PROBLEM of the Tobacco in US Army

The US military and dependent population consists of nearly 3.5 million people: about
1.1 million Army, 500,000 Air Force, 470,000 Navy, 215,000 Marine Corps, family members,
and more than 800,000 civilian employees. Although smoking prevalence dropped from 51% in
1980 to 32% in 2005 in the armed services, there has been an upturn in consumption in the last
decade. Cigarette-smoking and use of smokeless tobacco are most prevalent in the Army and the
Marine Corps and least prevalent in the Air Force. Smoking is also more prevalent among
military men than among women and personnel 18–25 years old.
There are more than 24 million US veterans, of whom 6.7 million are enrolled in the VA
health-care system. Of the 6.7 million, 45% are 65 years old or older, 41% are 45–64 years old,
and fewer than 1 million (14%) are less than 45 years old. Most of the veterans using the VA
health-care system served during the Vietnam era (1965–1974). VA estimates that 75% of
disabled and low-income veterans use the VA system. About 22.2% of all veterans enrolled in
the VA health-care system are current smokers.
Tobacco use adversely affects military performance. Military personnel who smoke have
reduced physical-performance capacity, lower visual acuity, and poorer night vision than
nonsmokers. Smoking is associated with hearing loss and increased risks of motor-vehicle collisions, physical injury, and hospitalization. Nicotine withdrawal can also impair performance
as a result of irritability, restlessness, anger, difficulty in concentrating, anxiety, depressed mood,
and decreased performance on cognitive tests.
Short-term health effects associated with smoking include respiratory infections; adverse
postoperative effects, delayed wound healing, and increased risk of postoperative hemorrhage;
acute peptic ulcer disease; and periodontal disease. Smokers who become ill have more serious
illnesses, are more likely to be hospitalized, and have more work-loss days. The long-term
adverse health effects of tobacco use are well known and affect virtually every organ system.
Smoking is causally linked to cancer, particularly lung cancer, and to a variety of other diseases,
including stroke, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
diabetes, and infectious diseases. About half of all lifelong smokers will die prematurely from a
complication of smoking.
Smokeless tobacco delivers as much nicotine as does cigarette-smoking, and although it
does not expose the user to the toxicants in tobacco smoke, its use maintains nicotine addiction,
promotes continued smoking, and causes oral and pancreatic cancer and periodontal disease.
The societal costs of tobacco use are enormous. Tobacco-related costs to the MHS were
estimated to be $564 million in 2006, primarily for care of people who had cardiovascular
disease or respiratory problems. Military retirees and their dependents incur greater tobaccorelated
health costs than do active-duty military or their dependents. Considerable costs are also
associated with productivity losses due to smoke breaks and absenteeism. Tobacco use affects
and increases training costs for new recruits; tobacco users are less likely to complete basic
training and more likely to leave the military earlier. At the same time that tobacco results in
high health-care costs and productivity losses for DoD, the department earns substantial net
revenues from the sale of tobacco products in military commissaries and exchanges, and this
creates an impediment to any policy that might make tobacco less accessible in those venues. In
2005, $88 million of the $611 million in tobacco sales supported military morale, welfare, and
recreation activities.
In 2008, VA spent over $5 billion to treat COPD. More than 80% of COPD is attributed
to smoking.

Quit smoking tips

Calm Your Deep Inner Mind - The primitive subconscious mind (known as the lizard brain) may
falsely see ending all nicotine use as though trying to starve yourself to death. It does not think, plan
or plot against us but simply reacts to years of input from the brain's dopamine reward pathways,
pathways long ago taken hostage by nicotine. The conscious thinking mind can be used to calm and
reassure the compulsive lizard brain, especially in the fleeting seconds before dosing off into sleep,
when the two draw near.
Measuring Victory - Forget about quitting "forever." Like attempting the seemingly impossible task
of eating an entire cow or steer, it is the biggest psychological bite imaginable. Instead, adopt a more
manageable "one steak at a time," or better yet "one day at a time," recovery philosophy for
measuring victory. If we insist on seeing success only in terms of quitting forever then on which day
will we celebrate? Who is coming to that party? Why not celebrate every day of healing and freedom.
Recovery Phases -
(1) Physical nicotine withdrawal peaks by day three and within two weeks the body physically adapts
to functioning without it. Known as nicotine’s half-life, every two hours the amount remaining in the
bloodstream is naturally reduced by half. All nicotine and 90% of the chemicals it breaks down into
(metabolites) will have passed from the body within 72 hours of ending all use. During this period it
is entirely normal to feel de-sensitized, as if part of you is being left behind. But your brain is working
hard to restore natural neuro-chemical sensitivities. Be patient with your healing.
(2) You have trained your subconscious mind to expect the arrival of a new supply of nicotine upon
encountering specific times, locations, activities, people or emotions. The process of reconditioning
and breaking these subconscious triggers and cues also peaks during the first week, at about day
three. All but remote, infrequent, holiday or seasonal nicotine use triggers are extinguished within a
month.

The final phase of recovery, conscious thought fixation, is the least intense yet longest. Here the
rational, thinking mind will find itself fixating on conscious thoughts about wanting to use nicotine.
Although at times nearly impossible to see and appreciate, with each passing day thoughts of wanting
gradually grow fewer, shorter in duration and generally less intense. Within a few months they will
become the exception, not the rule, as you gradually start to develop an expectation of going entire
days without once "thinking" about wanting for nicotine.

Blaze at Gallaher’s tobacco factory started accidentally

A blaze that destroyed a three-storey warehouse at the Gallaher cigarette factory in Ballymena is believed to have been started accidentally.

The building held thousands of pounds worth of tobacco and was destroyed by the huge blaze, which broke out at the plant on Sunday evening.

More than 50 firefighters and 10 appliances battled for six hours to bring the fire under control.

Nobody was injured, but the building was gutted and a large amount of tobacco destroyed.

Gallaher, employing about 1,100 people in Ballymena, was founded in 1857 and has been owned by Japan Tobacco since 2007.

A company spokesman confirmed an investigation had been launched.

“The fire service did an excellent job in containing and extinguishing the blaze, and ensuring that the main production facility was not affected,” he said.

North Antrim MP Ian Paisley visited the scene yesterday and praised the firefighters.

“This operation on this site is the heart of Ballymena,” Mr Paisley said.

“If you took this employment and the money that comes into the town, you would be bankrupt here. So it's important the heart of the town was preserved — and it has been.”

Ballymena mayor James Currie said Gallaher’s had been one of the area’s flagship companies.

He said: “It has been one of the area’s main employers and has made a great contribution to the Ballymena economy.”

Appliances were called to the site shortly after 9pm on Sunday with crews working until 3am yesterday.

The area commander of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, Peter O' Reilly, said crews had worked hard to stop the fire spreading to the main factory.

He said: “To contain a fire in a building of this size and age was particularly challenging. The building is old and there was a risk that it could have collapsed.”

Toyota Speaking With Big Tobacco's Forked Tongue?

Toyota Motor Corporation's response to
revelations by a former company attorney who was a key figure in defending
Toyota from accident lawsuits across the country has left victims wondering if
Big Tobacco has taken over the Japanese automaker's public relations
department.

Dallas Attorney Todd Tracy filed a lawsuit against Toyota in an East Texas
federal court on September 8th alleging fraud and racketeering for concealing
accident data from the courts and federal safety regulators.

The lawsuit seeks to reopen 16 cases and accuses Toyota of engaging in "a
pattern of discovery abuse that is tailor made for a Hollywood movie."
Toyota's conduct "is more like a horror movie script to the victims of
Toyota's products," the complaint states. Now in the wake of Toyota's
response, Tracy says he sees a sequel in the making about corporate abuse of
the public.

"I know the name of this horror movie. It's the auto industry's version of
Big Tobacco's The Insider, which depicted whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand played
by Russell Crowe. Toyota's Jeffrey Wigand is attorney Dimitrios Biller. It's
the same screenplay, just a different cast of characters."

Biller played an instrumental role for Toyota's legal department in settling
accident cases across the country. Now, the former Toyota attorney, in a
federal lawsuit filed in California, accuses his old employer of destroying
crash testing information that should have been handed over to victims in
approximately 300 rollover accidents.

Toyota countered Tracy's Texas lawsuit stating that Biller's claims are false
and violate the terms of his severance package with the automaker. Attorney
Todd Tracy says that Toyota's statement demeaning Biller as a vindictive and
sue happy ex-employee is a vintage Big Tobacco tactic. "If Dimitrios Biller
was such an unethical person as Toyota is trying to portray him, why did the
company write him a check for $3.7 million when he resigned? Was it hush
money? The U.S. Court system needs to get Toyota to tell the truth to
accident victims."

Biller's revelations now leave victims like Beverly Kearney wondering if
Toyota shortchanged the legal process in their cases. Tracy says none of the
victims in his 16 cases would have accepted a settlement if they had any hint
that Toyota was holding back information that was supposed to be turned over
the court.

