The Danish government has increased taxes on cigarettes, ice-creams, sweets and other products in an effort to make Danes healthier.The tax reform came into effect Thursday and also means taxes have increased on soft drinks and flavored alcoholic beverages, so-called alcopops.

The tax per liter of ice-cream was increased to 4.25 kroner ($0.67) from 3.40 kroner ($0.56) previously, while the tax on cigarettes was raised by 2 kroner ($0.33) per pack.

The World Health Organization has called taxation one of the most effective interventions to fight alcohol-related harm, tobacco consumption and obesity.

The Brussels, Belgium-based European Public Health Alliance urged other EU members to follow Denmark’s example.

Anyone that has been around small children is sure to have noticed that if something looks like candy, a child will try to eat it. Imagine that if a child found a “candy” that was the approximate size of a Tic Tac, having mint or cinnamon flavoring and ate 10 or more of these little things, the child’s curiosity may prove fatal.

This is a probable scenario with the creation and marketing of Camel Orbs, a novelty tobacco pellet. This edible, dissolvable cigarette alternative is a new and reckless method to draw in a younger age group of tobacco addicts.

J.R. Reynolds Tobacco, the second largest tobacco company in the nation is marking these flavored, candy-like cigarette alternatives that are sure to be a gate to life-long nicotine addiction.

“Pediatrics: Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics” released a research study revealing the effects of Camel Orbs on children, the audience to which the product is seemingly directed.

With artificial flavoring and the size similarity to candy, small children could easily ingest Camel Orbs and the medical results can be shocking. According to the medical journal “Pediatrics,” the consequences of infant ingestion of Camel Orbs are “weakness, convulsions, unresponsiveness, and impaired respiration and ultimately may lead to death.”

A spokesman from the J. R. Reynolds Tobacco company, David Howard, argued to the New York Times that the products were, in fact marketed to adults and come in child-resistant containers.

That measure is a good try, but falls far from the mark of safety. All it would take would be one time of the container being left open and a child discovering and assuredly eating the contents.

These tobacco candies are not only harmful to children who are sure to confuse them with actual candy, but underaged teenagers are sure to be more likely to utilize these new novelty products.

This is especially apparent in one of the Camel Orbs advertisements, which says “Enjoy Anywhere. Anytime. Anyplace.”

With cigarettes, it is easy to detect minors who have used or are using tobacco products. However, Camel Orbs can be hidden in the mouth and have virtually no scent. Even if a teenager were caught ingesting a Camel Orb, it could easily be passed off as candy.

While the physical implications of the ingestion of Camel Orbs to children may be more readily apparent in young children, reason leads to the belief that repeated usage by teenagers could easily proved fatal through a lifetime of tobacco addiction.

In September of 2009, the sale of favored cigarettes was banned by the federal government, which were considered to be a gateway usage of tobacco for teenagers. That legislation was highly commendable. However, these novelty candy tobacco products are sure to be far more appealing to younger consumers.

When the September legislation was passed, the fruit, candy and clove-flavored cigarettes were removed from the shelves of distributors. Now, instead of purchasing candy-flavored cigarettes, addicts and beginning users can simply purchase the tobacco candy. Tobacco companies seem to be dancing the line between the banned cigarettes and this new candy.

The intentions of the tobacco companies is also apparent in their choice of magazines in which to advertise. They chose the popular magazines “Wired,” “People” and “Rolling Stone,” all of which are directed at younger audiences.

Are the tobacco companies replacing their past consuming generation of smokers, who have either reaped the medical consequences of tobacco usage or have realized the reckless error or their judgment, with a younger, less responsible generation of consumers? The answer is undoubtedly yes.

It is likely that new consumers of Camel Orbs, a product that is sure to be followed by equivalent products from other companies, will be a young generation of consumers. Thus, the project should be taken off the shelves of stores and quickly.

Baylor

More information is being demanded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about tobacco related products that come in a variety of flavors that children may mistake for candy.

According to Reuters, the products, made by Reynolds American Inc’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co and by Star Scientific Inc, contain powdered “smokeless” tobacco and are brightly colored, with flavors such as coffee and mint.

Products such as Snus, a no-spit tobacco pouch meant to be placed under the upper lip, are aimed at adults who must deal with a growing number of smoking bans in public places as well as those looking to stop smoking.

Another product called Orbs is a dissolvable breath-mint sized tobacco that can easily be mistaken for a Tic-Tac.

