The federal government plans to introduce legislation Tuesday that, if passed, would make good on a campaign promise to ban flavoured tobacco products that are considered appealing to children.

The bill, “An Act to Amend the Tobacco Act,” also is expected to mandate that mini-cigars, called cigarillos, must be sold in packages of at least 20, and that all tobacco advertising and promotion in print and electronic media that may be viewed and read by young people is prohibited.

More details will be revealed when the bill is introduced in the House of Commons by Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, but according to the Conservative party platform that was released during the fall 2008 election, the proposed measures will “help to prevent the exploitation of children by the tobacco industry.”

Manufacturers of cigarillos, however, say they do not target children and that not enough research has been done by the government to justify the legislation.

“This is just purely about attacking the industry,” said Luc Martial, a former employee of Health Canada’s Tobacco Control section who now does government relations for Casa Cubana, a Montreal-based importer and distributor of Prime Time flavoured cigarillos. “The government is obviously going to do what they want to do, but it doesn’t mean they are right. What they are doing is wrong.”

Groups including Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada and the Canadian Medical Association have been pushing the federal government for new laws that would crack down on the sale and marketing of cigarillos. They argue the products, with flavours such as strawberry, vanilla, pina colada, chocolate mint, grape and cherry, are clearly aimed at youth and are appealing because they come in a variety of flavours, are affordable, and are sold in brightly-coloured packages that can look like markers, lip gloss, and music players. The groups also say the cigarillos, when sold individually or in small “kiddie packs,” have no health warnings on them.

It is not yet known what flavours the government is aiming to ban but setting a minimum package size for cigarillos is aimed at ending the current practice of selling them individually. A single cigarillo can be purchased for less than $2 but a package of 20 will make the products more expensive and therefore less appealing to youth, according to Health Canada.

Cigarillos have been a fast-growing market in the last few years, but the vast majority are being smoked by people of legal age, Martial said.

The most recent statistics from the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey, indicate that among youth aged 15 to 19, 33 per cent reported trying a cigarillo and 10 per cent said they had smoked one in the previous month.

But Martial said there is no solid evidence on how frequently youth are smoking cigarillos, how minors are getting access to them, whether they are smoking legal or contraband products, or what impact banning certain flavours would have on reducing the youth smoking rate.

“It’s baseless legislation. It’s purely anti-business. It has absolutely nothing to do with health,” said Martial. “And in my opinion, having done this for 18 years, you’re going to cause much more of a problem than you’re going to actually solve. You will see the contraband skyrocket and these guys are already in every schoolyard in the country,” he said.

More youth smoke regular cigarettes, which are not sold in brightly coloured packages, than cigarillos, Martial added. He also said that the same flavours used in cigarillos are used in a wide variety of alcohol products, yet the alcohol industry is not facing a similar crackdown.

Source: Vancouversun

Japan Tobacco International (JTI), the world’s third largest Tobacco Company, introduced a new design for its premium brand Camel. It will be available for four weeks from 1st April in the Independent and Wholesale channels.

Camel is a brand of cigarettes that was introduced by American company R.J. Reynolds Tobacco in the summer of 1913. Most current Camel cigarettes contain a blend of Turkish and Virginia tobacco.

Camel is one of the top 5 cigarette brands in the world and one of the leading players in the ‘American Blend’ tobacco market.

This cig brand became popular among adult smokers in urban areas as well as in regions with high adult student populations.

With almost one in three UK adult smokers choose to smoke premium brands, the premium sector remains a vital profit stream for retailers, so it is important to stock Camel to ensure the highest possible returns.

Japanese are far more willing to switch new brands for any number of reasons: Cool packaging, freebies, product modifications, limited editions, etc.

This attitude makes Japan a great testing ground for many products, but also a deceiving one.

Jeremy Blackburn, JTI’s Head of Communications, said: “The limited edition Camel packs has a fresh design in keeping with the brand’s long standing reputation for innovation.”

He added that the majority of adult smokers smoke Camel cigs, that’s why they should be well stocked at all times.

New York City’s anti-smoking crusaders are out to snuff out two more sources of lung pollution: candy-flavored tobacco like Kiss super Slims and smoking outside of hospitals.

The city that began the you-can’t-smoke-here movement doesn’t want to be left behind by the likes of Maine and New Jersey, which already have banned exotically flavored cigarettes and cigars.

“We need to send a message that New York City is a healthy city, and we’re going to do everything we can to keep it that way,” said Councilman Joel Rivera (D-Bronx) before presiding over a public hearing yesterday on two bills. One bill would ban flavored tobacco and the other would ban smoking outside hospitals.

Both measures were enthusiastically supported by the city Health Department and a number of anti-smoking advocates.

Predictably, the bills drew opposition from tobacco industry representatives. No vote was taken by the committee, although Rivera and other sponsors said the bills have strong support.

