Tobacco companies market ‘orbs’ lower doses of nicotine

Bite-sized dissolvable “orbs” that look like breath mints and melt in your mouth are the tobacco industry’s latest attempt to fight falling U.S. cigarette sales.

Charlotte is one of two test markets for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc.’s newest products: dissolvable, smokeless tobacco lozenges that come as orbs, sticks or strips.

The products all contain less nicotine than cigarettes, between 0.5 and 3 milligrams instead of 12 to 15. And, Reynolds spokesman David Howard said, they meet a “societal expectation.”

“There’s no secondhand smoke, no spitting and no cigarette butt litter,” Howard said.

But health officials still worry about the risks of smokeless options. Smokeless tobacco users may not get lung cancer, health experts say, but they risk mouth cancer, gum disease and tooth loss. Prenatal dangers for pregnant women also still exist.

“There are no safe tobacco products,” said Matt Carpenter, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina who is researching the effect of smokeless products on smoking habits.

Huntersville, N.C., resident Joey Hodge, who has smoked for almost five years, sees the appeal of smokeless products that won’t be as tough on his lungs or make him smell like smoke. But the 20-year-old isn’t sold on Reynolds’s newest offering.

“They were definitely not the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted,” Hodge said. Plus, he added, the products “really didn’t do much” to satisfy his nicotine craving.

Hodge’s reaction isn’t the sort tobacco makers are hoping for. As cigarette sales slide because of the health risks and social stigma, tobacco companies are counting on smokers like Hodge to fuel the new smokeless market. The dissolvable products sell for about $2 for a 12-pack _ comparable, Reynolds says, to its other smokeless products.

“They can enjoy tobacco pleasure without bothering others and without having to leave the workplace, or the restaurant or the bar,” Howard said.

Analysts say new laws banning cigarettes in public places, like the ban on smoking in restaurants and bars that took effect in North Carolina last January, are among the factors driving a steep decline in cigarette sales.

“In recent years you’ve seen smoking banned in most states in most bars and restaurants. That kind of takes away the fun,” said Phil Gorham, industry analyst for investment firm Morningstar.

In its second-quarter earnings report last month, Reynolds reported the number of cigarettes sold in the U.S. fell 4.4 percent. Gorham said companies like Reynolds can combat falling sales by increasing prices in the short term, but they’ll eventually need to diversify revenues.

While American sales of cigarettes drop 3-4 percent every year, the market for smokeless products grew 3 percent in 2009 and 7 percent in 2010, said Mary Gotaas, tobacco industry analyst for researcher IBISWorld. This year, smokeless sales are expected to jump 8 percent, Gotaas said.

While Reynolds is testing its new dissolvables, Richmond, Va.-based rival Philip Morris has its own product in the works: a dissolvable tobacco stick.

The growth of smokeless products worries some public health advocates who think the new products appeal to children. During the first round of testing , the orbs’ packaging resembled Tic-Tacs, creating concern that children might confuse them with candy, said John Spangler, professor of family health and community medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

For this round of testing, there’s larger packaging and new warnings. Packages now say “This product contains nicotine and is for adult tobacco consumers only” and “There is no safe tobacco product,” in addition to one of four required FDA warnings.

The Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee of the FDA is holding hearings exploring the implications of smokeless products. Right now, all tobacco products must be age-restricted and kept behind the counter, just like cigarettes.

Warning labels on smokeless tobacco products must cover at least 30 percent of the packaging and every product must carry one of four messages: “Smokeless tobacco is addictive,” “This product can cause mouth cancer,” “This product can cause gum disease and tooth loss,” or “This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.”

Cigarettes, oxygen tanks sparked fatal blaze

A woman killed in a fire at her northeast Spokane home died of smoke in inhalation after a cigarette smoke ignited her oxygen tanks, fire officials said Monday.

Inez L. Williams, 67, had oxygen flowing when fire consumed her home at 4128 E. Providence Ave. Friday about 2 p.m., said Brian Schaeffer, assistant fire chief.