Kearney, The University of Texas women's track and field and cross country
coaching legend made an Olympian style comeback from injuries that left her
paralyzed from the waist down in the wake of a rollover accident in her Lexus
SUV during a Christmas vacation to Disney World in 2002.

Kearney now steadies herself trackside with a cane and grueling rehabilitation
sessions continue. President George W. Bush invited her to lunch at the White
House in 2004 and hailed her as an inspirational American hero.

Tracy believes another hero of Big Tobacco proportions may be emerging in this
case. "It appears from his lawsuit that Dimitrios Biller may have been the
lone person with a conscience at Toyota. The more the company slings mud at
his reputation, the more I see a sequel to The Insider in the making."

Tracy says Toyota's response to the Texas lawsuit is a lesson in Catch 22
double speak. "On the one hand Toyota's public relations' flacks say the
company has filed a motion to seal Biller's complaint. In the next breath they
claim Toyota is not seeking to hide the complaint. You can't have it both
ways. We hope the American court system will get Toyota to tell the truth."

State to increase tax on cigarettes

Smoking will become an even more expensive habit for Connecticut residents next month.

The state budget — which became law this past weekend — has increased the tax on cigarettes from $2 to $3 per pack. The measure is part of an effort to reduce the state’s roughly $8 billion deficit over the next two years. But while some fear the increase will have a disproportionate effect on Connecticut’s poor, some Yalies find the idea of the tax almost comical.

“I think that the Connecticut government is kidding itself if it thinks a $1 tax hike will curb smoking in any way,” Alexander Shaheen ’13 said.

In recent years, the state has raised the tax several times. In 2002, it went to $1.11 from 49 cents; in 2003, to $1.51 from $1.11. The most recent increase, to $2 from $1.51, was passed July of 2007.

The current tax, legislators say, will help balance the state’s budget with additional expected revenue. According to the Connecticut Office of Fiscal Analysis, the new tax will result in a revenue gain of $99.3 million in fiscal year 2010 and $117.6 million in fiscal year 2011. The strategy also includes a one-off “floor tax” on all unsold inventories of tobacco products come Sept. 30, which the Office of Fiscal Analysis estimates to bring in an additional $8.8 million in revenue.

But some local business owners said they fear the tax might stunt their sales numbers. Bill Raffaele, tobacco specialist at the Owl Shop in New Haven, said he was “almost certain” that cigarette sales would fall after the tax goes into effect.

“It’s horrible,” he said. “Absolutely horrible. They’re singling out one product.”

Opponents argue that the tax will be especially burdensome to the poor, who make up a large number of Connecticut smokers. The state has yet to announce whether the revenue generated from the new tax will be used to fund anti-smoking campaigns or health-related programs.

For many Yale students, however, the $1 increase will be a negligible change. Of the four students interviewed, who all said they smoked, only one said the tax would cause a change in habit.

“I’m accustomed to paying $10 for a pack of cigarettes,” said Benjamin Singleton ’13, a student from New York City. “Still, this new effort from the government to curb smoking will probably cause me to at least try to cut down.”

None of the students interviewed concluded that the new tax will cause a significant financial burden.

The new cigarette tax is slated to go into effect Oct. 1.

Immanuel Lutheran Church Goes Tobacco Free

The Immanuel Lutheran Church, 556 E. Second St., Jamestown, will no longer allow smoking or use of tobacco products are allowed on church property, including parking lots and all entrance ways.

"As a church, we teach that good stewardship is the care and use of all that God has given us in a positive way, including our health,'' said Pastor John Saraka of Immanuel Lutheran Church. ''We are happy to partner with the Tri County Tobacco free program in supporting people in living a healthier lifestyle."

The growing desire for community agencies and organizations to create outdoor tobacco free policies is part of the trend in helping reduce litter and protect community members from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

"Our tobacco free program offers signage, technical support and community education to any agency who desire to create outdoor tobacco free areas,'' said Laurie Adams, Tri-County Tobacco Free Program project director. ''This new policy reinforces Joint Neighborhood's policy, located next to Immanuel Lutheran Church. As a bordering facility both agencies have established and are protecting families and especially children from the dangers of secondhand smoke."

Immanuel Lutheran Church offers additional support to parishioners who would like to quit smoking. In collaboration with the Chautauqua County Health Department, the church offers free quit smoking aids such as patches, gum or lozenges. For information regarding the new policy, contact Immanuel Lutheran Church at 664-7104.

The Immanuel Lutheran Church, 556 E. Second St., Jamestown, will no longer allow smoking or use of tobacco products are allowed on church property, including parking lots and all entrance ways.

"As a church, we teach that good stewardship is the care and use of all that God has given us in a positive way, including our health,'' said Pastor John Saraka of Immanuel Lutheran Church. ''We are happy to partner with the Tri County Tobacco free program in supporting people in living a healthier lifestyle."

The growing desire for community agencies and organizations to create outdoor tobacco free policies is part of the trend in helping reduce litter and protect community members from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

"Our tobacco free program offers signage, technical support and community education to any agency who desire to create outdoor tobacco free areas,'' said Laurie Adams, Tri-County Tobacco Free Program project director. ''This new policy reinforces Joint Neighborhood's policy, located next to Immanuel Lutheran Church. As a bordering facility both agencies have established and are protecting families and especially children from the dangers of secondhand smoke."

Immanuel Lutheran Church offers additional support to parishioners who would like to quit smoking. In collaboration with the Chautauqua County Health Department, the church offers free quit smoking aids such as patches, gum or lozenges. For information regarding the new policy, contact Immanuel Lutheran Church at 664-7104.

Tobacco Plant Used to Create First-Ever 'Cruise Ship' Virus Vaccine

As one of the main ingredients in cigarettes, tobacco certainly gets a bad rap.

But the tobacco plant has been used to develop a new vaccine to thwart the dreaded norovirus – an illness that has been know to wreak havoc on cruise ships sickening passengers (sometimes hundreds of passengers) with diarrhea and vomiting.

The vaccine is unique in its origin as it was made in a tobacco plant using an engineered plant virus. Researchers are using plants in the battle against norovirus, swine flu, bird flu, and other infectious diseases, said Dr. Charles Arntzen, speaking Tuesday at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

The norovirus, like the flu virus, is constantly changing, which has made creating a vaccine for it challenging for pharmaceutical companies, Arntzen said.

“The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza virus has once again reminded us of the ability of disease-causing agents to mutate into new and dangerous forms,” he said in a news release.

The norovirus will continue to evolve into new strains, so Arntzen’s team designed a vaccine manufacturing process quick enough to keep up with it and other shape-shifting viruses, he said.

“We think we have a major advantage in using engineered plant viruses to scale-up vaccine manufacture within weeks instead of months,” he said.

While not as dangerous as the flu, norovirus spreads rapidly and can sicken people with diarrhea and vomiting for up to three days.

“It essentially closes down wings of hospitals, schools, day care centers and homes for the elderly. In the case of the military, it can shut down an entire ship and delay military operations while there is a cleanup in process. Because the disease spreads so rapidly, the major economic consequences are caused by the disruption of normal daily life and commerce,” Arntzen said.

To battle each new strain of the norovirus and to keep full resistance to older strains, Arntzen says the vaccine could be administered as a booster every 12 to 18 months. After successful experiments in mice, his team is developing a nasal delivery system for the virus-like particles. Arntzen expects to start clinical trials in late 2009 or early 2010.

Panel to Advise FDA on Menthol

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday said it is creating a 12-person panel to advise the agency on sensitive areas of overseeing the tobacco industry.

The panel, which will include three tobacco industry representatives, will advise the FDA on the impact of menthol in cigarettes, the use of descriptors such as "light" on tobacco packages and other sensitive issues as the agency grapples with implementing new powers to oversee the massive tobacco industry.

Tobacco legislation banned into law this year bans companies from selling flavored tobacco products, but not menthol cigarettes. One area where the panel will likely have a large impact is smokeless tobacco. Tobacco companies such as Philip Morris and Reynolds American Inc. have in recent years begun aggressively developing smokeless tobacco products that are dissolvable in the mouth. Tobacco companies want to be able to market these products as less risky than traditional tobacco products.

The new law says they can't market them as less risky unless they prove so. The panel will likely advise the agency on setting benchmarks for what data are necessary to determine whether one tobacco product is less risky than another. The FDA says the panel will advise the agency on how smokeless tobacco products affect public health, particularly that of children.

The FDA has been moving rapidly since President Barack Obama signed into law in June legislation that gives the FDA the authority to regulate the tobacco industry. Last week, the FDA named a former Veterans Affairs public health chief, Lawrence Deyton, to head the tobacco division. Dr. Deyton has a history of starting public health initiatives and began smoking-cessation programs at the VA that lowered smoking rates among veterans.

