For about one-third of smokers, menthol makes a cigarette taste better — but it doesn’t make it harder to quit and doesn’t appear to entice teens to smoke, tobacco companies told a key federal panel yesterday. And they’ve found no evidence that menthol cigarettes are more toxic than regular smokes, the companies told the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.

The panel, meeting yesterday in Gaithersburg, Md., is supposed to recommend how menthol cigarettes are regulated by next year — including whether they should be banned.

For the industry, billions of dollars of sales a year are at stake.

Menthol cigarette sales are declining, though R.J. Reynolds marketing operations director Monica J. Graves said there has been a slight recent rise in the percentage of smokers choosing menthol brands.

“This dynamic is not explained by marketing or by the amount of menthol in the product,” she said, adding that sales and price data show tobacco companies offer fewer promotions for menthol cigarettes.

“The menthol in Lorillard brands is simply designed to complement tobacco taste. Assertions Lorillard is trying to generate a physiological effect are simply not correct,” William R. True, senior vice president for research and development at Lorillard Tobacco Co., the top seller of menthol cigarettes.

There aren’t inadvertent biological effects, either, said Jane Lewis, senior vice president at Henrico County-based Altria Client Services, a sister company of the nation’s top cigarette-maker, Philip Morris USA.

“Menthol added to cigarettes does not increase risks of smoking. Menthol does not increase cigarette dependence. It does not affect cessation,” she said.

Altria anchored much of its case on an internal one-year study of 3,585 adult smokers, including 1,104 menthol smokers. In addition, the study looked at 1,077 non-smokers.

That study, one of the largest ever of people smoking naturally as opposed to the often-forced or paced smoking in laboratory studies, found:

•no sign that menthol smokers ingested more smoke;

•menthol smokers tended to smoke fewer cigarettes a day;

•no sign menthol smokers showed more biological changes that can foreshadow illness or cancer;

•no sign menthol affected how smokers metabolize nicotine, the addictive substance in cigarettes;

•no sign menthol affects how smokers metabolize nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone, a potent carcinogen; and

•no sign menthol smokers were more likely to score higher on a standard test of nicotine dependence.

Altria’s Lewis said that supported findings in published epidemiological studies that menthol smokers are not more likely to suffer smoking-related diseases than other smokers.

In its submission, Altria said only one study has ever looked at whether menthol cigarettes particularly appeal to teenagers — and found no significant differences in teen’s sensory reactions to menthol as opposed to regular cigarettes. Other studies found no difference in when smokers of menthol and regular cigarettes started, the companies said.

Altria’s written submission also reported that nine national studies of smokers — ranging from 1,021 people who sought help quitting to 19,545 current and former smokers — found no difference in the percentages of menthol and non-menthol smokers who quit.

An informal group of tobacco control experts yesterday said menthol’s anesthetic effect tricks smokers into thinking their cigarettes are less harsh and therefore safer.

Article from: timesdispatch.com, July 16, 2010

Yes buddies! This is true. Cigarettes are extremely harming and even though everyone knows that nicotine addicts can’t refrain from smoking because it is addictive and to quit once you start requires a lot of will power and for your friends and family to bare your fury.

As a solution to this problem a company in Japan “Japan Tobacco Co” announced a new invention in the tobacco world, a new cigarette that the consumers will enjoy and will get the same feeling of a normal tobacco cigarette yet it will not harm them at all because it has no tobacco in it, smokers will enjoy their hight tech cigarettes everywhere even in no-smoking areas. The product name is “Zero Style Mint”!

Thank you, Japanese Tobacco for a great discovery that will help smokers avoid dangerous diseases like cancer or heart attacks!!

From www.waleg.com. July 16, 2010

Marlboro Lights are no more. From now on smokers will have to ask for “Marlboro Golds.” Corporations do not change iconic brands lightly. In this case cigarette manufacturer Altria Group (MO) had no choice. The Food & Drug Administration, which as of last year regulates tobacco products, banned the use of the words “mild,” “light,” or “low tar” on packages effective on June 22. The agency says such cigarettes are just as harmful as regular ones.