The prime sponsor of the ban on smoking outside hospitals is City Councilwoman Inez Dickens (D-Manhattan), who said the idea was proposed to officials at Harlem Hospital. Her bill would ban smoking on the grounds of a hospital, sidewalks adjacent to a hospital and within 15 feet of any hospital entrance.

Rivera is the prime sponsor of the bill to ban flavored tobacco products, which he said are particularly attractive to teens. It would outlaw the sale of exotically flavored tobacco cigarettes and cigars, with the exception of menthol, mint or clove flavors.

Tobacco makers have used a wide array of flavors for cigarettes and cigars, including with such names as Kauai Kolada, Caribbean Chill, Mintrigue, Mocha Taboo, Twista Lime, Peach Freezer and even rum-dipped Al Capone Slims.

Health Department counsel Anne Pearson said the agency supports both bills, although she expressed concern that the ban on flavored tobacco exempts tobacco intended to be used in hookahs (water-filtrated pipes) that have become a trend with young people in neighborhoods such as the East Village and the lower East Side.

A representative of Altria’s tobacco companies, which includes Philip Morris, said regulation of tobacco products should be left to the federal government. And Audrey Silk of Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment (CLASH) said adults are being punished in the name of restricting tobacco sales to minors.

Source: Nydailynews

Shelly Kiser of the American Lung Association in Ohio was all set to give a presentation on Camel Orbs — a dissolvable tobacco product slightly bigger than an Altoid mint — to the Ohio School Nurses Association. All she needed was a prop.

So Kiser, director of advocacy for her organization and no great fan of Camel Orbs, headed into a Columbus gas station earlier this year and asked for a container of Orbs.

They gave it to her for free.

For smokers long confined to standing outside in crummy weather to get their nicotine fix, Camel Orbs is an alternative that keeps users out of the elements.

For Sen. Sherrod Brown and public health advocates, it’s yet another diabolical strategy to get kids hooked on smoking.

Brown, D-Ohio, this week successfully added a measure calling for a quick Federal Drug Administration study of Orbs and other dissolvable tobacco products to a larger bill that would, for the first time, put tobacco products under FDA regulatory authority. The bill, with the amendment, passed the committee last week and now awaits full U.S. Senate approval. It passed the House in April.

Brown compares Orbs to candy, and said the fact that the products can be passed off as breath mints is another way to lure kids into becoming tobacco addicts at a young age.

“It is criminal to me that they market to children the way they do,” he said.

But David Howard, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds, said the product, like all tobacco products, is legal only for adults over the age of 18. The product is currently not available in the Dayton area.

R.J. Reynolds introduced Orbs in Columbus, Indianapolis and Portland, Ore., earlier this year, and the company said early feedback has been positive. Orbs, he said, “meet the societal expectation of no second-hand smoke, no spitting, and in the case of dissolvables, no litter.”

He said they’re hardly candy. They are made of finely milled tobacco, and designed for adults.

“The bottom line is these are tobacco products,” he said. “They are clearly marked as tobacco products, they are marketed as tobacco products and they carry the same warnings as tobacco products.”

He said similar products — Ariva and Stonewall — have been on the market since earlier this decade with little protest.

Still, he said he welcomes Brown’s amendment and any study of their product.

Bill Godshall of a group called SmokeFree Pennsylvania counts himself as one of the defenders of Orbs. He compares the products to Nicorette or Commit Lozenges and cites studies indicating they are safer than cigarettes.

“What this comes down to is people fighting for the same market,” he said.

But Brown cites studies indicating a single Orb has between 60 and 300 times the amount of tobacco contained in a single cigarette. And Greg Connolly, a professor of the practice of public health at Harvard University, calls Orb products “nicotine on training wheels.”

R.J. Reynolds, Connolly said, “is just trying to expand the options for nicotine delivery products for the American public.”

Smoking a cigarette for the first time, can be a deeply uncomfortable experience for a teenager, Connolly said. There’s the smoke, for one thing, as well as the coughing and the taste. By turning it into a mint-like product — in mint and cinnamon flavors — they’ve made nicotine addiction a more pleasurable experience, he said.

Connolly said Brown’s amendment would allow the FDA to begin the studies necessary to take Orbs off the market. And unless the FDA starts regulating tobacco, he warns, the tobacco industry will continue to get more sophisticated in how it delivers nicotine. If that doesn’t happen, he said, “the tobacco companies own the future.”

Kiser said despite the fact that the products are only legal for adults, school nurses have reported finding packages of Orbs in the trash.

To her, they’re dangerous because they can be consumed in front of parents and teachers without the adults knowing what’s going on.