The agency is seeking nominations for the panel members. Eight of the members will be experts in medicine, medical ethics science and tobacco technology, according to a press release from the FDA. The three members from the industry, who won't have voting power, will be taken from small and large tobacco manufacturing companies and tobacco farmers. There will be one person from the general public on the panel.

The FDA's new powers allow the agency to restrict tobacco advertising and promotions, collect user fees from tobacco companies and stop the illegal sales of cigarettes and other products to children.

NOTL winery using tobacco technology to make wine

Giant kilns once used to dry out tobacco leaves are the new winemaking tools of choice at a Niagara-on-the-Lake winery.

In an upcoming research experiment, Reif Estate Winery will try using these two humidity and temperature-controlled sheds to make unique wines and expand their product lineup.

Winery officials plan to take these used tools from the dying tobacco industry in Essex County and give them new life in Niagara's wine business.

"The idea was let's try and see if we can get some of these kilns and transfer that technology and all that research that they did to see if we can convert it to grapes," Reif winemaker Roberto DiDomenico said.

On Tuesday, the Niagara Parkway winery's research projects got a boost when it received $196,000 from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program.

The money will be used to help support staffing and consulting costs needed to complete three Reif projects:

The first kiln will be used to dry out grapes to produce a style of richer wine with more sugar concentration, called passito or Amarone-style wine.

Other producers in Niagara are already successfully making wines of this style -- to positive reviews -- by naturally drying out grapes in racks, which can take up to six weeks.

Reif hopes to reduce the drying time to two weeks, allowing the winery to possibly produce three batches of passito each vintage.

The second kiln will blast humidity to purposely taint grapes with a fungus called botrytis cinera, which can, in the right conditions, produce beautifully sweet wine.

Most botrytis-affected wines on the market are accidents of nature, not intentionally produced.

Tobacco marketing season comes to an end

Volumes of tobacco being delivered to the auction floors are dwindling and the high activity which characterized all auction floors since the start of the marketing season is coming to end as many farmers are now clearing up their barns.

Volumes of tobacco being delivered to the auction floors are dwindling and the high activity which characterized all auction floors since the start of the marketing season is coming to end as many farmers are now clearing up their barns.

The country’s three tobacco auction floors which have been a hive of activity since the start of the marketing season are now recording low volumes as most farmers have already finished selling their tobacco.

Hordes of business people who thronged the auction floors to sell all kinds of household goods, foodstuffs, vehicles and farm machinery have cleared their makeshift shops and left.

Zimbabwe Industry Tobacco auction centre Public Relations Officer, Kudzai Hamadziripi confirmed that business was winding up at the floors and urged farmers to use their money wisely to prepare for next season.

“Tobacco sales are low as we approach the end of the marketing season in two weeks’ time. We encourage farmers to work on the seedbeds and maximize land preparations,” said Hamadziripi.

Since the opening of the marketing season in May, the three auction floors have sold more than 48 million kilogrammes of tobacco generating US$147 million.

Pentagon Won't Ban Tobacco Use in Military

The Pentagon said today that it will not ban the use of tobacco in the military, the Associated Press reports.

The announcement comes after a study commissioned by the Pentagon and the Department of Veteran Affairs recommended terminating the use and sale of tobacco products on military property. The study also recommended the military ensure enlistees are smoke-free.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday that Defense Secretary Robert Gates doesn't want to add to the stress levels of troops fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by taking away tobacco products. He also said that Gates plans on pursuing the goal of a smoke-free military, according to the AP.

When the news broke that the Pentagon was considering a tobacco ban, many voices came out in protest. Jeff Emanuel wrote in a CBSNews.com op-ed that the servicemembers shouldn't be subject to a blanket smoking ban.

"Yes, tobacco has been proven to cause both short and long-term health problems - but are we really going to preach about health benefits of their activities to Americans we pay (albeit poorly) to be shot at for a living?" Emanuel asked.

Retired Navy veteran Bobby McCarter, meanwhile, said that he is "totally against" the smoking ban, MSNBC reports. McCarter, who served 20 years in the Navy, said that the men and women in combat need a "cigarette break for stress relief."

Newsweek's Adam Weinstein, who has spent seven months on Camp Victory in Baghdad, said that the general reaction of the soldiers to the study was this: "Bullets and mortars. Desert heat and polluted Mideast air. And now this? Shut up, do-gooders; go hug a tree someplace, and let me have my menthols."

Some do support an idea of the ban for the greater good, however. While Emanuel says that tobacco use is an "ingrained" part of military culture, Weinstein points out that the study suggests the ban over a period of 20 years and that the stereotype surrounding smoking in the military "can � and should � change."

"If the health risks of smoking among soldiers can be done away with, even incrementally, then it�s time to start," Weinstein said. "It would lead to a fitter force. It would cut down on the staggering health-care costs for veterans. And it would save lives in the long term�an oft-stated priority for the generals and admirals who command America�s serving sons and daughters."

Emanuel, however, says that the physical standards already in place in the military show that a ban on smoking would not lead to a "fitter force."

"If soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines can meet the physical standards their respective chains of command have set for them, what they legally do in their own time should be considered entirely irrelevant, as it has been demonstrably shown to have no effect on their ability to meet those standards," he argues.

Blue Mold Could Put Tobacco Farmers in the Red

A wet growing season isn't a good thing for every farmer. Last summer, the drought threatened to put farmers out of business. This time, a wet summer brings a new risk to a whole new batch of growers in Kentucky.

"Blue mold" is back with a vengeance in Russellville, Ky. Money may not grow on tree but on a rural Kentucky farm tobacco is the crash crop. Four weeks from harvest time, farmer Ricky Appling sees signs of an enemy that's gotten to his plants before he could.

"Blue mold" is a fungus-like organism that can devour acres of tobacco, especially Burley tobacco used to make cigarettes. Appling points to a rain-soaked summer as the cause. The cure is plenty of sunshine, or a good soaking of the chemical "quadric."

Appling estimates roughly half of his Burley crop has been touched by blue mold and trained tobacco buyers won't touch an infected plant come fall. It's not just the Appling family affected. Many growers in Kentucky have been hit, the state that leads the nation in Burley tobacco production.

One expert also cited a "small scale" blue mold outbreak in East Tennessee. This blue mold outbreak is cause for worry among all tobacco farmers, even outstanding in their field.

Blue mold is nothing new it just happens very sporadically. Ricky Appling says the last big bout on his farm was the year Hurricane Katrina hit which would've been 2005. An outbreak back in 1996 cost Kentucky tobacco farmers $200-million.

Saturday, an agriculture extension agent in Kentucky is warning tobacco farmers everywhere to keep an eye out for signs of blue mold.

Tobacco farmers who take a hit in the wallet, because of blue mold can apply for federal aid.

Electronic Cigarettes are much safer than tobacco cigarettes

ast week the FDA announced that their laboratory tests detected carcinogens (tobacco-specific nitrosamines) in electronic cigarettes and warned electronic cigarette smokers to stop using electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes. This scare tactic certainly made front page news, but it was not the entire story.

Nitrosamines are compounds that are in tobacco cigarettes, but are also found in beer, fish, meat and cheese. The levels of these 2 compounds were found in trace amounts in electronic cigarettes, especially when compared to tobacco cigarettes. Dr. Michael Siegel, a physician who specializes in public health and preventative medicine, states that the nitrosamine levels found in electronic cigarettes are comparable to levels in nicotine replacement products, such as NicoDerm CQ, which are approved by the FDA. "In contrast, the level of tobacco-specific nitrosamines present in tobacco
products are 300 to 1400 times higher."

The FDA seems to be trying to sway public opinion by not providing all the facts to the consumer. Sabina King of www.e-cigarettedirect.com" target="_blank">www.e-CigaretteDirect.com stated that the "FDA scare intimidated some of our customers. After learning all the facts, customers continued to place their electronic cigarette orders. We feel that electronic cigarettes are a healthier option for cigarette smokers. Our sales have increased at astounding rates every month. This demonstrates the need of these potentially life-saving products by consumers."

Electronic cigarettes are touted by some to help them quit smoking. Many e-cigarette smokers claim they feel better and breathe easier using electronic cigarettes versus traditional tobacco cigarettes. Distributors of electronic cigarettes say that their products have helped many people kick the habit.

Electronic cigarettes are intended to replace traditional cigarettes. They produce no second-hand smoke, allowing e-cigarette smokers to 'smoke' inside establishments that normally ban tobacco cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes contain only 20 ingredients, as opposed to tobacco cigarettes that contain over 4,000 chemicals, including known toxins and carcinogens.

Several leading tobacco researchers, including Dr. Siegel and Dr. Joel Nitzkin of the AAPHP Tobacco Control task Force have criticized the FDA and request that the FDA validate their warning with more substantial scientific evidence. You can read Dr. Siegel's analysis of FDA data and a comparison of electronic cigarettes versus tobacco cigarettes at E-CigaretteDirect.com

Philip Morris International Inc.: Paving a New Tobacco Road

Anti-smoking crusades might be putting a damper on tobacco sales in the United States, but other countries present opportunity for Philip Morris International Inc.