Before Altria made the switch, it used the old packs to tell smokers that while the look of Marlboro Lights would change, the “cigarette stays the same.” That got the FDA’s attention.

The agency argues many consumers will continue to assume Marlboro Golds are safer than regular smokes and has ordered Altria to hand over market research showing why it used the tactic. “What we’re concerned about is that it is potentially perpetuating this untruth that these products are somehow less harmful,” says Dr. Lawrence R. Deyton, the agency’s top tobacco regulator. Altria spokesman Bill Phelps says the company will cooperate with the agency.

Pharmaceutical companies frequently skirmish with the FDA, and Big Tobacco is widely expected to do the same. Altria was the only cigarette maker to support FDA oversight, says Phelps, because it wanted consistent rules of the game for the entire tobacco industry.

Still, this is the second time Altria has clashed with federal regulators in recent months. In March it challenged the membership of an FDA tobacco science panel studying the health risks of menthol cigarettes, which account for more than a quarter of U.S. cigarette shipments. If the panel deems that menthol increases the risk for smokers, the FDA could ban such cigarettes.

On Mar. 22, Altria sent the FDA a 16-page letter requesting the removal of four members of the 12-person panel. The company noted that the four had testified in more than 90 legal cases against the tobacco industry and said that as paid expert witnesses they had “grave financial conflicts and intellectual bias.” One of the panelists, Gregory N. Connolly, a tobacco specialist at the Harvard School of Public Health, contends he hasn’t been an expert witness in five years and that his research makes him uniquely qualified for the panel. “I take umbrage at Altria’s challenge,” he says. The three other panelists cited in Altria’s letter did not return calls seeking comment. The FDA rejected Altria’s request to have the four removed.

Some health-care policy experts and officials at anti-tobacco groups say Altria’s challenge to the FDA may be only the first in a series of battles between Big Tobacco and the government. “This is the beginning of a significant series of regulatory actions by the FDA,” says Gregg Haifley, a lobbyist for the American Cancer Society. “The industry will fight this hammer and tong. It will be a titanic fight.”

Tobacco czar Deyton says the industry so far has cooperated with the FDA. He adds, however, that if tobacco companies resist new rules and policies, “the law gives [the] FDA quite broad and deep authority to enforce all provisions, everything from issuing warning letters to seizures, injunctions, civil money penalties, criminal investigation—the whole thing.”

Material from: businessweek.com.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris has been forced to admit that child workers as young as 10 have been subjected to long hours working on tobacco farms with which it has contracts in the Central Asian state of Kazakhstan.
According to a report by Human Rights Watch, migrant workers at the farms, mostly from neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, were subjected to conditions that often amounted to forced labour, as employers contracted by tobacco farms that sold their produce to Philip Morris International had their passports confiscated and were often made to do additional work for no pay.

The company, which sources tobacco from Kazakhstan for cigarette brands sold in Russia and other former Soviet states, said it was taking “immediate action” to stop the abuses.

In many cases families were expected to pay back unrealistic debts to intermediaries who had arranged for their journeys to Kazakhstan, in schemes that bear all the hallmarks of people trafficking. The report also documented 72 cases of children working on the farms.

Philip Morris produces brands such as Marlboro and Chesterfield in over 150 countries around the world, and purchased 1,500 tonnes of tobacco from Kazakh farms in 2009.
The company issued a statement yesterday saying it is “grateful” to Human Rights Watch for raising the issues, and “is firmly opposed to child labour and all other labour abuses”.

The company says it is implementing a range of measures to ensure the abuses end, such as working with local government and NGOs to ensure school access for children of migrant workers, and implementing a system of third party monitoring to ensure tobacco farms comply with strict guidelines.

Jane Buchanan, the report’s author, blamed the Kazakh government as well as Philip Morris for the abuses. She said yesterday that progress had been slow with the authorities in discussions over bureaucratic hurdles and the need to provide schooling for migrant workers’ children.

“The commitments from [the government] have been very vague,” she said. “It has been a lot of work to get them to accept the idea that migrant workers, even if they are working illegally, still have fundamental rights.”