“Unless a parent knows the exact shape of it, they wouldn’t suspect anything,” she said.
Source: Ohio-share.coxnewsweb

In the past, cigarettes were more respected than today. Today they are considered the main cause of people’s deaths. For example in1950s America cigarette smoking was the abstract of Cool and Glamour.
Even screen beauties such as Audrey Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich made smoking look sensual and sophisticated. By the late 1950s around half of the population of industrialized nations smoked. Then the tobacco product was cheap, legal and socially acceptable.

Cigarettes were originally sold as expensive handmade luxury goods for the urban elite. It was not until mass-production methods coupled with aggressive marketing that the industry began to see off traditional pipe-smoking and tobacco-chewing habits, particularly in the United States.
In the past the most famous American Tobacco Firm was Philip Morris. The most important message of this company was this “For man’s flavor come to Marlboro Country.”
Other brands also sought to lessen fears of smoking. For example, Camel cigarette famously ran an advert saying: “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette”.
Still, for years, the tobacco industry appeared to be unconquerable. Then, in 1994, Diane Castano, whose husband died of lung cancer, sued the Tobacco Industry.
After that case Health Organizations started to protect non-smokers from being exposed to secondhand smoking. This led to the 1995 ban on smoking in most enclosed places of employment. By 2005 less than a quarter of the US population smoked cigarettes, and that is now falling.
Although the behaviors and attitudes of family and friends are the main influences on adolescent decisions to use tobacco, the media—films, television, and the Internet— also influence these decisions. And most tobacco use took place in enclosed areas, usually around nonsmokers.

Oregon’s junior senator is taking a stand against “tobacco candy” – smokeless, dissolvable tobacco. RJ Reynolds is test-marketing “Camel Orbs” in candy tobaccoPortland, as well as Indianapolis, Ind., and Columbus, Ohio. The Orbs come in two flavors: “mellow” (similar to cinnamon or caramel) and “fresh” (mint). RJ Reynolds plans to introduce “Sticks” and “Strips” later this year.
Merkley and fellow Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio carried the amendment. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions approved the amendment Tuesday as part of the landmark legislation to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco.

According to a news release from Merkley’s office, the Indiana Poison Control Center estimates dissolvable tobacco products such as the Camel Orbs contain between 60-300 percent of the nicotine in one cigarette.

The Merkley-Brown amendment would require the new Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee to immediately study the public health effects of tobacco candy and report to the FDA on its findings in less than two years. The committee will provide the FDA with all the information it needs about the public health impact of these tobacco candy products, particularly the risks to children, so it can make sure tobacco companies aren’t able to use them to hook a new generation of kids on deadly products.

Smokefree Innotec, Inc. In close cooperation with its German management consultants, SFI is starting up collaboration with one of the world’s leading essence manufacturers for exclusive mass production of ‘Cigarette Boxes’ with an aromatic “Microfilm.” SFI smokers will already enjoy opening the packaging of the highly praised designed boxes with Mild, Medium, Strong and Menthol taste.

A geographical advantage of the collaboration with aroma producer Bell Flavors & Fragrances, experienced since their start-up in 1829 as Schimmel & Co., is that their labs are almost neighboring SFI’s filter providers AHN Biotechnology. Professor Dr. Otto Wallach of Bell Flavors/Schimmel & Co. was the 1910 winner of the Nobel prize for Chemistry. The company has a century of experience in developing flavors for the tobacco industry.

The newly developed aromatic “Microfilm” will be implemented for the first time in the manufacturing process of SFI for the launch of the world’s first totally smokefree cigarette; in the success of which the management of Bell Flavors & Fragrances strongly believes.

The Owner and President of Bell, Raymond Heinz, and his son Michael have announced further brainstorming with Smokefree Innotec’s CEO in order to develop further new ideas.

About Smokefree Innotec, Inc.

Smokefree Innotec, Inc. is in the business of designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing a hi-tech, smokeless tobacco innovation. Our Patent Pending, odorless cigarette-style electronic device utilizes a liquefied, vaporizable depot of a raw, unmanipulated extract of tobacco. Smokefree Innotec’s products are designed to protect the non-smoker from second hand smoke and all its effects while providing the smoker a way to enjoy a smoke-free cigarette anywhere, including places where smoking is prohibited. Further, our products will allow the smoker to enjoy smoking while not having to worry about the dangers and ill effects of regular cigarette smoking.

A number of statements referenced in this Press Release are forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21B of the Exchange Act of 1934. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, and goals, assumption of future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be “forward-looking statements.” Forward looking statements are based on expectations, estimates and projections at the time the statements are made that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those presently anticipated. Forward-looking statements in this Release may be identified through the use of words such as “expects,” “will,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “believes,” or statements indicating certain actions “may,” “could,” or “might” occur. Such statements reflect the current views of Smokefree Innotec, Inc. with respect to future events and are subject to certain assumptions, including those described in this release. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timely development and market acceptance of products, services, and technologies, competitive market conditions, successful integration of acquisitions, the ability to secure additional sources of financing, the ability to reduce operating expenses, and other factors. The actual results that the Company achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. Smokefree Innotec, Inc. does not undertake any responsibility to update the “forward-looking” statements contained in this news release.

