy roughly one-fourth of the 73 billion pieces of cigarettes annually sold in the Czech Republic, the daily Pravo wrote on Monday.
According to Pravo, foreigners took some 5.6 billion cigarettes out of the Czech Republic last year.
On the other hand, some 1.8 billion cigarettes were taken to the Czech Republic from Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia where tobacco products are substantially cheaper for Czechs, Pravo said.

‘Joint effort needed’ to strengthen tobacco law

2008-05-12T03:09:00.000-07:00

A TOTAL of 52 participants including mall managers, restaurant and hotel managers, health professionals, legal experts, law enforcement agents and government officials recently attended a National Health Authority’s (NHA) workshop on Tobacco Law number 20 of 2002.
Penalties for violating the law include fines of up to QR5,000, closure of establishment which violates the law and jail of up to six months.
The aim of the workshop, which is one of the activities lined up for the commemoration of the ‘World No Tobacco Day’ was to discuss how to improve the implementation of the law among other things.
The theme for the year is ‘Tobacco-Free Youth’.
The director of the Public health at the NHA, Dr Gail Fraser Chanpong, who declared open the workshop, said that tobacco is a major public health problem in the community and that urgent cigarettes control efforts are needed.
Prof Ravinder Mamtani of the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar discussed the effects of tobacco and highlighted its effects, including cancer and heart diseases.
“Globally, tobacco kills approximately 5.4mn people annually, that is, one person every six seconds,” he said.
Legal expert at the NHA Asmaa Abdel Halim highlighted parts of the law and also discussed how it organises and controls tobacco sale and smoking in public places.
She stressed the importance of collaboration between all governmental agencies, families, educational institutions and others to reach the goals set by the country.
Head of the Non-communicable Diseases section Adenike Ajani said legislation is one of many strategies that can be used for tobacco control, especially because of its special consideration for the youths.
She added that the law prohibits the sale of tobacco to minors and advertisement that may encourage its use among youths.
Ajani noted that tobacco in the law refers to all kinds of products including water-pipe (sheesha) and chewing tobacco (suwaikah), while adding that there is no safe form of tobacco.
Major Hamad al-Ansari of the Ministry of Interior said that law enforcement officials will continue to support the cigarettes control efforts of the NHA, adding that official channels of collaboration need to be established to strengthen the role of the police officers in the tobacco control.

New Camel brand contains crushable capsule

2008-05-06T04:06:00.000-07:00

Consumers can squeeze this blue capsule inside the filter of the new Camel Crush to release a menthol flavor. The brand is being test-marketed at local Quality Mart stores.

A tiny blue capsule is the key element in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s latest attempt to woo smokers.
The capsule is embedded into the filter of a regular Camel Lights cigarette.
When smokers squeeze and snap the capsule, it releases menthol to change the flavor. The cigarettes — packaged in a sleek black and blue box and called Camel Crush — is being test-marketed at local Quality Mart convenience stores, and beginning this month in Pennsylvania.
"We're giving the adult smoker the ability to savor two distinct flavors with Camel Crush and customize the experience," said Brian Stebbins, the senior business-unit director for Camel. "They can crush it a little and get a slight flavor over the length of the smoke. They can crush it completely and get a fresh menthol blast."
Reynolds views product innovation as a positive and differentiating way to compete for adult smokers and market share.
However, the capsule also has become the latest target of anti-smoking groups, which claim that product innovations such as Camel Crush and the marketing of cigarettesare geared toward attracting young consumers.
"Tobacco companies have carefully designed their products to attract new users, almost all of whom are children," said The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in a February report titled "Big Tobacco's Guinea Pigs."
"Tobacco products are far from simple tobacco leaf rolled in paper or other packaging. They are highly engineered nicotine-delivery devices, finely tuned to appeal to the taste, feel, smell, and other sensations of new and addicted smokers," the report says.
Stebbins declined to say how much Reynolds has spent to develop Camel Crush, but it has been in the works for several years.
"We had to find the proper type of capsule," Stebbins said. "We also had to invent manufacturing machinery to put the capsule in the same place in the filter consistently without breaking it." Reynolds said it has obtained a patent on the machinery.