In July the New York-based company acquired two tobacco products manufacturers. The company's latest purchase was Colombian cigarette maker Productora Tabacalera de Colombia, Protobaco Ltda (Protobaco). Philip Morris International (PMI) said on July 10 it paid $452 million to acquire the privately held company.

Protabaco is the second-largest tobacco company in Columbia, producing an estimated 6.1 billion cigarettes in 2008 and a 32% market share. The company reported net revenues in 2008 of approximately $107.6 million, according to PMI. Its top-selling brands include Mustang, Premier and President. The acquisition builds on the company's increasing presence in Columbia after it purchased Compania Colombiana de Tabaco S.A. in 2005.

"We are extremely pleased to reach this agreement with Protabaco in order to continue to build our business in this important and strategic market," said Miroslaw Zielinski, president of PMI's Latin America and Canada region, in a July 10 statement. "This strategically compelling transaction will provide PMI with an excellent opportunity to further develop Protabaco's strong brand portfolio and reflects the continuing confidence we have in the future of Columbia, its economy and the tobacco industry."

Earlier in the month, PMI also agreed to buy Swedish Match South Africa Ltd. (SMSA) from parent company Swedish Match AB for 1.75 billion South African rand, or approximately $222 million. SMSA produces pipe tobacco and snuff, which accounts for 31% of total tobacco consumption in South Africa, according to PMI.

SMSA's revenues in 2008 totaled 687 million rand, or about $88 million.

"This financially attractive acquisition represents an excellent strategic fit for our business in South Africa," said Jean-Claude Kunz, president of PMI's Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa region, in a July 2 statement. "We firmly believe that merging the two businesses will provide us with the talent, infrastructure and expertise to further build and grow our portfolio of strong brands in this important market."

The transaction is pending approval by South African regulatory authorities and is expected to be completed by the end of fourth-quarter 2009, according to PMI.

PMI is coming off a 12% first-quarter profit decline. Net earnings in the first quarter were $1.5 billion, or 74 cents per share, compared with $1.7 billion, or 79 cents a share in the year-earlier period. Revenues declined 7.4% to $13.3 billion. The company attributed the declines to the economic downturn.

Tobacco Stocks May Thrive Despite FDA Regulation

Cars, alcohol and fatty foods also kill a lot of people every year, but Washington reserves its real wrath for cigarette makers.

President Barack Obama, who smokes the occasional cigarette himself, last week took the fresh air of the Rose Garden to sign the second anti-smoking law of his young administration. It gives the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate cigarettes for the first time, and imposes some new restrictions on marketing. An earlier law raised the federal tax to $1.01 per pack from 39 cents.

These laws may actually prove a net positive for tobacco stocks.

Why?

First, uncertainty surrounding the effects is keeping many shares cheap. Institutional investors in particular tend to shy away from stocks in these kinds of uncertain situations. As a result, tobacco stocks are languishing and dividend yields are hefty. Marlboro parent Altria yields 7.9%. Reynolds American stock yields about 9% - more, remarkably, than the bonds: Its 2016 bonds are yielding about 7.5% to maturity, the 2018 bonds, 8.3%.

Second, the new laws may help the big players by reducing independent competition. Adam Spielman, industry analyst at Citigroup, says industry profits have been held back in recent years in part by small, independent makers of cut-price cigarettes. He expects a lot of those companies to respond to the new regulatory burdens by closing up or selling out. A major beneficiary may be Britain’s Imperial Tobacco, which has been building market share at the discount end with brands like USA Gold and Sonoma.

Third, while the new laws may spur some people to quit smoking, many people have been trying to quit anyway -- they have been for years. That trend hasn’t hurt the industry because the companies’ profits have rises faster than their volumes have fallen. Cigarettes have still been a solid investment, because the companies generate so much cash and the shares have been cheap. Some numbers: If you had invested $100 in a broad stock market index fund at the start of 1985, you’d have about $1,100 today. If you’d invested that money in tobacco stocks, according to FactSet, you’d have more than $16,000.

Fourth, FDA regulation may actually help legitimize the industry - and further reduce the rapidly diminishing litigation risk.

Rising cigarette taxes will spur some people to trade down to cheaper cigarettes. But quitting - as the President’s own story shows - is a lot harder than it sounds . (From my own experience, I suggest reading Alan Carr’s “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking”. It worked for me).

The riskiest stock in the pack is probably Lorillard, because nearly all its profits come from menthol brand Newport. It is possible, in theory at least, that the FDA might ban menthol cigarettes. Analysts think it highly unlikely. But any investor who is nervous could buy some insurance against a total collapse in the stock. How? By purchasing “put options,” a type of contract that only pays out if a stock falls a long way. Lorillard stock is about $69. The January 2011 $40 put options, which will pay out if the stock falls below that level, cost about $2.10 per share.

Many people feel uncomfortable about the idea of investing in tobacco stocks and “profiting from smoking.” But if you benefit from any government services you already are. Average state, local and federal taxes come to about $2.14 per pack. Big government and big tobacco are increasingly hard to distinguish. That, too, may reassure investors.

Tobacco maker survives harsh environment

Limited weathered a stiff anti-smoking campaign, including a ban on its corporate sponsorship programmes, to record a modest increase in profits.

Steps to comply with Tobacco Control Act 2007 cost the company Sh100 million, through the removal of all branded material from the market as well as effect packaging changes to comply with Ministry of Health requirements.

Also hitting the tobacco business has been enormous increases in excise duty, which went up by 31 per cent last year.

Its earnings results indicate a gross turnover of Sh 17.436 billion for the year ending 31 December 2008, translating to an overall growth of 10.6 per cent. Profit before tax grew by 17.9 per cent to Sh.2.4 billion compared to Sh2 billion in 2007.

BAT will pay its shareholders a total dividend of Sh 17 per share, one of the highest payouts in a declining equity market. Its finance director, Lawrence Kimathi, attributes the company’s performance to optimisation of its trade marketing and distribution system, which saw the company’s market share grow by three per cent, according to AC Nielsen research last year.

"Increased supply chain and production efficiencies, coupled with prudent cost control initiatives, ensured that operational cost increase was well below inflation," says Kimathi.

Productivity savings were a significant driver of profit growth, with the firm saving over Sh400 million through indirect procurement, wrapping material and leaf savings.

"Growth will be largely driven by distribution, portfolio and pricing strategies," says Gary Fagan, the firm’s Managing Director.

Combat Stress And Tobacco

The U.S. Department of Defense has had to assure combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan that they would not be deprived of their tobacco products. That reassurance was necessary because of a recent announcement that a Department of Defense study had recommended that the military become tobacco-free. That process would take, it is believed, at least twenty years. That's because it would be done gradually. And even then, cigarettes might still be retained as a battlefield approved drug. There are many such drugs to help troops deal with combat stress and fatigue.

This fatigue problem has existed for a long time, and has become particularly acute in the last century or so, as battles became endurance contests, with forces engaged for days on end. In the last few decades, as long range bombers, and refueling in the air, became common, pilots have had to face the same problem during very long (30 hours or more) missions. For over a century, the solution has been amphetamines ("speed"). However, this drug can impair judgment, making the user more aggressive, for example. In the last decade, kinder and gentler medications have become available. While the new drugs do a pretty good job, dextroamphetamine is still a bit better. So amphetamines remained competitive.

Wakefulness can be a potent weapon, especially for commandos, or troops engaged in prolonged combat (like the Battle of Fallujah in 2004). Without these wakefulness drugs, you would have to either pull troops out of action so they could rest, or leave them in and risk having them make fatal mistakes. Either way, you have a problem, because there are never enough troops to get the job done. But with the wakefulness medications, you can solve the problem, for a few days, anyway. Prolonged use of these drugs is not healthy. But neither is being drowsy during combat.

It's also become common to prescribe other types of mood altering drugs, like antidepressants and tranquilizers to combat troops, to help them deal with stress. But for short term relief, on the battlefield, nothing beats a cigarette. Just like coffee is a good short term alternative to amphetamines, tobacco (chewed or smoked) gives momentary relief during lulls in combat. A third of military personnel smoke, compared to a fifth of their civilian peers. In some combat units, up to half the troops are smokers (if only for as long as they are in the combat zone.)

The troops know that the drugs they take have bad side effects, but combat is inherently dangerous, and staying awake and stress free is the easiest way to avoid all the other dangers.

Genesis Going Tobacco Free

Genesis Healthcare Systems is going tobacco free, starting January first of next year.

Wellness Nurse Practitioner, Kathy Blair, says the insides of all Genesis facilities are already tobacco free because Ohio law requires it.

"This will now encompass the campuses, the parking lots, and areas that are leased and owned by Genesis, " says Blair.

Blair says groundwork for the idea began back in April. She says it's an issue Genesis doesn't take lightly.

