With the potential restriction of menthol cigarette maker Lorillard Inc. is now protesting in defense of its Newport Brand, which it holds 35 percent share of the U.S. market. Launching a campaign, in the form of a Web site called Understanding Menthol, the company provides its position on the possible ban, along with the science that is under review by a federal advisory committee, and the consequences of a potential ban on menthol cigarettes. Studies, going against menthol, have cited that its usage only entices people to start smoking, which can result in health issues.

“We believe our customers need to be aware of this review process and the real-world consequences of whatever recommendation the panel makes to the FDA,” William True, senior vice president of research and development for Lorillard, said in a written statement to The Associated Press.
The company has also started issuing letters to smokers of the Newport brand to notify them of claims made by a U.S, Food and Drug Administration that cigarettes containing menthol have public health impacts. Lorillard Inc., also plans to utilize social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to keep in contact with users on the impending problem.
Adding menthol has served as a major factor in the growth of tobacco companies as the market continues to shrink.
According to Lorillard, they are under the belief that scientific evidence isn’t sufficient enough in showing that menthol cigarettes have greater health risks than cigarettes that don’t utilize the substance. They also believe that the ban will force users to find it from other means, such as the black market, which won’t meet basic product standards and create more potential harm for smokers.

From hiphopwired.com, June 30, 2010, By Justin T. Stewart

Anti-tobacco advocates are bracing for a counterattack from tobacco firms after Ontario and the federal government moved Tuesday to ban kiddy-friendly flavoured cigarillos. “Our work on this front is far from over. Some tobacco companies seem to be intent on manoeuvring around our health protection laws,” Ontario Health Promotion Minister Margarett Best warned in London, where she announced the ban. The ban takes effect July 1 and prohibits the sale and distribution of flavoured cigarillos, with the exception of menthol flavour.

The province also is requiring unflavoured cigarillos to be sold in packages of at least 20, the same as cigarettes, in an effort to make the little cigars unaffordable for young people.

Packaged like crayons and candy, the little cigars come in chocolate, grape, strawberry, cherry, bubblegum, pina colada and other flavours. Some retail for less than $2. Best said the products were clearly aimed at youth and children.

By changing the wrapping from paper to a tobacco product, the industry was able to have the flavoured cigarillos classified as a cigar, avoiding the packaging and warning requirements of cigarettes. Best said the Ontario law allows the government to change the definition of cigarillos if the tobacco industry changes the product to sidestep the legislation.

“My staff and I at the Ministry of Health Promotion are working diligently to ensure our efforts to protect young people are not thwarted by actions taken by tobacco companies to circumvent federal and provincial laws,” she said.

Middlesex-London medical officer of health Graham Pollett said the flavoured cigarillos appeal to young people who might think they are less dangerous than cigarettes. That is not the case, he said, warning the next tobacco product that will likely be launched in Ontario is snus.

Developed in Sweden, snus is moist tobacco contained in a small pouch placed under the lip. Although it is banned in most of Europe, snus is being marketed in the United States. Companies importing the product suggest it is a safer alternative to smoking.

An Imperial Tobacco spokesperson said his company supports the Ontario law’s intent.

“We believe kids should not be smoking at all, this is for adults that make a choice knowing the risks,” Eric Gagnon said.

But the ban will only add to the problem of contraband cigarettes, he said.

“Kids will still have access to those products cheaper than today,” Gagnon predicted.

Best said the province is concerned about illegal cigarettes and contraband tobacco. “It is a very complex issue which the government is dealing with.”

From lfpress.com, By JOHN MINER, June 30, 2010

Indonesian tobacco growers and their regional counterparts ended a two-day meeting, dubbed the first Asia Tobacco Forum, in Jakarta on Tuesday by revealing a plan that basically consisted of doing what they have already been doing — pleading with national governments not to adopt the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Countries that adopt the framework would, among other things, commit themselves to ban flavored cigarettes, which include clove-favored cigarettes, or kretek, the mainstay of the Indonesian tobacco industry.

Meanwhile, the domestic tobacco industry is fighting on another front.

The World Trade Organization on Tuesday began hearing an Indonesian trade dispute with the United States over the latter’s ban of flavored cigarettes.

Indonesia claims the ban is discriminatory because menthol cigarettes, most of which are produced in the US, were not banned.