Health educator Isa Kaluhikaua told Reuters that if a child ingested three Orbs, they would get ill, and 10 could result in serious illness.

She said even though most of these products can be purchased off the shelf, the FDA has not yet approved them.

A letter from the FDA to Reynolds and Star Scientific said it was concerned that the products could draw in children and teenagers. Use of the products could lead to nicotine addiction and could even cause health problems from the ingestion of too much nicotine, the FDA said.

FDA is “concerned that children and adolescents may find dissolvable tobacco products particularly appealing, given the brightly colored packaging, candy-like appearance and easily concealable size of many of these products,” Lawrence Deyton, head of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, wrote February 1.

The company was not surprised by the letter and said they would cooperate fully.

“We’re happy to share information with them,” Sara Troy Machir rold Reuters.

While the FDA, in its letters to the two companies, acknowledged the products are marketed to adults, it nonetheless asked both manufacturers for extensive information on research and marketing practices for the products.

R.J. Reynolds markets three types of similar products under its Camel brand that deliver dissolvable nicotine in tablet, mouth strip and small matchstick-like forms.

CITY HALL — Two tobacco companies are suing the city over a law banning retailers from selling candy-flavored tobacco products, Council Speaker Christine Quinn said Tuesday.

But the city is determined to snuff out such products across all five boroughs, the speaker said.

“It is clearly another example of the unfettering greed of the tobacco industry,” Quinn said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

“But it is not something we are afraid of. This is a solid law. This is a smart law. So go ahead big tobacco, you can bring it on.”

The ban goes into effect on Feb. 25 and prohibits the sale of various products, including flavored cigars and cigarillos (short, narrow cigars that are wrapped with whole-leaf tobacco). The products come in an assortment of flavors ranging from apple martini to chocolate chip cookie dough.
Quinn and advocates from health and clean air groups charge that the products, which have three to six times the tobacco found in regular cigarettes, are deliberately disguised by multi-colored wrapping and sweet flavors to lure young people into buying tobacco products and eventually becoming life-long nicotine addicts.

“I looked at the pack here and I thought, ‘Gummy bears,’” said Joanne Koldare, director of the NYC Coalition For a Smoke Free City. “They have created what appears to be, for children, a smooth seamless transition from candy to tobacco products. But we’re onto them.”

According to the city’s Department of Health, the number of youths who smoke cigars and cigarello have almost tripled since 2001, from five to 14 percent, Quinn said.

The city’s law comes on the heels of a federal law, enacted this summer, that bans the sale of flavored cigarettes (except for menthol) across the United States.

But tobacco companies argue that the city doesn’t have the legal right to enact such a law.

“Localities should allow the FDA to consider issues like this one in a regulatory process that allows for public comment,” said Bill Phelps, a spokesman for Altria, the parent company for the two companies filing the lawsuit.

“We believe that the ban is bad policy because it unfairly denies adults who use tobacco products access to the products they prefer,” Phelps told DNAinfo, adding that the ban would have a negative impact on the local New York City economy.

“At a time when the economy is suffering, it’s putting additional pressure on businesses,” he said. “We don’t think it makes a lot of sense.”

Pablo Hussein, who works in a Delancey Street bodega on the Lower East Side, said the store would lose “a couple hundred dollars” of sales when the ban goes into the effect — a small sum compared to what Altria may lose.

“We can sell other things,” said Hussein, pointing at the magazines, lotto tickets, snacks and cigarettes, lining the store’s shelves. “We are the little store in between. It is the big companies that have a problem.”

By Suzanne Ma, Dnainfo.com

WASHINGTON – U.S. health officials are seeking more information about the possible attraction and addiction of flavored, dissolvable tobacco products that regulators worry look too much like candy and can entice children.

The products, made by Reynolds American Inc’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co and by Star Scientific Inc, contain powdered “smokeless” tobacco and are brightly colored, with flavors such as coffee and mint.

Companies have argued that the products, which include dissolvable tablets, are aimed at adults who must deal with a growing number of smoking bans in public places as well as those looking to stop smoking.

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in letters to Reynolds and Star Scientific released late Tuesday, said it was concerned that the products could draw in children and teenagers. Use of the products could lead to nicotine addiction and could even cause health problems from the ingestion of too much nicotine, the FDA said.

While laws vary among the U.S. states, most limit tobacco purchase to those 18 and older.