"As a healthcare industry, we are obligated to the health and well-being of individuals. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. So, we're wanting to move forward as a commitment to our community towards better health, " says Blair.

Blair says each facility plans to strictly enforce the tobacco free policy.

Genesis is following about 85 percent of other hospitals across the state that are also adopting tobacco free environments.

Rapides Parish schools target tobacco

Getting rid of a smoking habit is easier said than done, and that's why area schools are launching a program to help youngsters avoid the habit altogether.
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In the 2009-10 school year, Rapides Parish schools will begin a smoking prevention program to educate students about the harmful effects of tobacco.

The Tobacco Prevention and Control Initiative will involve 19 schools -- all high school and middle schools -- and is being funded by a $152,000 grant from the Rapides Foundation, said John Tollett, the district grant writer.

Rapides High School Principal Gene Alford welcomes the initiative.

"I think it will be good," he said. "If you only reach one kid it is worth it. I think it will have a positive effect on the kids."

Alford said he is glad middle schools are part of the program.

"They are starting earlier and earlier these days," Alford said.

Rapides Parish School District is one of seven Central Louisiana school districts getting the anti-smoking grant. Also participating are the Allen, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Grant, Natchitoches and Winn parish school districts.

Rapides Foundation officials said the initiative, which began in 2008, will include implementation of a work plan that includes a teacher team and a student team to provide information on the harmful effects of using tobacco.

"About 90 percent of smokers start before the age of 18," Joe Rosier, president and CEO of the foundation, said in a news release. "Therefore, it is important for us to focus our resources on stopping this age group from ever picking up any tobacco products."

Program activities will include student participation in the Kick Butts Day and adopting and publicizing 100 percent tobacco-free policies on all public school campuses.

Like other effective anti-smoking programs, officials said, the program focuses on prevention.

Janice Williams, executive director of the Louisiana Youth Prevention Services, a non-profit agency that focuses on prevention and intervention of underage drinking, impaired driving and drug abuse, applauded the effort.

Mildly NJoyable: electronic cigarettes

To enjoy, or not to “NJoy”? That is the question. You may have heard about the electronic cigarette phenomenon. Well, one product in particular, NPro’s NJoy, promises “All the pleasures of smoking without all the problems.”

But what are these “problems” that NJoy promises to solve? Besides the obvious downer that smoking cigarettes can cause cancer, it seems the primary problem would be the inability to get a nicotine fix whenever and wherever, even when slapping on patches and chewing gum like a cow chews cud doesn’t work. When smoking was banned in many places in Nevada (bars that serve food being the primary buzz-kill), nicotine fiends had to satisfy their cravings elsewhere. They’d huddle around in a group during the winter for warmth or sweat their asses off in the desert heat. God forbid we actually just quit smoking. That would make sense, and NJoy hopes you’re not that into rational thought.

NJoy’s advertising says users can “'smoke’ Nywhere, Nytime, Nyplace.” Sitting in a family restaurant? Sure. On an airplane? Go for it. Next to a newborn with a respiratory illness? Knock yourself out. There’s even a handy-dandy card to show people that bug you that says your NJoy cigarette “is a revolutionary product that allows you to savor all the pleasures of smoking… including the places where smoking tobacco is banned.” On the back of the card is a list of why smoking bans don’t affect NJoy – in so many words, why they should shut up and leave you alone.

So how does the whole thing work? It’s a battery-powered cigarette—nay—vaporizer—that charges much like a cell phone. Replaceable cartridges are inserted into the simulated cigarette and are available in varying nicotine levels and flavors. The user inhales exactly as they would a regular cigarette, and the tip glows red to simulate the effect of burning tobacco. Instead of exhaling smoke, however, all that emerges is a light, scent-free vapor mist.

How about the cost? After crunching some numbers, we determined the NJoy can save you cash in the long run, especially with the jumping cost of a pack of smokes. But purchasing the kit and then having to order replacement cartridges and wait for delivery may have smokers running to the convenient store in desperation.

If you’re jonesin’ for a smoke and appropriately stocked up on NJoy supplies, will the electronic cig help? First, NJoy never claims to be a smoking cessation product. In a thoroughly unscientific test, we had four regular smokers try NJoy, and we determined it probably isn’t going to help you quit. Though it’s thoroughly amusing to use the product in non-smoking areas and watch others pull shocked expressions, it’s hard to tell when you’re finished smoking, because unlike a real cigarette, the NJoy doesn’t burn out. You just determine you’re probably finished when you start to get a bit dizzy.

In the end, NJoy wasn’t enjoyable enough to keep our guinea pigs from lighting up the real thing. Even after attempting to satisfy nicotine cravings with NJoy, the desire for a traditional cig persisted and our tiny test group all lit up a cigarette afterwards every time they “smoked” a fake butt. And for that we had to venture out into the elements. So much for leaving our smoke-stained problems behind.

Kidney group backs cigarette tax hike

Kidney Health Australia has thrown its support behind a move to increase the tax on cigarettes.

The National Preventative Health Taskforce has reportedly recommended increasing the tax on cigarettes to more than $20 for a pack of 30.

Caroline Mackintosh, from Kidney Health's Tasmanian branch, says there are strong links between smoking and kidney disease.

"Reducing smoking, which is a big problem in Tasmania particularly in lower socio-economic areas, would have a huge effect if we could actually get the numbers down," she said.

"It'd have a huge flow-on effect throughout the economy and waiting lists we have for beds and medical services for chronic disease."

Tobacco manufacturing in Turkey

While private firms have always operated side-by-side with public firms in tobacco processing, cigarette production and sales were in the hands of a state monopoly until 1991, when two private cigarette factories were established as joint ventures with RJ Reynolds and with Phillip Morris. Production began in 1993.
In 1971, 27 percent of manufacturing firms in Turkey were engaged in the food, beverage and tobacco processing sector. Of the total manufacturing firms 11 percent were public sector enterprises, 4.5 percent of them were concerned with tobacco processing and cigarette production. More than half of the tobacco processing firms were private, while all cigarette producing firms were in the public sector.
By 1997, the number of tobacco processing firms had declined, but the share of public-sector firms increased to 62 percent. The total number of cigarette factories remained the same, but the establishment of two private factories reduced the public share to 78 percent

Five categories of corrective statements

The sequence of events surrounding the remedies phase of the trial did not deprive Defendants of the process they were due. Defendants received the government’s proposed remedies, including a general corrective statements proposal, two months before the remedies phase of the trial began. They participated in a fourteen-day, fully briefed remedies trial, at which thirteen witnesses testified and were subject to cross-examination, including at least one government witness who testified about corrective statements.
In its post-trial proposed remedial order, the government specified the five categories of corrective statements (which correspond to the subjects about which the district court found Defendants committed fraud) and the details of its recommended publication campaign. Defendants responded to the government’s proposed order in their own post-trial brief and raised numerous legal objections to the propriety of the corrective statements remedy, which the district court considered and resolved in its final opinion and order.
Defendants have not demonstrated any prejudice from this sequence of events. In their offer of proof to the district court they asserted only that if they had known more “specifics” of the government’s proposed remedy before the hearing, they would have retained, and might have offered testimony from, one or more experts addressing the proposal.
Even on appeal, Defendants suggest no testimony they would have offered, no lines of cross-examination inquiry they would have pursued, and no factual dispute they would have addressed.

Defendant corporations

A person’s state of mind is rarely susceptible of proof by direct evidence, so specific intent to defraud may be, and most often is, inferred from the totality of the circumstances, including indirect and circumstantial evidence.
We refer to this inference when, in the common law fraud context, we say that the factfinder “is permitted to impute knowledge of the falsity of the statements to the accused, not as a matter of law but as a consequence of inferences reasonably drawn from the facts shown.” Here, the district court concluded that the chief executive officers and other highly placed officials in the Defendant corporations made or approved statements they knew to be false or misleading, evincing their specific intent to defraud consumers. In some instances, the court found by direct evidence that representatives of the Defendant companies “willfully stat[ed] something which they knew to be untrue.”
For example, the court found that, in a televised interview in 1971, Philip Morris President Joseph Cullman III denied that cigarettes posed a health hazard to pregnant women or their infants, “contradict[ing] the information Helmut Wakeham, Philip Morris’s Vice President for Corporate Research and Development, had given him two years earlier.”
In the main, however, the district court relied on indirect and circumstantial evidence indicating that the senior corporate officials knew that their public statements, and those that they approved for their corporations, were false or misleading. In the majority of instances, the authors of the fraudulent statements alleged as Racketeering Acts were executives, including high level scientists—CEOs, Vice Presidents, 32 Heads of Research & Development, not entry level employees—at each of the Defendant companies who would reasonably be expected to have knowledge of the company’s internal research, public positions, and long term strategies.
The court reasoned: [I]t is absurd to believe that the highly-ranked representatives and agents of these corporations and entities had no knowledge that their public statements were false and fraudulent. The Findings of Fact are replete with examples of C.E.O.s, Vice-Presidents, and Directors of Research and Development, as well as the Defendants’ lawyers, making statements which were inconsistent with the internal knowledge and practice of the corporation itself. The district court did not commit legal error by imputing to Defendants’ executives knowledge of the falsity of their statements based on inferences reasonably drawn from the facts shown, and sufficient evidence supported these inferences.