Fire-safe cigarettes bill passes Senate

2008-04-29T01:13:00.001-07:00

A bill sponsored by Sen. Rosalind Kurita of Clarksville to require "fire-safe" cigarettes in Tennessee passed the state Senate today and is on its way to Gov. Bredesen for his signature.

The fire-safe cigarettes bill passed in the house by an overwhelming majority on April 10 and was approved in the Senate this morning.

Fire-safe cigarettes are made from a special paper that contains "speed bumps" — areas of increased thickness that extinguish the cigarettes when air is not pulled through them, according to a news release today from the Senate Democratic Caucus. Unattended cigarettes burn out when the flame hits the speed bumps.

The new law will require that only these cigarettes be sold in Tennessee.

Tobacco market practices

2008-04-25T01:12:00.000-07:00

LONDON - Britain's consumer affairs watchdog said on Friday it suspected cigarettes price-fixing involving tobacco companies and retailers, including all big four supermarket chains, between 2000 and 2003.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) issued a so-called statement of objections naming two tobacco manufacturers -- Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco-owned Gallaher -- and 11 retailers.
The retailers are Wal-Mart-owned Asda, Co-operative Group, First Quench, Morrisons, Safeway, Sainsbury, Shell, Somerfield, T&S Stores, Tesco and TM Retail.
Imperial Tobacco had no immediate comment. Gallaher, which is owned by Japan Tobacco, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The OFT made two allegations, including that there were arrangements between "each manufacturer and each retailer that restricted the ability of each of these cigarettes retailers to determine its selling prices independently, by linking the retail price of a manufacturer's brand to the retail price of a competing brand of another manufacturer".
The second was more specific, alleging "in the case of Gallaher, Imperial Tobacco, Asda, Sainsbury, Shell, Somerfield and Tesco, the indirect exchange of proposed future retail prices between competitors".
The allegations come two days after the OFT was forced to apologise to supermarket Morrisons and pay 100,000 pounds ($197,700) to settle a defamation action over an incorrect accusation in another antitrust probe.

S.Korea's Tobacco Giant Opens First Overseas Plant In Turkey

2008-04-22T05:14:00.000-07:00

South Korea`s top tobacco company Korean Tobacco & Ginseng (KT&G) has opened on Thursday a factory in Turkey which is the first overseas plant of the company.
KT&G plans to produce two cigarettes brands at its plant in Aegean province of Izmir, company`s chief executive Kwak Young Kyoon said at the opening ceremony.
The plant, which has the capacity to produce 2 billion cigarettes a year, will ship 60 percent of its production to central European and Middle Eastern countries, mainly to Iran, Bulgaria, Hungary and Spain.
Kyoon said his company spent nearly 50 million USD for the plant, adding that KT&G targets 3 percent of market share in its first year in Turkey, and aims at 5 percent market share in the next three year.
KT&G is the largest tobacco company of South Korea and sells 100 billion cigarettes a year to almost 40 countries. The company is also active in ginseng, pharmaceutical and real estate sectors.

cheap cigarettes store online

2008-04-18T03:21:00.000-07:00

number one international cigarette shop that offers cigarettes. Our prices are cheaper than somewhere on internet.

High quality cigarettes are available for every visitor of this site.
Buying cigarettes online from us is the easiest way to save your money and time. The-cheapest-cigarettes.com offers cheap cigarettes of your favorite brands at the cheapest price but the quality remains superb, as usual!ur store sells all premium brands via Internet.

This cigarettes store and keeps customers database highly confidential, thus we do not report any information about our consumers to any authorities. You may pay your order by Visa Card.
Out goal is to offer you excellent customer service and the freshest cigarettes and tobacco for the lowest possible price. We have set rules on providing you excellent customer service and ensure that you are 100% Satisfied with our products. Our money back guarantee policy proves our intentions on ensuring your satisfaction.

Delivery of discount cigarettes to US is carried out for 7 up to 10 days. Make purchase at The-cheapest-cigarettes.com and you will appreciate the quality of our service. We guarantee the confidentiality of the customer data and safety payment of the goods.

IMPORTANT: We have never reported and don't report any information about our customers to any legal authorities. We guarantee your safety while shopping with us and we totally fulfill our promise in keeping your information 100% confidential.