Citing numerous studies, the US says flavored cigarettes encourage teens and children to begin smoking, and make it harder to quit.

The stakes are high for tobacco farmers and cigarette producers in Indonesia, where a toddler recently gained international renown for his clove cigarette habit.

The industry employes an estimated 6 million people, including tobacco farmers, production workers and vendors.

Around Rp 180 trillion ($20 billion) worth of cigarettes are produced each year, including $564 million of exports in 2009.

The industry claims millions of jobs could be at stake over the WHO framework and the US ban on clove cigarettes.

Sudaryanto, the chairman of the Indonesian Tobacco Alliance (Amti), said the framework presented a tremendous challenge to the Indonesian tobacco industry.

Ninety-three percent of cigarettes produced in Indonesia are kretek.

“Although Indonesia has not signed the FCTC, we will still be impacted since it will eliminate our ability to export kreteks to any country adopting the framework,” he said.

A total of 168 countries have signed the WHO framework, and are ready to debate its adoption at the domestic level.

Roger Quarles, the president of the International Tobacco Growers Association, on Tuesday vowed to take the fight to the health, agriculture and industry ministries in each country ahead of the next WHO meeting on tobacco in Uruguay scheduled for November.

Fuad Baradja, head of the education unit at the Indonesian Smoking Control Foundation (LM3), said national governments should not buy cigarette producers’ argument that adopting a ban on flavored cigarettes would devastate the industry.

“Cigarettes will always be around. There will never be a total ban on cigarettes. This particular ban is intended to discourage younger smokers,” he said.

Fuad said Indonesia needed to ratify the WHO ban on flavored cigarettes to slow the accelerating rate of smoking in the country as cigarette companies become more creative in seeking new customers.

“Flavored cigarettes are more and more creative. There are cappuccino flavors, different kinds of fruit flavors. All these flavors disguise the natural flavor of the cigarette itself,” he said.

Louise Baker, technical officer at the WHO office in Jakarta, said there was no justification for producing flavored cigarettes, which she said served only to make smoking more attractive to teenagers.

“It’s really concerning seeing a 14-year-old girl buying chocolate-flavored cigarettes, because the flavor is familiar to her. Several years later, she would be already addicted to the smoke,” she said.

Baker said the WHO was concerned about the fate of the workers and farmers that might be affected, and she urged the government to create a program to slowly shift farmers from growing tobacco to other crops and to retrain tobacco industry workers.

Yos Ginting, a director at cigarette company PT HM Sampoerna, declined to comment on the magnitude of the challenges facing his industry.

Sampoerna, as a member of Amti, would adhere to any decisions made by the organization, Yos said.

From thejakartaglobe.com, By Arti Ekawati & Faisal Maliki Baskoro, June 23, 2010

Domestic and international tobacco growers are gathering in Jakarta today for a two-day meeting aimed at formulating a strategy to fight against the adoption of a ban on flavored cigarettes under the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The Indonesian Tobacco Alliance (Amti) and the International Tobacco Growers Association, a US-based nonprofit growers association, on Sunday urged the Indonesian government and the governments of neighboring countries not to adopt Articles 9 and 10 of the framework that effectively ban flavored tobacco products.

Sudaryanto, the chairman of Amti, which organized the meeting, said banning flavored cigarettes could cost Indonesian growers up to $450 million per year and threaten millions of jobs.

He said an independent US ban on flavored cigarettes in place since last year had already cost growers here $270 million.

“If other countries across the globe take the same step, then we will bear bigger losses than that,” Sudaryanto said during an interview with the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.

“[Today] we will hold a meeting among tobacco growers and buyers in Asia, along with the ITGA, to discuss the plan to ban flavored cigarettes. Our goal is to urge the Indonesian government and other governments to think about the workers involved in the tobacco industry.”

Growers from countries such as Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines are expected to attend the event.

Indonesia produces about 250 billion cigarettes a year, and some 93 percent are clove cigarettes, or kretek . Exports of clove cigarettes to the United States were estimated to be $450 million to $500 million a year prior to the ban.

The US Food and Drug Administration banned flavored cigarettes in September, saying they encouraged younger people to smoke.

The Indonesian government has filed a formal trade dispute with the World Trade Organization in April, claiming the ban was protectionist because it did not include menthol cigarettes, most of which are produced in the United States.