Fire officials ruled the accidental fire was caused by “careless smoking” with medical oxygen, Schaeffer said.

Firefighters fought through heavy flames and smoke and were hit with fragments from pressured oxygen tanks exploding in the blaze, which also killed several dogs and cats.

“They all truly did everything they could to reach her,” Schaeffer said, but the blaze was not survivable.

“The story is all too familiar and just as tragic,” he said. This fatality and all of the other ones where a fire is responsible for someone dying in a residence is preventable by installing working sprinkler systems combined with alerting systems (smoke detectors).”

Friends and family described Williams as an animal lover who had lived at the property for decades.

Premium Electronic Cigarette Now Offering New PremiumOne Disposable Electronic Cigarettes

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This e-cigarette comes in one single piece and is fully charged and ready to use. There is no assembly required, whereas with the other e-cigarettes people will need to recharge the batteries and screw the parts together. This disposable cigarette is available in two colors for customers to choose from including the black with LED as well as the white with yellow LED. The PremiumOne cigarette comes with three different nicotine levels to choose from including high, medium and low as well as tobacco or menthol flavors.
“These electronic cigarettes provide smokers with the freedom to smoke anywhere and it looks, feels and tastes like a real cigarette. We wanted to give our customers the option to try our smokeless cigarettes with the PremiumOne disposable cigarette. Not only do these disposable cigarettes allow people to sample the e-cigarettes at a low price, but they are also convenient for taking to such places as bars and restaurants,” says Premium Electronic Cigarette owner Vitali Servutas (http://www.premiumecigarette.com/).
Electronic cigarettes perform similarly to traditional smoking as it looks, feels and tastes like a cigarette. The difference, though is the e-cigarette is driven by a rechargeable battery and replaceable cartridge that contains water, propylene glycol, nicotine as well as a scent that tastes like the classic cigarette flavor. Depending on the model, there are also many different flavors to choose from for taste variations. This non-flammable technological advancement allows the smoker to inhale, satisfying the craving that traditional smokers seek as well as triggering simulated smoke that is actually a vapor mist that evaporates into the air.
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Smoking decline hits tax revenues

The good news is Hawaii residents are buying fewer cigarettes. The bad news is that the drop is hurting tax revenues.
According to tax collection records, island consumers bought 417 million packs of cigarettes during the first 10 months of the year, a 12 percent drop from the same 10-month period last year.The decline comes as officials hoped recent tobacco-related tax hikes would generate nearly $47 million in added revenue over two years to help balance the state's budget.
Higher tobacco taxes are aimed at driving down demand while increasing income for the state.

SoCal man gets death penalty for double murder

A judge has sentenced a Southern California man to death for the execution-style slayings of two liquor store clerks during a robbery in 2006.
Jean Pierre Rices, 27, was sentenced Friday after a jury recommended capital punishment in June.
Rices pleaded guilty to murdering Heather Mattia, 22, and Firas Eiso, 23, in 2006 as the two were closing shop at Granada Liquor in El Cajon.
An accomplice, Anthony James Miller, had packed cigarettes and $1,250 in cash into a bag before Rices shot them in the head.
Rices had prior convictions for selling drugs, robbing banks and carjacking.

Customs officers detain over 11 500 boxes smuggling cigarettes

Customs officers from mobile group for control and monitoring of General Toshevo checkpoint have seized 11 540 undeclared boxes of cigarettes of different brands with Ukrainian excise label. The smuggled cigarettes have been seized after a check of a suspicious mini-bus with Ukrainian license plate while entering the state. The shipment has been seized. The authorities drew up a statement of customs violation.

Capitol Hill tries to eliminate cigarette butts

Cigarette butts — the most-littered item in America — will soon become more scarce in the Capitol Hill area.

For the first time, the Capitol Hill Business Improvement District linked up with the Keep America Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention Program to help clear out tossed-away cigarettes left behind by smokers.