The-cheapest-cigarettes.com provides the customers:
- the lowest price
- the highest personal safety
- fast delivery
- minimum risk of lost shipments (cigarettes are sent as registered mail with delivery confirmation)

Latvia FinMin projects average inflation at 14.6 pct in 2008

2008-04-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

RIGA - Latvia's average inflation is expected to reach 14.6 percent in 2008, Latvian Finance Minister Atis Slakteris told ministers in a report on budget performance in the first quarter of the year, said the BNS news agency.
The minister said, though, that this was a 'cautiously optimistic scenario', adding that the economic situation in Latvia also depended on external risks, considering continuous problems in global financial markets, especially in the United States.
According to the report, average inflation in 2007 was 10.1%, including a 14.1 percent 12-month inflation in December.
In the first quarter of 2008, consumer prices jumped 5.7 percent with the 12-month inflation rate reaching 16.8 percent in March.
'Price increases could be seen in the regulated services sector, especially heating energy. Increased prices for cigarettes had a substantial effect on the average price level, basically because the excise tax on cigarettes was raised in compliance with EU minimum requirements. Food and fuel also rose in price significantly due to the global market situation,' the ministry said.

Japan Tobacco to shut its 9th-biggest cigarette plant in Japan

2008-04-11T02:59:00.000-07:00

TOKYO - Japan Tobacco Inc., the country's largest cigarettesmaker, has decided to close down its cigarette plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, the ninth-biggest of its 10 cigarette factories, as a response to falling domestic demand, the company said Thursday.

Japan Tobacco has been expanding its cigarettes sales outside Japan, as well as its other business operations such as food and pharmaceuticals, to compensate for shrinking business opportunities in Japan, where the population is aging and an anti-smoking campaign is gaining ground.

The 35-year-old plant in Ishikawa produced 7.4 billion cigarette sticks in the year ended March 2007.
Japan Tobacco did not provide a figure for the total volume of its cigarette production nationwide.

The company sold a total of 174.9 billion cigarettes in Japan in the year to March 2007, down 6.4 percent from a year earlier.

Japan Tobacco has yet to assess the financial impact of the planned factory closure, it said.

Legislation to give FDA authority over tobacco

2008-04-08T00:26:00.000-07:00

Legislation to grant the Federal Drug Administration authority over cigarettes product regulation has moved to the U.S. House of Representatives. The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the bill, which has bipartisan support.

According to a Wednesday article by the Media General News Service, the legislation would give the FDA control over nicotine levels, cigarette marketing and health-warning labels, proposals that have been in Congress for more than a decade.

The bill would reinstate the FDA's 1996 rule that restricted cigarettes marketing and sales to youth. According to a release by the Energy and Commerce Committee, the legislation would give the FDA the authority and resources to control regulation of tobacco products.

"The legislation provides FDA with resources necessary to fulfill its new responsibilities by requiring manufacturers and importers of tobacco to pay user fees to fund FDA's new regulatory responsibilities under the bill," according to the release.

According to the committee's Web site, the bill has more than 600 organizations supporting it.

Ryan Willcott, president of College Republicans, said there are parts of the legislation he likes, like the push to lower the levels of nicotine to help with addiction. He also said he likes that the government would be able to rid any appeals that cigarettes have to children, and he agrees with increasing the size of the surgeon general's warning on packaging.