There are 1.5 million clove farmers across the country and 3.5 tobacco farmers, based on Amti’s data.

ITGA president Roger Quarles said banning flavored cigarettes would cause the industry enormous pain.

“This will not only impact Indonesia, but also world’s cigarette industries,” Quarles said.

From thejakartaglobe.com, by Arti Ekawati, June 21, 2010

Nathan Porter sucks in a mixture of tobacco, molasses and strawberries through a water pipe and into his lungs. The owner of the Huka Bar & Grill exhales and the smoke smells faintly of fruit, then disappears.
“We can get all these lit up,” he gestures to the dozens of hookah pipes sitting at each table in the large room, “but you’re not going to see this cloud of smoke.”
It’s his 5-year-old business that is now up in the air. More than a year after the state banned smoking in bars, public health officials now say hookah clubs violate the law’s intent.

Leaders of the state’s 12 local health departments want legislators to clarify whether they intended to include tobacco smoked through water pipes, along with cigarettes and cigars, when they amended the state’s indoor air act to protect people from second-hand smoke.
“Health officers believe that hookah smoking likely poses a second-hand smoke risk, as does regular tobacco smoking,” says Gary Edwards, executive director of the Salt Lake Valley Health Department. “And if that’s the case, then we believe that it should fall under the same requirements that regular tobacco smoking does.”
Effective in January 2009, the state banned smoking in bars and clubs. The law defines smoking as “any lighted tobacco product in any form.”
Porter maintains his business doesn’t violate the law. The flavor of tobacco and flavorings, called shisha, is not taxed by the state as tobacco is, he said. Nor is it lit.
Instead, it sits on a screen below pieces of heated charcoal. A hose is attached to the lower body of the pipe, filled with water. As a smoker inhales through the hose, heated air is drawn down over the tobacco.
“I wasn’t looking for a loophole,” Porter explains of his reason for opening the bar. “I was looking for a niche.”
He and his family opened the bar in 2005, before the smoking ban was passed. Porter said he met with the Salt Lake Valley Health Department last year, and the department decided the club didn’t flout the law.
Health officials are raising concerns now due to questions from the public and because of the growing interest in hookah bars. They appear to appeal to young adults, especially near colleges and universities.
An applicant recently asked to open a hookah bar in Provo, prompting the Utah County Board of Health this week to draft a resolution declaring them illegal. Health officials raised fears that hookahs and their flavored tobaccos, which range from apple-cinnamon to chocolate, will appeal to teens and young adults, and get them hooked on nicotine.
“We think this should be [regulated] under the Indoor Clean Air Act,” said Joseph Miner, Utah County’s health department director.
The unanimous decision to draft the resolution ignores advice from the Utah County Attorney’s Office, which said Utah County shouldn’t regulate the bars if Salt Lake County has chosen not to.
But Utah County Commissioner Gary J. Anderson, also a member of health board, said he doesn’t see any difference between cigarettes and hookahs.
“If someone came in and said they wanted to open a cigarette bar, would we let them proceed?” he asked rhetorically.
Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, who advocates for anti-smoking legislation, said he wants to know more about hookah bars, based on a dozen calls he has received in the past two weeks from people wondering about them.
As chairman of the interim Health and Human Services committee, he said the topic will likely be on the agenda next month. Also, attorneys for the state health department are exploring whether it can make a rule to include water pipes in the definition of smoking.
“My question is, how is the atmosphere?” Ray said. “What’s the air like in the building?”
Porter welcomes the chance to explain his business, since adding hookahs to the law would put him out of business. If changes are made, he hopes they would apply to new applicants only.
He said his was the first hookah bar to open in the state — and it is believed to be the only one now open. It has never allowed indoor cigarette smoking.
“I don’t smoke. I don’t like to be around it,” said Porter, adding that most of his relatives who run the bar with him are members of the LDS Church, which advises its members to not smoke.
The American Lung Association and the World Health Organization have raised concerns about the health effects of water pipe smoking on the smoker, saying it carries similar risks of addiction, cancers and heart disease as cigarette smoking.
There is little evidence about the second-hand smoke risks from hookahs. Unlike cigarettes, which emit unfiltered smoke from the tip, the only smoke produced by hookahs is exhaled by the smoker, Porter notes, adding that the hookah smoke is filtered by the smoker’s lungs and the water in the pipe.
“Not all the smoke is the same,” he added, pointing out that cigarettes include hundreds of ingredients, compared to four in shisha.
But other recent studies on hookahs and second-hand smoke say a one-hour water pipe session generates ambient carcinogens and toxicants equal to two to 10 cigarette smokers.
“There is therefore good reason to include water pipe tobacco smoking in public smoking bans,” according to the authors of an article published in the international journal Atmospheric Environment this year.
Porter’s customers disagree, motioning to the smoke-free air.
“If you don’t want to smoke, don’t come here,” said Dianne Allen, who was visiting from Washington state. “It’s like, if you don’t want to exercise, don’t go to a gym.”