FDA is “concerned that children and adolescents may find dissolvable tobacco products particularly appealing, given the brightly colored packaging, candy-like appearance and easily concealable size of many of these products,” Lawrence Deyton, head of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, wrote February 1.

The letters come as the FDA prepares to hold its first public meeting on tobacco issues later this year. Agency officials have quickly moved to flex their new oversight of tobacco products after a new law granted them the power last year.

Any move by the FDA to further regulate or even remove dissolvable tobacco products from the U.S. market would be a huge blow to Star Scientific. The one-time cigarette manufacturer has shifted its focus to making products it says expose consumers to lower levels of toxins.

Sara Troy Machir, a spokeswoman for Star Scientific, said the company was not surprised by the letter and would cooperate fully.

“We’re happy to share information with them,” Machir said, adding that Star’s smokeless products — Ariva and Stonewall — have been on the market for 10 years.

Representatives for R.J. Reynolds did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

R.J. Reynolds markets three types of similar products under its Camel brand that deliver dissolvable nicotine in tablet, mouth strip and small matchstick-like forms.

The two companies have been embroiled in a patent dispute over some of the technology behind the dissolvable products.

While FDA in its letters to the two companies acknowledged the products are marketed to adults, it nonetheless asked both manufacturers for extensive information on research and marketing practices for the products.

Star Scientific and Reynolds have two months to respond.

By Susan Heavey, Reuters

Thu Feb 4, 2010

Don’t tell David Neville that those grape-flavored mini-cigars behind the counter at every local convenience store are aimed at mature smokers.

“They’re already hooked,” Neville says of longtime smokers. Instead, tobacco companies are targeting “the kid with the grape Slurpie that comes to the counter,” wondering if the sweetened nicotine will complement his drink, Neville says. Or whether the chocolate-mint flavored chew — packaged to look like chewing gum — will boost his reputation with peers.

As state legislators prepared to open debate on a perennially proposed tobacco tax hike, a lot of Utah parents may be unaware of the “mainstream” ways their children are being targeted by nicotine marketers, said Neville, director of the Utah Department of Health’s Tobacco Prevention and Control program.

While it’s difficult to compare addictions between tobacco, alcohol and hard drugs because they have different effects on the brain, quitting tobacco, once someone is addicted, “is as difficult as quitting heroin or cocaine,” he said.

Utah recently got an “F” from the American Lung Association for its lack of tobacco prevention and control spending — something controlled exclusively by state legislators, many of whom take money either directly or indirectly from tobacco companies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Utah legislators only provide about 35 percent of the recommended funding for tobacco control efforts.

Neville said 90 percent of people who begin using tobacco do so before the legal age of 19 — and the variety of tobacco products that appeal directly to children and teens continues to grow, along with the flavors used to disguise its taste.

The Lung Association also gave Utah a “D” for its relatively small tobacco tax -— currently 69.5 cents per cigarette pack — and an “F” for tobacco cessation programs. Neville said the latter focus “more on policy and less on services provided,” including the free Utah Tobacco Quit Line, 1-888-567-TRUTH. The confidential help line provides free nicotine patches or gum to those working to quit, and up to five free counseling sessions. The state also offers a free Web site at www.UtahQuitNet.com to help connect people with others trying to quit and to answer questions.

The Lung Association did give Utah an “A” in the smoke-free air category, noting improvement in laws that restrict smoking in public places.

Though the state has the lowest percentage of smokers in the nation, Neville said, more than 190,000 Utahns are still addicted, “and 80 percent of them don’t want to be.” Tobacco usage causes $369 million in annual smoking-attributable medical expenses and $294 million in lost productivity each year, Neville said.

Though retailers, in particular, have voiced opposition to the tax, Neville believes it’s simply a usage fee, like the gas tax. “If you don’t want to pay the gas tax, you don’t drive a car. You take public transit. It’s the same with tobacco. If you don’t want to pay it, then quit.”

He’s convinced that if the tax increase is approved, more people will stop smoking. He cited a 200 to 300 percent spike in calls to quit lines last year after a national tobacco tax increased last year.

“A lot of people want to quit,” he said. “They just need that final impetus to push them to where they really want to go.”

The FDA has recently warned more than ten online cigarette stores that their operation will be halted if they keep selling banned flavored cigarettes, thereby violating particular provisions of federal regulation, according to which, sales of flavored cigarettes are prohibited across the United States.

The Agency gave those online stores fourteen days to prove that they have removed banned smokes from their stock; otherwise they would be subject to penalties.