Matinee Cigarettes

Effective pack warnings implementation

Some countries have implemented effective pack warnings. Thailand requires that each pack of cigarettes include a pictorial health warning that covers at least 50% of both sides of the package. These startling pictorial warnings, which feature images of rotting teeth, blackened lungs and babies breathing tobacco smoke, were mandated by the government despite threats of legal action from a tobacco company.
Countries can easily improve their policies by increasing warning sizes, strengthening the wording of warnings and including pictures. Countries that do not mandate effective pack warnings and do not prohibit deceptive and misleading terms fail to provide their populations with the most basic form of protection from a serious health threat – accurate information and protection from deception by the tobacco industry.

Smoking Montana cigarettes

In conformity with Israel legislation, it is prohibited for local companies to add any foreign components to the cigarettes manufactured in the country. According to Amos Hausner, Dubek Company started adding menthol additive to cigarettes without notifying customers that the formula of cigarettes was changed. That fact is a massive infringement of existing legislation.
The attorney as well claimed that the cigarette manufacturer bears criminal responsibility for not notifying customers that menthol makes cigarettes even more addictive, despite it is required by the Consumer Protection Code to notify consumers of any change and the possible consequences it presents.

The late woman tried to give up smoking Montana cigarettes but did not succeed even when she was pregnant. Her husband said that she considered menthol cigarettes less harmful for health than other cigarettes because they are slimmer and taste better.

History of smoking ban

The history of smoking 2003 New York City bans smoking in all public places (31 March). Advertising and promotion of tobacco banned in UK. 2002 British Medical Association claims there is 'no safe level of environmental tobacco smoke'. UK Government forced to increase cross-Channel shopping guidelines from 800 to 3,200 cigarettes per person.
Greater London Authority Investigative Comittee on Smoking in Public Places calls for more research into passive smoking but declines to recommend further restrictions on smoking in public places. 2000 Jury awards punitive damages of nearly $145bn against five US tobacco companies after a class action in the state of Florida.
Canadian health minister introduces graphic warnings on cigarette packs in Canada. Supported by FOREST, cross-Channel shopper Gary Mullen goes to court and wins back 5,000 cigarettes that had been seized by Customs at Dover. 1999 UK hospitality industry introduce Voluntary Charter on Smoking in Public Places. Pubs and restaurants to introduce signs alerting customers to their policy on smoking. First finding for an individual against a tobacco company. Jury in Portland, Oregon, awards family of Jesse Williams $81m against Philip Morris in punitive damages plus $821,485 in compensatory damages. Judge later reduces the punitive damages to $32 million and was then reinstated in 2002. Two tobacco companies cleared of wrongdoing in the death of a smoker from lung cancer by a Louisiana jury.
UK Health and Safety Commission publishes draft Approved Code of Practice on Smoking at Work. Recommends, as a first option, that companies ban smoking at work, but admits that proving a link between between passive smoking and ill health would be difficult 'give the state of the scientific evidence'. (When the final version is published in 2000, the Government declines to implement it.) 1998 46 US states embrace $206bn settlement with cigarette makers over health costs for treating sick smokers.
Tobacco executives testify before Congress that nicotine is addictive under current definitions of the word and that smoking may cause cancer. 1997 Federal judge rules that US Government can regulate tobacco as a drug.

Marlboro Cig. Come to Marlboro Country 65

1965 Marlboro Cig Man Smoking In Barn Ad
Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country.

1965 Marlboro Country Man with Dogs Ad
Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country.

1965 Marlboro Country Man with Dogs Ad - Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country.

1965 Marlboro Man Smoking Cigarette Ad - Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country.

1965 Marlboro Man Smoking Holding Cup Ad - Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country. You get a lot to like with a Marlboro—filter, flavor, pack or box. 1965 Marlboro Man Smoking Holding Cup Ad
Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country. You get a lot to like with a Marlboro—filter, flavor, pack or box.

1965 Marlboro Man Smoking Cigarette Ad
Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country.

Tobacco in 2000

In 2000, European Union files suit in New York against RJR, Philip Morris on RICO/smuggling claims. Smoking is a Reward Most of us are hungry for rewards. We want to be patted on the back. A cigarette is a reward that we can give ourselves as often as we wish. When we have done anything well, for instance, we can congratulate ourselves with a cigarette, which certifies, in effect, that we have been "good boys."
We can promise ourselves: "When I have finished this piece of work, when I have written the last page of my report, I'll deserve a little fun. I'll have a cigarette." The first and last cigarette in the day are especially significant rewards. The first one, smoked right after breakfast, is a sort of anticipated recompense. The smoker has work to do, and he eases himself into the day's activities as pleasantly as possible. He gives himself a little consolation prize in advance, and at the same time manages to postpone the evil hour when he must begin his hard day's work. The last cigarette of the day is like "closing a door." It is something quite definite. One smoker explained: "I nearly always smoke a cigarette before going to bed. That finishes the day. I usually turn the light out after I have smoked the last cigarette, and then turn over to sleep." Smoking is often merely a conditioned reflex. Certain situations, such as coming out of the subway, beginning and ending work, voluntary and involuntary interruptions of work, feelings of hunger, and many others regulate the timetable of smoking.
Often a smoker may not even want a cigarette particularly, but he will see someone else take one and then he feels that he must have one, too. While to many people smoking is fun, and a reward in itself, it more often accompanies other pleasures. At meals, a cigarette is somewhat like another course. In general, smoking introduces a holiday spirit into everyday living. It rounds out other forms of enjoyment and makes them one hundred per cent satisfactory. Smoking is Oral Pleasure As we have said, to explain the pleasure derived from smoking as taste experience alone, is not sufficient. For one thing, such an explanation leaves out the powerful erotic sensitivity of the oral zone. Oral pleasure is just as fundamental as sexuality and hunger. It functions with full strength from earliest childhood. There is a direct connection between thumb sucking and smoking. "In school I always used to chew a pencil or a pen," said a journalist, in reply to our questions. "You should have seen the collection I had.
They used to be chewed to bits. Whenever I try to stop smoking for a while, I get something to chew on, either a pipe or a menthol cigarette. You just stick it in your mouth and keep on sucking. And I also chew a lot of gum when I want to cut down on smoking...." The satisfied expression on a smoker's face when he inhales the smoke is ample proof of his sensuous thrill. The immense power of the yearning for a cigarette, especially after an enforced abstinence, is acknowledged by habitual smokers. One of our respondents said: "When you don't get a cigarette for a long time and you are kind of on pins, the first drag goes right down to your heels."

How to Keep Kids From Smoking

How can parents and society keep kids from smoking? One way is to make sure that merchants know they'll get in trouble if they sell cigarettes to minors. That can cut by 21 percent the odds that a 10th grader will become a daily smoker. And that's good news, because the earlier a person starts smoking, the more likely he or she will be hooked for life.

Public-health advocates have been trying for years to figure out how best to keep children and teens from taking up the cigarette habit. It's often hard to determine what works and why. Banning sales to minors doesn't work unless the bans are enforced, according to Joseph DiFranza, a professor of family medicine and community health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. DiFranza, a family physician, became convinced that more needed to be done to keep kids from starting to smoke when he realized how hard it is for patients who smoke to quit. Back in 1987, he sent his daughter, who was then 11 years old, into 100 stores in Massachusetts to try to buy cigarettes. Seventy-five percent of the merchants sold them to her, even though it was illegal to sell cigarettes to minors in that state.

In 1996, Congress changed the game, requiring states to enforce laws barring sales to minors by sending underage decoys into stores to buy tobacco, much as DiFranza had done with his daughter. Between 1997 and 2003, that tougher enforcement led to a 20.8 percent decrease in the number of 10th graders who are daily smokers, according to new research that DiFranza and two colleagues have published in the current issue of BMC Public Health.

Parents have power over how well the ban on selling cigarettes to kids is enforced, says DiFranza, because much of the enforcement is at the local level, from the police and local health department. "They get pushback from the merchants," he says. "If they're getting kudos from parents on how great they're doing, they will make a greater effort."

But tough enforcement is not the only thing that works to prevent teen smoking. For instance, the increasing price of cigarettes reduced daily smoking by 47 percent over the same 1997-to-2003 period, the new study's authors found. Antismoking restaurant policies and advertising campaigns against tobacco helped, too. The new study is the first to separate the effect of enforcing a ban on sales from these other factors. Banning sales helps over time, says DiFranza, because younger children see fewer older kids smoking. Teenage smoking declined by half between 1997 and 2003.