From sltrib.com, June 18, 2010

At least four groups are now questioning the credibility of a federal advisory panel created to study tobacco product safety, challenging two members with financial ties to drug firms that make smoking cessation products. At issue: Will the duo push to ban menthol ciggys and favor smokeless products?
The issue hit this week when the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, filed a complaint against the FDA’s tobacco advisory panel for conflicts of interest since they have voting members who consult for pharmaceutical companies that work on nicotine delivery products to quit smoking.
The concern is that two members, Jack Henningfield and Neal Benowitz, have an incentive to favor smoking cessation products because they’ve advised drug firms on those products.

“This creates an obvious incentive for these members to ban menthol in cigarettes and create a multi-billion dollar market for more nicotine patches and gum potentially paid for by taxpayers,” says a critic. The menthol issue the advisory committee is considering is huge: Menthol cigarettes make up about one third of the cigarette market and eliminating them would likely shift users to smokeless products, say industry officials.

The FDA has rejected previous conflict charges and Benowitz told the New York Times this week: “My involvement with pharmaceutical companies is aimed at reducing the risk of smoking, quitting smoking. The aim of the committee is also to reduce the adverse health consequences of tobacco use.”

Besides the left-leaning CREW, the three other opposition groups are the Altria Group, the American Council on Science and Health, and the right-leaning Americans for Limited Government.

Bill Wilson of Americans for Limited Government said that having his and CREW oppose the two appointees on the panel shows how much of a concern there is.

“The odds may be greater of drawing a royal flush in poker than us agreeing on anything but we both know you the FDA shouldn’t have a stacked deck when playing with the taxpayers’ money,” he said. “However, two groups as disparate as ours, Americans for Limited Government, and CREW agree the FDA tobacco panel can’t possibly have a legitimate review of the science surrounding menthol’s use in cigarettes with multiple conflicts of interest by many of the panelists.”

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers, June 10, 2010, usnews.com

Exactly one year ago this month, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama. This act gives the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented authority to regulate tobacco like any other consumer product. Big Tobacco has been the most unregulated consumer product on the market, but this new law removed those special protections. Why should we care? Because every day, 3,500 kids try a cigarette for the first time.

A year later, we are starting to see results of the act.

Candy flavorings that appeal to youths are no longer allowed to be added to cigarettes.

Mild, light and low-tar adjectives are banned.

Tobacco sponsorship of sporting events has been banned.

Locally, the North Texas community is taking action with the North Texas Coalition Against Tobacco to educate about the dangers of tobacco use.

This coalition also encourages smoke-free ordinances to be adopted by cities in our area.

I want to thank Congress, Obama and the public health community for standing up to Big Tobacco and fighting to make this landmark legislation.

June 8, 2010, by dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com

The Roanoke City Council will consider a no smoking, dipping or chewing ordinance on all city owned property at the Feb. 8 council meeting.

Mayor Mike Fisher said he had received a letter from the State Department of Public Health applauding the city for steps it had taken and mentioned some cities are making everything 100 percent tobacco free.

The mayor said he called people around town asking their thoughts about this. He said he would like to make all city property smoke free without smoking designated areas.

There had been an incident or two at high school games where there was smoking but the State Board of Education prohibits smoking where any students are, he said.

Councilman Mack Arthur Bell said his understanding is that second-hand smoke is about as dangerous as the person smoking. He added to each his own but said a ban would solve that problem.