According to Buchanan, Human Rights Watch had first approached the tobacco conglomerate with the allegations in October last year, and there has been a “regular and constructive dialogue” since.

“However, we have done some more research recently, and it’s clear that not all the things they promised have been fully implemented yet,” she said.

One woman told the report’s authors that young children had developed red rashes on their necks and stomachs after working with the tobacco, and there were also cases of dangerous pesticides being stored in living areas.

During a single work day, tobacco harvesters can be exposed to a similar amount of nicotine as would be found in 36 average-strength cigarettes, and workers are at risk of contracting Green Tobacco Sickness, where nicotine is absorbed through the skin from contact with tobacco leaves.

The illness causes nausea, vomiting, headache, muscle weakness and dizziness, and children are particularly susceptible due to their small body size.

Migrant workers come to Kazakhstan from impoverished neighbouring countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan where there are few job possibilities. They are allowed to enter for up to 90 days without a visa, and the complications in securing official work permits mean that many end up working illegally, and are thus at their employers’ mercy.

In one of many such stories, Almira, 45, travelled to Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan with her husband and two children last year. They were promised by the intermediary who drove them to a tobacco farm in rural Malybai that they would be paid a minimum of $US2,300 for their work over the season.

However, when they arrived they were told they would have to work off debts from the journey, and had their passports confiscated by the landowner.

“He treated us really badly,” recalls Almira. “We couldn’t defend ourselves, since we were on his land after all. We worked for 11 to 13 hours a day. The work was really hard.” The family contemplated running away, but this was impossible. “Our passports were with the landowner, and we had no money. If we left, then all of our work would be for nothing. And without money, how would we even get back home from there?”

Paris Hilton appeared in a South Africa courtroom today for allegedly smoking marijuana at the World Cup. Hilton was briefly detained outside the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium, where she had been watching the World Cup quarterfinal match between Brazil and the Netherlands.

AP reports that a police officer said she was in possession of some “dagga,” the local name for marijuana.

But a rep for Hilton tells People.com she’s been cleared of any wrongdoing and that “it was actually another person in the group who did it.”

The rep also says, “The case has been dropped against Paris and no charges will be made. The authorities have apologized for wrongfully accusing her since she had nothing to do with the incident.”

BEIJING, July 14 (Xinhua) — China’s education and health ministries have moved to curb smoking at educational institutions, limiting smoking to designated areas in higher-learning institutions and forbidding smoking at lower-level schools. In a joint notice issued Tuesday, the two ministries prohibited anyone, including students and visitors, from smoking at elementary or secondary schools, nurseries and kindergartens, as well as at vocational schools.

Furthermore, no tobacco products may be sold on campus.

At institutions of higher-learning, no faculty, staff, students or visitors will be permitted to smoke on campus in non-smoking areas like classrooms and libraries.

Teachers will be required to refrain from smoking in front of students.

Additionally, tobacco control must be integrated into new students’ orientation programs.

The notice also forbids tobacco advertising at schools. It also asks for no-smoking signs to be posted in conspicuous locations at schools.

China is home to over 300 million smokers. Each year one million people die of smoking-related diseases.

Original article: news.xinhuanet.com

The Tobacco act had forced the stores in Nanaimo to take the small flavored cigars and cigarettes off their display cases. Some retailers put the large flavored cigars in their place, as the law does not cover them. Terry McNabb, owner of the Subway Convenience Store on Departure Bay Road, revealed that it is a misuse of time and money. He revealed that the producers have put in more tobacco in cigars, in order to make them bigger. Also, they removed the filters and put flavors like grape and cherry in them.

McNabb revealed that he was aware that a ban is going to be imposed and, therefore, he had chucked out the stock a month ago.

Employee of Occidental Liquor Store on Selby Street, Jeannie McCormick, said that the flavored cigarillos are being sent back to the Companies and flavored cigars are taking their place.

She said that they were asked to get rid of the cigars with filters.