But this doesn't mean that parents are off the hook. The biggest predictor of whether a kid will smoke is whether Mom and Dad do. If there was ever a good reason to quit, this is it. The American Academy of Family Physicians explains the disgusting toxic tobacco facts for teenagers in this fact sheet, noting that tobacco causes more health problems and early deaths than all illegal drugs combined. It's full of good arguments against smoking, for kids and grown-ups alike.

Smoke Lucky Strike Cigarettes

In the same magazine as the Salem and Camel ads discussed above was this ad for Lucky Strike Cigarettes. It is seemingly yet another innocuous ad, simply depicting an everyday scene in a bar. However, note that the individuals displayed are anonymous. In fact, so far as the ad is concerned, as individuals, they are completely unimportant.
The woman is apparently simply a sex object for the equally anonymous, smoking, male. Any viewer, male or female could identify with the predatory male or the seductive female. The shape of her left breast is also mimicked by her thrust forward left knee. A 'nice pair' as Gear, Maxim or any other lads magazine would comment. There are also features in the ad that would indicate that the male smoker has apparently just 'struck lucky'. Look at the smoke curling up from his cigarette (see the enlarged section of the ad below). The lower section is quite clearly formed into the shape of a young woman wearing a short skirt.
Above this figure there is a 'ball' of smoke and embedded in the ball' are criss-cross shapes that can be interpreted as various sized letters, superimposed upon one another. The most obvious 'letters' are SEX. The overall message of this ad, although oblique and indirect, is clearly intended to indicate to young males that sexual conquest is likely if they smoke Lucky Strike Cigarettes. This message is simply reinforcement of a message that runs across a whole series of Lucky Strike Cigarettes ads.

Montecristo cigars

Montecristo cigars take a little something from their name: they’re rich, full-flavored, and very distinctive. Montecristos come in six basic sizes (none of which are machine made) with several variations and special editions. While there is a Dominican brand of cigars that goes by the same name, the Dominican brand has no relation to a Cuban Montecristo - Dominican Montecristos are really nothing special. Cuban Montecristos, however, have become the standard by which other Havana cigars are judged.

Karelia tobacco portfolio

The prominent cigarette brands that belong to Karelia tobacco portfolio are: Karelia Slims with all its variations, George Karelias and Sons.
It is available on most global cigarette trades and the brand name is recognized as of grade A. These characteristics make Karelia Group a millionaire tobacco company that in 2005, has reached annual sales turnover of more than 435 million Euro, with net profits increased to 39.26 million Euro (+16%). Export sales have achieved a number of 10.9 billion and the cigarette brands George Karelias and Sons, Karelia Slims, Karelia Lights and American Legend have assured 70% of its overall income from 66 countries around the world.
All this success results from Karelia's devotion to the needs o fpersons that chose smoking products and teh will to offer only high quality and taste.

Russia one of the most appealing markets

As tobacco restrictions gain traction around the world, tobacco advertisers are focusing their efforts on markets with barriers. Russia is one of the most appealing markets, though it may not be open to tobacco advertising much longer.

Russia is expected to ban tobacco ads. Once a ban goes into effect, it becomes harder to build the image of a brand, especially one sold on prestige rather than price. It's hard to convince customers that a new cigarette label is glamorous without some sort of advertising. So tobacco ad-spending often rises sharply just before a ban is instituted; analysts expect that to happen this year in Russia.

Russia still allows tobacco ads in posters and print, and its smokers are acquiring a taste for pricier cigarettes. To woo that status-conscious smoker, Gallaher Group PLC, the United Kingdom tobacco company now preparing for an advertising ban in its home market, is rolling out a new Russian campaign for its high-priced gold-tipped cigarettes, the Sobranie Black Russian.

"In Russia, people who have done very well out of the resurgent economy clearly want to make a statement as to what they can afford," said Christopher Hill, group head of brand marketing for Gallaher.

In mature tobacco markets, such as the U.S. and many countries of the European Union, cigarette sales volumes are declining. And while the U.S. market is big, at about 390 billion individual cigarettes sold annually, tobacco companies -- hamstrung by advertising restrictions -- are increasingly forced to compete on price there. The discounts eat into profits.

Marlboro Classic Cigarettes

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Limited series of Camel brands

The classic Camel Cigarettes on the package shows an entire track: camel goes on trees along the winding road, and the usual stack of yellow background patterns decorated with cigarettes. In doing so, taste, shape and price of cigarettes remained unchanged.

Such a limited series of its brands already produced several times in Russia company Philip Morris. Thus, in March this year to sell Marlboro cigarettes came in the pockets of silver, opened the side. And one of the parties in Parliament was painted metallic blue color. "We wanted to add momentum to its key brands," - explains press secretary Irina Bakhtina Philip Morris.

Issues of the limited series is often practiced today beverage manufacturers and food. Thus, the brewery Baltika for several years from November to January produces special "seasonal" class beer Tuborg Christmas Brew. A company "Russian Alcohol (brand Glavspirttrest) publishes monthly instalment limited vodka Green Brand", labels showing pictures of the artist Vladimir Lyubarova. "You may also recall the special new taste 'Holiday' juice 'Dobry' - apple, vanilla and cinnamon - tells Senior Project Manager for the company KOMKON research Anna Uvarova .- And many confectioners to make every holiday special packages for their traditional sets of chocolates."

Notably, the Experts no single answer - whether the limited series of sales growth? For example, Philip Morris refers to the data research company Business Analysis ", which recorded a small increase in sales of Marlboro in the first half of 2006, following the action. Dole brand has grown over the same period of last year to 0.14% (for the highly competitive tobacco market is a good indicator). In other companies more skeptical look at these figures. "I sell and so grow each year - said the commercial director of 'Russian alcohol' Vadim Kasyanov .- The pictures on bottles rather simply attract attention." A director of brand development company Baltica Denis Sherstennikov stresses that such experiments could only afford brand-leaders: "Weak mark is only dilute its target audience."

Marketing note that the further release of the limited series will be increasingly in demand. "While manufacturers to daily goods such acts sporadic, but they will soon become commonplace" - believes director of Qualitative Quest Aleksandr Makarov. A chapter of "Russian tobacco Maxim Korolev drew attention that one of the first limited series began practicing companies, whose advertising opportunities are limited by law:" For them, this is an additional way to promote their brand."

Tobacco Industry

Long whether BAT will be able to retain the audience, attracted only new design tutus - a controversial issue. Restarting not always led to increased sales of brands in the market have been instances where after reloncha sales volume remained unchanged

Last year, the tobacco industry went immediately restart two cigarettes. Japan Tobacco International Company updated its Winston brand, by the end of the year its sales increased by about 40%. Quite another situation has been in BAT. Updated Java Gold has not been able to increase its consumer audience.

According to Viktor Stefashina, in the case of relonchem of great importance not only to advance the strategy, but purely technological issues. For example, if the smoker feels that after restart cigarettes taste changed for the better, he will almost certainly remain a consumer of cigarettes. If it does not, then, try a novelty, people returned to the products that they bought always.

Perhaps, in that sense, in February, BAT released to the market subbrend Vogue Arome. Above his creation of a research centre worked London company, which has developed a special recipe: tobacco used in cigarettes, marked flavours. Vogue Arome different and design package. Instead of habitual tobacco leaf on the package appeared image flowing pink silk.

Color cigarettes

Cigarette tax hike in state

Smokers cigarettes could breathe some life into ailing state coffers under a bill filed in the Alabama Legislature. Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, has proposed raising the state tax on cigarettes from 42.5 cents per pack to 75 cents per pack.
In December, Gov. Bob Riley announced that the current year's General Fund budget would have to be cut 10 percent because of falling tax revenue, and projections for next year are even worse.
"Hopefully this year, with so many shortfalls in the General Fund budget, we might get a little more traction on it," Todd said.
But a similar proposal from Todd failed in 2008 after Riley pledged a veto, and the governor's office is not behind the measure this year.
The state's General Fund provides money for state operations other than education, such as prisons, Medicaid and state troopers.

Cigarettes May Help Recovering Alcoholics

In a study of almost 300 Alcoholics Anonymous members, Dr. Peter Martin found a connection between drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. He says compounds in coffee seem to make a difference in recovery.

Martin says chloregenic acid in coffee interacts with certain neurotransmitter systems in the brain.

"We have identified an action of these chloregenic acids which blocks the action of the opioid receptor," said Martin. "If you block the muopioid receptor, it has been demonstrated that alcohol drinking in humans is diminished."

Martin says nicotine in discount cigarettes actually triggers a relapse to alcohol.

"We know this from studies in animals that if you use nicotine you actually tickle the drive centers of the brain in such a way that animals tend to drink more," said Martin.

Through years of sobriety, McKinney hasn't smoked cigarettes, but she still likes coffee.

"I don't think it's harmful to my health, and I'm not going to get arrested for caffeinated driving," said McKinney.

McKinney says it's possible to stay away from the bottle and Martin's research says coffee may help with that.