Source: Businesswire

The nation’s top cigarette maker is moving quickly to strengthen its business in tobacco products such as snuff and cigars as cigarette volumes erode, the top executive for Altria Group Inc. told shareholders yesterday.

“Since the shareholder meeting in May of last year, Altria has continued to transform itself as adult tobacco consumer preferences have evolved,” said Michael E. Szymanczyk, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Altria, the parent company of cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, wants to “efficiently and moderately” grow its income and market share in cigarettes, focusing on its top brand Marlboro, while also propelling its new business in smokeless tobacco, Szymanczyk said.

About 175 shareholders attended Altria’s annual meeting at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Shareholders re-elected nine directors to the company’s board and rejected six stockholder proposals that the company’s leadership opposed, including one on executive pay and another on removing nicotine from tobacco products.

In January, Altria added smokeless tobacco to its portfolio by acquiring UST Inc., the top U.S. maker of moist snuff, for $10.4 billion.

The deal gives Altria “immediate scale” in the moist smokeless category, which has seen volume growth of about 7 percent per year, Szymanczyk said. In contrast, Philip Morris’ cigarette volumes declined about 3.2 percent in 2008, even as Marlboro gained market share and Philip Morris saw its revenue rise 1.5 percent to $18.8 billion.

The cost of smoking rose again in the spring, as cigarette companies bumped prices in advance of an April 1 increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes from 39 cents to $1.01 per pack. In the smokeless category, however, Altria has reduced prices in an effort to build market share.

As cigarette volume declines, the company is consolidating its cigarette-related operations, and it is combining sales forces and administrative functions for its cigar, smokeless tobacco and cigarette businesses to save about $1.5 billion by 2011. “Because of these efforts, a number of employees have separated from our companies over the last year,” Szymanczyk said, without specifying the number. “I want to thank them for their service to Altria and their commitment to the company’s success.”

Szymanczyk said the company continues to support legislation in Congress to allow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products, but he faced criticism from several anti-tobacco activists at the meeting. They proposed four resolutions for a shareholders vote, including one to have the company make any future products “non-addictive” by reducing nicotine content.

“This company refuses to make non-addictive products because then kids and adults would quit smoking,” said Anne Morrow Donley, a tobacco-control activist from Richmond who spoke in favor of the proposal during the meeting. She said the FDA legislation before Congress would not permit the agency to mandate the removal of nicotine from tobacco products.

The proposal failed, with 96 percent of the votes cast opposing it. The five other stockholder proposals also failed, including one to give shareholders more say on executive pay by allowing them to vote at each annual meeting on an advisory resolution on the compensation of top executives. That one was narrowly defeated, with about 53 percent of votes cast opposed.

Source: Timesdispatch

R.J. Reynolds is test-marketing another smokeless tobacco product in Central Indiana, and this one really has opponents worried. It’s a dissolvable tablet that opponents believe resembles candy.

Convenience store clerk Raj Kumar says he’s been giving the samples away for a month, but nobody has returned to buy the product. It’s called Orbs.

R.J. Reynolds markets its new product as “the best tobacco you never smoked.”

Store customer Keith Young tried Orbs. He said, “It’s not very tasteful. I don’t like it at all.”

Karla Sneegas, Executive Director of Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation hopes the product test fails miserably. She worries the colorful; cell-phone sized packaging with the highly visible Camel brand will be an enticement to young people. She believes cigarette smokers could be tempted to pop two or three of them at a time like breath mints. The Indiana Poison Center said dissolvable tobacco products contain between 60% to 300% of the nicotine found in one cigarette.

“It’s really not encouraging them to quite smoking and switch, it’s encouraging them to keep on smoking and just use this in places where you can’t smoke,” said Sneegas.

Mark Zaiger doesn’t smoke but said Orbs could benefit him if people use it instead of cigarettes.

“Just as long as it eliminates the smoke and stuff because when I go out with my girlfriend and we go out to dinner and it just makes our food taste a little different.”

Store Customer Kristin Duckett looked at the product and said, “It’s going to make kids think that its candy and then it’s going to make them think its ok to use smokeless tobacco or cigarettes.”

Although Kumar has failed to sell a single pack of Orbs, he says cigarettes still make up a big part of his convenience store sales.

R. J. Reynolds spokesman David Howard responded to criticism of dissolvable tobacco saying, “These products meet society’s expectations. There’s no second hand smoke. There’s no spitting and there’s no litter. They are marketed specifically to adult consumers who make informed decisions about tobacco.”

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