Gary Holub, a Spokesman with Health Canada disclosed that the law applies to small flavored cigars, flavored blunts and cigarettes. She stated that the law has ordered the store owners to keep this product out of the shelf because they were attracting the youth.

topnews.ae

Several important changes took place in late June that impact the way tobacco is sold and marketed, thanks to the Tobacco Control Act, which granted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco to protect public health and reduce its use by youths. This was followed by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that tobacco companies conspired to deceive the public and addict children, and by enactment last week of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act, which places strict requirements on Internet and mail-order cigarette sellers.
These developments will help prevent youths from starting a deadly habit and ease tobacco’s toll on human lives and health care costs. But the fight is far from over. It’s imperative that we keep tobacco prevention at the forefront in Oregon.

First, let’s look at the good news. The Tobacco Control Act gives young people increased protection from deceptive tobacco advertising. This is particularly important now: Despite declines in youth tobacco use, an estimated 39,000 Oregonian youths smoke, and 20 kids start every day. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, at this rate 74,000 of Oregon’s kids will one day die prematurely from smoking.

The act is to be phased in over an extended period, with several key provisions recently taking effect.

For example, smokeless tobacco ads and products will carry stronger warning labels. This is particularly meaningful for Oregonians, who have been subjected to a barrage of ads for smokeless products that have been test-marketed here over the past few years, including dissolvable tobacco candy.

Thanks to this federal law and recent actions of the Oregon Legislature, many practices that hook new smokers now are prohibited, including labeling tobacco products “light,” “low” or “mild”; sale of tobacco through vending machines accessible by youths; sale of packs of fewer than 20 cigarettes; keeping tobacco products anywhere but behind retail counters or in locked cases; free samples; free products such as T-shirts; and sponsorships of athletic or cultural events.

In Oregon, most smokers start before age 18; almost no one starts after age 21. The tobacco industry has hooked young smokers for years by adding sweet flavors and the word “mild,” by selling single (more affordable) cigarettes, and by using advertising that implies that everyone smokes. The FDA Act creates a significant barrier to these deceptive practices.

Now for the fight ahead. Seventeen percent of Oregonians smoke. Four out of five smokers want to quit but struggle to break the addiction. Tobacco accounts for 22 percent of all Oregon deaths and costs our state more than $2.2 billion every year.

It is imperative that we continue to fund tobacco prevention programs that help smokers quit, prevent young people from starting, and protect us all from secondhand smoke.

Oregon’s tobacco prevention budget is just $7.1 million this year. This pales in comparison to the tobacco industry’s $137 million annual marketing budget in Oregon. For every $1 we can spend to protect Oregonians from tobacco, the tobacco industry spends $20 to get our residents hooked.

Raising the price of tobacco is a key motivator to help people quit and prevent young people from starting. For every 10 percent rise in the price of cigarettes, youth cigarette use drops by 6 percent. It’s time for Oregon to reconsider raising taxes on tobacco products.

I applaud and support the work of Oregon’s congressional delegation and that of our state Legislature, which has passed important policies like our Smokefree Workplace Law, and I encourage all Oregonians to do the same. Together, we can create a smoke-free culture in Oregon and look toward the day when tobacco no longer claims Oregonians’ lives and pocketbooks.

From oregonlive.com, By Mel Kohn

Friends are advising Lindsay Lohan to get rid of her tobacco habit before going to jail, as smoking is banned in the prison where she’ll serve her sentence, according to reports. The troubled actress is to surrender to authorities on July 20 to start her 90-day sentence at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California.
The all-female prison, where Paris hilton was confined back in 2007, has a zero tolerance no-smoking policy.
“(Lohan is) a serious chain-smoker. The first thing she does when she wakes up is light a cigarette,” an unnamed friend of Lohan told TMZ.com.

“I’m honestly scared for (Lohan)… I don’t think she’s gone a day without smoking in years. This isn’t something she can stop overnight. It’s a serious condition.”

Lohan was sentenced to spend 90 days in prison for violating the terms of her probation on a 2007 DUI arrest.

From au.ibtimes.com, July 12, 2010