FDA Regulation of Tobacco

WASHINGTON -- A bill to put the tobacco industry under the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration could break out of a legislative stalemate in the House this week, but it still faces White House opposition and a potential filibuster in the Senate.

Supporters say they believe the bill may have as many as 320 votes in the House, more than enough for passage. A vote could come as soon as Wednesday.

Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said the White House opposes the legislation because tobacco regulation would overburden the FDA and jeopardize international trade agreements by banning some imported cigarettes. In a recent letter to a senior House Republican, Mr. Leavitt specifically cited clove cigarettes, which are mainly imported from Indonesia.

The bill would give the FDA limited authority to monitor smoking products and ban flavored cigarettes -- such as candy-flavored or spice-flavored smokes -- with an exception for menthol-flavored cigarettes. It could impose strict controls on advertising that restrict companies to plain, black and white "tombstone" ads and stop the use of the terms "low tar" and "mild."

The legislation is backed by a coalition that includes the nation's biggest cigarette maker by sales, Philip Morris USA, antismoking activists and a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) The bill also is backed by 684 health and medical groups, and several former surgeons general.

Philip Morris USA, a unit of Inc., maker of top-selling cigarette brand Marlboro, once strongly opposed FDA regulation. But now, in part because of the menthol exception, Philip Morris is one of the bill's strongest proponents.

"We believe that such tough but reasonable federal regulation can benefit shareholders...by providing a framework for the further pursuit of tobacco product alternatives that are less harmful than conventional cigarettes," incoming Altria Chief Executive Michael Szymanczyk said to investors in March.

Menthol cigarettes make up about 28% of the $70 billion U.S. tobacco market. Newport, made by Inc., is the most popular menthol cigarette, but Philip Morris's Marlboro Menthol was the industry's fastest-growing menthol brand last year, according to the Altria presentation in March.

Other tobacco companies complain that the bill would largely lock in Philip Morris's No. 1 spot. It would provide a "competitive advantage to our larger rivals," Lorillard said in a recent statement.

"It makes the development and marketing of safer tobacco products impossible while providing no guidance to the FDA as to how to carry out this new regulation," Lorillard's statement added.

Philip Morris doesn't see such a barrier. "The smokeless tobacco category holds great promise for PM USA in the coming years," executives told investors this year.

The bill may face a veto from President George W. Bush and has only 57 co-sponsors in the Senate, three fewer than the number needed to proceed to a vote or override a veto.

European Commission proposes harmonization of taxation on cigarettes

BRUSSELS- The European Commission on Wednesday proposed the increase of minimum taxation on tobacco products in the European Union, aimed at narrowing the gap existing in the prices of cigarettes in the member-states, but also the reduction of cigarette consumption by 10% over the next five years. In Greece, the price of cigarettes must gradually increase by at least 21.2% by 2014. The Commission proposes that by 2014, minimum taxation on cigarettes must increase from 57% which is valid at present, to 63%. At the same time it proposes an increase in the minimum tax from 64 euros per 1,000 cigarettes which is valid at present, to 90 euros per 1,000 cigarettes by 2014.

Cigarettes & Beer

A trio of burglars apparently didn't flee far enough from the scene of the crime.

Deputies responded to an alarm at the Express Lane on Blountstown Highway at about 2am and found the glass door shattered.

While on scene, another alarm call came in from across the street at the Seaside Food Mart.

Deputies spotted a man waiting in a getaway car out back and found stolen beer, cigarettes and cash drawers taken from both stores.

24 year old Benjamin Ervin was arrested, but two of his accomplices got away

High Cost Of Cigarettes

The sharp rise in the cost of cigarettes appears to be leading many New Yorkers to kick the habit.
The American Lung Association of New York says more than 2,700 smokers called the city's 311 help line the first week of June to quit smoking compared to 850 in June of 2007.

The state's $1.50 cigarette tax hike went into effect in June. The cost of a pack of cigarettes in the City now averages about $8.
Meanwhile, a new national government study finds more lungs are free of second-hand smoke.
A study by the Centers for Disease Control finds 46 percent of non-smokers with traces of nicotine in their blood in tests done between 1999 and 2004.

The number was at 84 percent in tests a decade earlier.
Researchers say laws banning smoking in many public places are the main reason for the decline. The study also showed the number of adult smokers is now less than 20 percent.

Japan Makes Cigarettes Kinda Kool Again

Living in America, we all know that smoking cigarettes is probably the worst sin you can possibly take part in. I’m actually a long time smoker myself, but hopefully I’ll quit in the next month or so. The Japanese recently modified the Kool cigarette to help out smokers who simply aren’t getting enough flavor with every draw. The modification is a simple one where a tiny ball inside the filter can be squeezed to shoot extra flavor into the smoke you are inhaling. At first I thought it was a joke, but then I remembered that the Japanes introduce really odd things like this on a daily basis. The Kool “Boosts” were originally designed in 2007.

Tobacco giant 'breaks youth code'

A British tobacco giant is breaking its own marketing code covering the sale of cigarettes to young people in Africa.

An investigation for the BBC has found evidence in Nigeria, Malawi and Mauritius of rules being broken.

In particular, BBC Two's This World found single cigarettes - which campaigners say are attractive to young people - were being promoted and sold.

The company involved, British American Tobacco (BAT), says it does not encourage the sale of single "sticks".

During the investigation carried out for BBC Two's This World programme, British businessman Duncan Bannatyne also discovers tactics used by BAT which circumvent bans on advertising and raise the profile of cigarettes in countries where doctors are warning of a potential epidemic of smoking-related diseases.

In Malawi, the programme found evidence of the London-based tobacco firm providing sponsorship for a music event, which was held at a venue that had no formal age checks on the door.

This breaks BAT's own marketing code.

Chris Proctor, head of science and Regulation at BAT, told the programme that: "If that was the case, that is disappointing, it's certainly not what we would wish to happen."

Celebrities had also appeared at the music event wearing Embassy and Pall Mall branded goods.

Cook Islands raises tax on cigarettes, alcohol

Cook Islands' finance minister, Sir Terepai Maoate, has presented an $US80 million budget to parliament, increasing taxes on soft drinks, cigarettes and alcohol.

Our reporter in Cook Islands, Ulamila Wragg, says budget funding is down 9.5 per cent as a result of reduced income from donor agencies.

The government will raise new revenue in two areas - the tax on soft drinks that contain added sugar will go up 20 per cent and there will be a rise in the tax on cigarettes and alcohol, bringing the Cook Islands in line with other countries.

According to Sir Terepai, the tax increases are designed primarily to reduce the consumption of the products by young people in a bid to improve health and relieve stress on the health sector.

Sir Terepai says given the uncertainty in global economies, the government will continue to assess the country's economic situation.

He says while the government is aware of the financial pressures of price increases to basic commodities and fuel, it can't rule out further tax reform.

Tennessee tax hike snuffs sales

Angela Haygood lives and works in Chattanooga, but after Tennessee raised its tax on cigarettes, she regularly goes to Georgia to buy them.

“I usually buy a carton of cigarettes every couple of weeks, and buying them in Georgia has been saving me more than $3 for every trip,” the St. Elmo resident said while taking a smoke break from her job at Unum Corp. in Chattanooga. “That more than pays for the gas it takes to drive across the border. People I know who smoke in Nashville are driving all the way to Kentucky to buy cigarettes.”

When the Tennessee Legislature voted a year ago to more than triple the state’s tax on cigarettes from 20 cents to 62 cents a pack, the Volunteer State elevated its tobacco tax above all eight of its neighboring states. Tennessee’s higher general sales-tax rate and extra 25-cents-per-pack cigarette tax over neighboring Georgia is encouraging many Chattanooga smokers to head south of the border to feed their nicotine habit.

Proponents of the higher tobacco tax implemented last July insist it is helping limit health-damaging smoking, especially among price-sensitive teens, while also providing extra money to fund the state’s Basic Education Program. Combined with new limits that started last October on indoor smoking in most public places and a $10 million state campaign this year to help smokers quit, Tennessee quickly has emerged as a leading state trying to combat tobacco consumption while also being one of the top cigarette consumption states in the nation.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, nearly one of every four Tennesseans still regularly use some type of tobacco product — the fifth highest rate of any state in the United States.

“We call it the “Tennessee trifecta,’” said Pete Fisher, vice president for state issues for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an anti-smoking advocacy group in Washington, D.C. “For a tobacco-growing state that still has one of the highest smoking rates in the country, the increase in cigarette taxes, smoking restrictions and anti-smoking education coming in the same year is truly historic.”

“States all over the country have raised cigarette taxes in the past couple of years and, in virtually every instance, the projected revenue comes out being less than what was forecast,” said Steve Stanek, a research fellow for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of its monthly “Budget & Tax News” publication. “State tax collectors hope people would keep smoking even as health officials hope people stop smoking. Higher cigarette taxes are bad for a host of reasons beyond the absurdity of government relying on smoking even as it tries to stamp out smoking.”