Fire-Safe Cigarettes Now Sold In Kentucky

2008-04-04T02:10:00.000-07:00

FRANKFORT, Ky. - All cigarettes now sold in Kentucky must be "fire safe," according to a law that went into effect April 1.
The law, passed a year ago by the 2007 General Assembly, is expected to save lives and property by reducing fires caused by careless smoking, said Richard Moloney, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Housing, Building and Construction, the agency that includes the State Fire Marshal's staff.
"We're confident that this legislation will pay immediate dividends," Moloney said. "Unfortunately, Kentucky ranks ninth in the nation in fire-related deaths. We believe this law will reduce the number of such deaths."
A fire-safe cigarettes is less likely to burn when left unattended. Typically, the cigarette has several bands of thicker paper that act as "speed bumps" to slow down the burning of the cigarette. If the cigarette is not puffed, it will extinguish itself when it burns down to one of the bands.
Kentucky is now one of 24 states that mandates fire-safe cigarettes, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
The State Fire Marshal is certifying fire-safe brands sold in Kentucky. A pack containing fire-safe cigarettes can be identified with the letters "FSC" or "FC," signifying fire standards compliance.
While there are penalties for failing to comply, Moloney said many cigarette manufacturers have already submitted their brands for certification. It may take a while before current inventory leaves store shelves and the fire-safe cigarettes appear.
Smokers should not rely solely on fire-safe cigarettes to avert a fire, Moloney said.
"First and foremost, a smoker should always properly extinguish his or her cigarette," he said. "A moment of carelessness can lead to tragedy."

Top cigarettes. Cigarettes blog news.

British American Tobacco project is about to start a single SAP

Cigarettes Grab Spain’s Tobacco Market

US Judge Suspends Health Graphic Warnings

Etymology of Tobacco

Marengo Style, Marengo Brand

40% of All Cigarettes Sold in New Jersey are Smuggled Illegally

Korean world-famous cigarette maker

Tobacco use in Indiana

Breast Cancer Risk is Lower among Obese Smoking Women

TobACCo And HEALTH In EnGLAnd

Important Health Precautions In Case Of Flooding

New Zealand Encourages Smokers to Kick the Habit

Marlboro cigarettes advertisements

Quit smoking, but invest in Camels

Smoking Children with Diabetes Increase the Risk of Heart Disease

Consuming Various Kinds of Fruits and Vegetables Lowers the Risk of Lung Cancer

Racial Discrepancies in Smoking-Related Morbidity

Smoking Could Affect Sperm

Smoking Ban Significantly Improves Indoor Air Quality

Smoking is Dangerous for Kids

E-cigarette maker agrees to halt sales in Oregon

Tobacco Control in Ontario Today

Beautiful women smoking cigarettes

Cigarette Smoking More Dangerous for Sick Smokers

Cigarette Smoking More Dangerous for Sick Smokers

Household environmental tobacco smoke and risks of asthma

American Cancer Society to Manage New Effort Against Tobacco in Africa

The tobacco industry

Tobacco use - cause of illness

Elderly Smokers displeased because Smoking Ban

Parents’ Smoking Harms their Kids Health

Taxpayer Subsidies for US Films with Tobacco

Caring for Our Recovery

Policy Statement—Tobacco Use: A Pediatric Disease

3 shops hit for underage tobacco sales

Tobacco laws to change in October

Importer tries to get around clove smoke ban

Tobacco Maker Names Chairman

Tobacco Festival should make big comeback next

It’s my choice and I choose to smoke

Ohio dealt decisive blow in tobacco funds dispute

Tough Summer for Tobacco Crop

Farm Labor Supply Surprising Tobacco Growers

Reynolds American 2Q Profit Up 3.6%; View Raised

Shanghai World Expo Says "No" to Tobacco Sponsor

Councilwoman Head pushing for tobacco change

Adult smoking drops in Arkansas

McKenna claims win in tobacco advertising case

Tobacco ban is premature

FDA's tobacco road

One of the oldest cigar makers shuts down its plan

Tribal members plead not guilty to contraband cigarette charges

More Cigarettes More Health Problems

Tobacco lay

Tobacco use

Smoking star

Movie showing smoking - Part II

Anti-smoking advocates push for R rating to any movie showing smoking

First licensee prosecuted for flouting the smoking ban

A New Bill against Smoking in Croatia

More actual smokers would decide to give up the habit

Lawmakers want another tax increase?!

Lucky Strike means fine tobacco

Tobacco Companies Violate the New Tobacco Rule

History of Montecristo

Highest standard of quality

Davidoff most luxury things

Camel Wides Art Issue - designed by Katja O

Exclusive version of cigarettes Parliament

Images of a Camel Joe

Manufacturers Marlboro

Vogue - one of the most popular cigarettes

Marlboro cigarettes

Big Tobacco’s tactics

Prisons snuff out tobacco products

Cigarettes debut in America

100% Tobacco Free

EU executive wants higher tax on cigarettes

Camel Redesign