Councilwoman Tammi T. Holley asked if smokeless tobacco would be included in any ban–that she had seen people spitting in bottles. Fisher said one can’t be banned without doing the other.

Councilman Russ Cummings said he did understand the health hazards and has been approached recently about making restaurants smoke free. This is a polarizing issue, he said, and he is with Councilman Joseph Roberson on thinking about this before acting.

Bell said that, regarding restaurants, it should be up to them.

Fisher said he would have city attorney Clay Tinney draw up an ordinance. Holley said to also include the other forms of tobacco.

Fisher also asked them to consider prohibiting texting while driving. Chief Adam Melton said nothing in Alabama prohibits it right now. Roberson said messaging on military bases is prohibited–phones have to be hands free.

Melton said under current Alabama traffic accident reports it just says “driver not in control”–not if he was texting, so it is difficult to determine how many accidents result from texting. The mayor said he would bring this up in a couple of weeks. Melton said a recent study it was stated texting caused more traffic accidents than driving under the influence.

Harlin honored

The mayor recognized Randolph Medical Center administrator Tim Harlin for all he has meant to the hospital during his time here. Harlin will be leaving in March for a new position in Minnesota.

The document states that on behalf of the city council and the citizens of Roanoke “I would like to extend my deepest appreciation for your service rendered at Randolph Medical Center. Randolph Medical Center has been faced with many challenges during your administration and those challenges were always met with dedication and determination.

“You strived to improve patient care, offer new services, implement new technology, and worked diligently to restore the reputation of quality care that this community had always depended on. Without your leadership and dedicated management team, these accomplishments would not have been possible.”

Harlin thanked them for the resolution and said it had been his privilege to serve as administrator.

He said everything is going smoothly and new physicians have been hired in the psychiatric area. He is spending a lot of time working on recruiting physicians and believes he has snagged an opthamologist and is talking to primary care physicians.

In other business the council passed ordinance #954 authorizing the mayor to apply for a $2,500 grant for electronic equipment in police cars. No match is required. The grant would take care of all the police cars. The resolution will be provided to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs through which the money will be funneled.

Bell said he would like all bids related to the city to come directly to the city clerk’s office for all departments and opened in the council meeting. When asked, he said he was not referring to any particular situation.

Holley said the recent striping in her district makes a world of difference for drivers. The mayor said he had also received comments about it.

Streets Department Supervisor Donnie Cash said Emergency Management director Donnie Knight called and said the state was trying to gather information about damage resulting from the winter freeze.

“We got it up, along with the utilities department, in hope of getting some money out of it. Streets were damaged by the freeze and we hope to get some money from that,” Cash said.

He told the council he appreciated them allowing him to replace a Bush Hog for $10,862 he had budgeted. He asked for the old one to be declared surplus property so it can be sold, which the council did.

Cash said they are running out of room at the landfill for C&D; pulpwood is up in value and he asked if the land can be clear cut so the new cells can go there. He told the council as long as it is authorized by the council and bids taken it is legal. To Holley’s question about potential erosion he said that is something to look at. Bell said he would have to get with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to make sure that doesn’t happen. The council approved Cash’s request.

Wendell Williams has asked the city to sell dirt from where the city digs dirt. The city sold dirt to the county health department during construction there for 50 cents per cubic yard. Since it is not prime dirt Williams asked it be sold for less and he would pick it up with his own equipment. Cash is checking with the Alabama League of Municipalities to make sure they can sell it to a private individual and he will bring it back to the council.

Keith Richardson, who oversees vehicle maintenance, made a proposal to cut maintenance costs by buying filters, fluids etc. in bulk. He estimated a cost savings of almost half on items such as $1,600 on filters and $1,358 on fluids. Some machines still under warranty require a certain brand or the warranty is null and void, he said.

If the city buys the items now they will save over the year. The council was concerned about the items being under lock and key and he said due to not having enough storage some would have to be placed under lock and key in Purchasing Agent Tim Jacob’s office.

Melton said only Richardson performs maintenance on his cars.

The council voted to buy the materials in bulk at an amount of $8,264 for all vehicles down to lawn mowers and motor graders at an annual savings of almost $3,000. The money will come from the general fund account and be purchased locally at the best price. Then, Revenue Officer Pat Truitt will take the purchases from the various department’s budgets.

by Penny L. Pool, Therandolphleader

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