Sales of all flavored cigarettes, besides the menthol smokes, are banned starting from September 22, 2009.
The corresponding ban is a component part of groundbreaking Tobacco Control Act that was ratified in July and gave the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the legal powers to control tobacco industry.

The law comprises provisions concerning advertisements restrictions, prohibition of misleading cigarette names like low-tar, mild and light, since they make smokers consider them healthier than full-flavor cigarettes.
The notifications were addressed to a dozen of internet cigarette retailers that have not stopped selling flavored cigs after the ban had been implemented.

The data about the offenders was collected by the agents of Enforcement Department of the Food and Drug Administration, which are involved in ensuring compliance with the regulations and punishing the violators.
Similar notifications had been earlier sent to local tobacco retailers and importers, warning them about the legal liability if they planned to continue sales of flavored cigarettes after the ban implementation.

Among those merchants who received the FDA letters were both domestic sellers and overseas ones, who reach US customer through their online stores. The notifications comprised an article from Tobacco Control Act declaring that any cigarette sold in US should not contain any flavoring agent of either artificial or natural origin, or any herb or spice that adds a peculiar flavor to the cigarettes.

If the cigarettes offered by the retailer’s web-store do contain any flavors besides menthol, they are regarded as illegal or fake and would be penalized. In addition, if the products have no flavor, but are labeled as flavored, they would be as well penalized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Merchants located outside of the country were warned that the Agency would continue to track the products available at their online cigarette stores, and in case of non-compliance with the legislation, their shipments will be confiscated by the Customs Services. In addition, the FDA will contact the authorities in their home countries and notify them that the shipments from their countries are to be halted at the border.

Jerome E. Horton, Vice Chairman of the California State Board of Equalization (BOE), announced that the BOE has notified wholesalers and distributors that it is illegal to sell flavored cigarettes or roll-your-own (RYO) under the federal U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provision of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The BOE sent a special notice by email informing them of this new federal regulation.

Under federal law, these products can no longer be manufactured, imported, or sold in the United States and could be seized by federal, state or local law enforcement authorities. Cigarettes and RYO products banned by the FDA have been and continue to be removed from the California Tobacco Directory by the California Attorney General and the California Department of Justice.

This federal ban prohibits a cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter, or paper) from containing, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.

For general information regarding the FDA´s Tobacco Program and the ban on flavored cigarettes and RYO products, please refer to the FDA´s website at www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/default.htm.

Flavored cigarettes are now illegal and those of us working to snuff out oral cancer in America are thrilled. But the news gets even better – the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act has given the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate how tobacco companies manufacture, market and sell tobacco products.

This is a great win in the battle against tobacco-related diseases, especially for our youth. Flavored cigarettes entice children and teens to become smokers, and the tobacco industry has exploited this through youth-oriented marketing. According to the FDA, teens are three times more likely to use flavored cigarettes than are smokers over the age of 25.

Nicotine, a main ingredient in cigarettes, is one the world’s most addictive drugs. According to the American Heart Association, nicotine has historically been one of the hardest substance addictions to break. Every day 3,600 children and teens start smoking cigarettes and 1,100 will become daily users.

I applaud the FDA’s efforts to reduce the appeal cigarettes have on children and teens. The American Cancer Society says almost 90 percent of adult smokers tried their first cigarette at or before the age of 19. A 2007 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found that half of high school students have tried cigarette smoking at some point. The ban on flavored cigarettes will help limit the risk for tobacco-related diseases like oral cancer, which causes 8,000 deaths a year.

To further reduce death and disease caused by tobacco products, the FDA should examine what options it has under the new law for regulating menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco such as chewing or dipping tobacco, dissolvable tobacco tablets and snuff.

Tragically, smokeless tobacco products are incorrectly perceived as safe alternatives to cigarettes. They are not; their use can be deadly. In the U.S., 13.4 percent of high school boys and 2.3 percent of high school girls use smokeless tobacco products, according to the CDC.

Tobacco is dangerous in all forms. Smokeless tobacco products contain 28 toxic and cancer-causing agents, including formaldehyde, cyanide, butanol, arsenic, polonium-210 and uranium-235. These ingredients also are found in rat poison, radioactive nuclear waste, industrial solvents and embalming fluid.

Every year, an estimated 34,000 Americans are diagnosed with oral cancer. Thanks to the FDA’s new powers, that number may begin to decline.