Three high-traffic areas on Capitol Hill were picked: the southeast corner of Eighth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE; on First Street SE in front of Bullfeathers and Tortilla Coast; and on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between Third and Fourth streets SE.

In 2008, nearly 200 communities reported an average 46 percent reduction in littered butts as a result of implementing the program.

"Cigarette litter is not only unsightly and costly to clean up, but also harmful to waterways and wildlife. Simple actions like installing ash receptacles and distributing pocket ashtrays will make a big difference in decreasing litter and ultimately keeping Capitol Hill beautiful," said Patty Brosmer, BID president.

The nonprofit Keep America Beautiful has field-tested and expanded the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program for the last six years with support from Philip Morris USA, an Altria company.

Limit smokers buying cigarettes abroad, says chief medical officer

Anti-smoking campaigns are being undermined by "ridiculous" European Union rules allowing British travellers to bring back 3,200 cheap cigarettes from member states, the chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, said yesterday.
Ministers should use next year's review of tobacco tax laws to impose a limit of 200 cigarettes or 250g of hand-rolling tobacco to tackle legal shopping and the burgeoning criminal trade in smuggled and counterfeit goods, he said.
Sir Liam, bemoaning the fact that 106,000 Britons still die each year from smoking-related causes, said: "Tobacco is a lethal product. It kills more people than anything else, yet by the pattern of price and regulation that is in place, death is made cheaper.
"For example, a holidaymaker going to Spain, can quite legally bring back into this country 160 packs [of 20 cigarettes].
"If they are a smoker that is enough to keep them going for six months and, given cheap flights and the opportunity to have a holiday along the way, it also gives quite a cost saving."
The price of a pack of popular cigarettes in Spain was £1.36, the equivalent in Britain was £4.89, and just two trips a year would save a smoker more than £1,000 in tax and duty.
"As well as a ready source for personal consumption, the temptation to sell on large amounts can prove hard to resist," he said.
The illicit street price for cigarettes in Britain was £2.50, and about a quarter of all cigarettes smoked here, and three-quarters of roll-ups, avoided UK tax and duties - either legally or illegally. This meant that government policies of raising prices - 10% increases traditionally brought 4% cuts in consumption - were being eroded.
Sir Liam, presenting his annual report on the state of public health, said the EU should insist on higher minimum prices for tobacco by fixing levels of duty and questioning "the illogical and health-damaging shopping allowance for tobacco ... It is quite ridiculous we have a limit of 3,200 cigarettes. It ought to be 200 in my view."
He also pressed ministers to follow the lead of Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Malta, some states and cities in the US and soon Scotland by having smoke-free public places and workplaces.
Cancer Research UK welcomed Sir Liam's attacks on low-price cigarettes, but Forest, the smokers' lobby group, condemned them.
Forest's director, Simon Clark, said a reduction in the number of cigarettes people could legally bring in would be "illiberal and impractical" and would "almost certainly see a return to the bad old days when ordinary cross-Channel shoppers found themselves routinely harassed and intimidated by over-zealous Customs officers".
Sir Liam, in a wide-ranging review, criticised some hospitals for failing to act speedily and comprehensively to safety alerts demanding changes in equipment and procedures. NHS trusts that have claimed to have complied with the rules had been found subsequently not to have done so.
"The NHS has not yet fully embraced the culture of patient safety," he said, adding that managers and other staff were "not wilfully bad people".
Sir Liam also called for the debate on school meals to spread to catering in hospitals, prisons, the armed forces and meals-on-wheels. The public sector as a whole served more than 1.8bn meals a year. "They need to be healthier and more nutritionally balanced. The public sector should use its huge financial muscle to improve the nation's health."
National standards were also required to improve the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a respiratory illness which killed 30,000 Britons each year.
The report showed continuing concern about strains of E coli infections resistant to antibiotics that have caused several deaths and much severe illness through urinary tract infections and blood poisoning.