/EINPresswire.com/ VIRGINIA BEACH, VA - PremiumEcigarette.com, a revolutionary smokeless cigarette company, is excited to announce a brand new product to the electronic cigarette market. Along with the variety of e-cigarette kits and styles already available on the website, they are now offering the PremiumOne disposable cigarette that acts as a single piece electronic cigarette.
While many people may prefer to purchase their electronic cigarettes in a kit, providing them with extra batteries, cartridges and chargers, there are many people who are attracted to the PremiumOne disposable electronic cigarette style. These disposable cigarettes are equivalent to twenty-five traditional cigarettes or 360+ puffs. Complete with one battery, one atomizer and one cartridge, this disposable cigarette makes it possible for people to try e-cigarettes at a very low price before making the investment in a smokeless cigarette kit.
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.
About PremiumEcigarette.com:
Premium Electronic Cigarette, a subsidiary of PremiumEstore LLC, was established in December of 2008 and has since been providing the best brands of smokeless cigars and cigarettes all across the country. Based out of Virginia Beach, VA they offer same-day shipping. The company also has an office located in Europe for international orders.
понедельник, 7 июня 2010 г.
вторник, 1 июня 2010 г.
Teenagers have no problem getting tobacco
To mark No-Tobacco Day on Monday, Kelsey Chudiak and Megan Sequeira spent their lunch hour eating veggie-filled wraps in a cafe across from Western Canada High School.
"I'd never smoke, it's not healthy," says Kelsey, a 17-year-old aspiring medical student and ringette player. "Western Canada is a sports-oriented school, so I think there are way fewer smokers here than at some other high schools."
Megan, a 16-year-old soccer player, agrees.
"Smoking isn't cool, and hardly anyone we know smokes," she says of her school of 1,200 students. "The percentage of smokers here is very, very small."
To be fair to the athletic duo, they weren't aware it was World No-Tobacco Day. But they do know where I'll find the school's smokers.
"Just go behind the school grounds past the Dumpster," says Megan. "The rest of us don't go there, but that's where they huddle."
Around the back, their fellow students tell a different story.
"Just about everyone at this school smokes," claims Sally, an 18-year-old Western Canada High student who'll talk only if I don't use her last name.
"Just look at all of them," she says as she points to scores of students heading back to the school from behind the huge trash bin.
Though the estimates of smoking rates differ wildly between the smokers and non-smokers at this popular inner-city high school, all agree on one thing: if you do want to light up, being under 18 is no detriment.
"I just turned 18, and I've been smoking for years," says Sally as a group of nearby boys puffs away. "You can always find someone willing to sell to you -- I always pick the convenience stores where the cashier is close to my age."
According to a newly released Health Canada report, it's easier than ever for teens to purchase cigarettes -- especially if you live in Alberta. Tobacco sales to minors have increased for the past three consecutive years, with 17 per cent of retailers willing to sell to underage test shoppers in 2009, nearly double the 2006 figure. When it comes to selling to those just shy of 18, Alberta is second in the country only to Nova Scotia.
Such findings hardly surprise Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, Western Canada's leading tobacco control organization.
"Considering we have no provincial regulation," says Hagen, who notes that every other province in the country has its own rules, and enforcement, on retail sales of tobacco, "we're in fact inviting the problem."
According to Hagen, Alberta has shirked its responsibility in this area.
"We rely entirely on the federal government for this," he says. "When does Alberta rely entirely on the federal government for anything?"
Hagen says it's a simple matter of tweaking the province's Tobacco Reduction Act, which came into force in 2008, and that bans the sale of tobacco products from all health-care facilities, post-secondary campuses and pharmacies. He'd like to see provincial rules, and enforcement, of tobacco sales at the retail level, and a crackdown on the growing number of violators.
Even with tighter enforcement, say kids like 15-year-old Jortinder Robinson, for the 16 per cent of Alberta teens smoke like him, where there's a will, there's a way.
"You can always find the ones who don't ID," he says as he and friend Joey Kraft share a cigarette on a park bench right in front of the school. "And if that doesn't work, you can get an 18-year-old to buy it for you."
Just for the record, I didn't check the boys for ID, and thus will have to trust them that those are their real names.
But if a tightening of access to cigarettes and the health warnings that come from this dangerous habit don't scare off the likes of Jortinder and Joey right now, hopefully the verdict from the healthier among them might, in time, prompt them to butt out for good.
"I would never date a smoker," says Kelsey. "I hate the smell, and I don't like guys who don't care about their health."
"I'd never smoke, it's not healthy," says Kelsey, a 17-year-old aspiring medical student and ringette player. "Western Canada is a sports-oriented school, so I think there are way fewer smokers here than at some other high schools."
Megan, a 16-year-old soccer player, agrees.
"Smoking isn't cool, and hardly anyone we know smokes," she says of her school of 1,200 students. "The percentage of smokers here is very, very small."
To be fair to the athletic duo, they weren't aware it was World No-Tobacco Day. But they do know where I'll find the school's smokers.
"Just go behind the school grounds past the Dumpster," says Megan. "The rest of us don't go there, but that's where they huddle."
Around the back, their fellow students tell a different story.
"Just about everyone at this school smokes," claims Sally, an 18-year-old Western Canada High student who'll talk only if I don't use her last name.
"Just look at all of them," she says as she points to scores of students heading back to the school from behind the huge trash bin.
Though the estimates of smoking rates differ wildly between the smokers and non-smokers at this popular inner-city high school, all agree on one thing: if you do want to light up, being under 18 is no detriment.
"I just turned 18, and I've been smoking for years," says Sally as a group of nearby boys puffs away. "You can always find someone willing to sell to you -- I always pick the convenience stores where the cashier is close to my age."
According to a newly released Health Canada report, it's easier than ever for teens to purchase cigarettes -- especially if you live in Alberta. Tobacco sales to minors have increased for the past three consecutive years, with 17 per cent of retailers willing to sell to underage test shoppers in 2009, nearly double the 2006 figure. When it comes to selling to those just shy of 18, Alberta is second in the country only to Nova Scotia.
Such findings hardly surprise Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, Western Canada's leading tobacco control organization.
"Considering we have no provincial regulation," says Hagen, who notes that every other province in the country has its own rules, and enforcement, on retail sales of tobacco, "we're in fact inviting the problem."
According to Hagen, Alberta has shirked its responsibility in this area.
"We rely entirely on the federal government for this," he says. "When does Alberta rely entirely on the federal government for anything?"
Hagen says it's a simple matter of tweaking the province's Tobacco Reduction Act, which came into force in 2008, and that bans the sale of tobacco products from all health-care facilities, post-secondary campuses and pharmacies. He'd like to see provincial rules, and enforcement, of tobacco sales at the retail level, and a crackdown on the growing number of violators.
Even with tighter enforcement, say kids like 15-year-old Jortinder Robinson, for the 16 per cent of Alberta teens smoke like him, where there's a will, there's a way.
"You can always find the ones who don't ID," he says as he and friend Joey Kraft share a cigarette on a park bench right in front of the school. "And if that doesn't work, you can get an 18-year-old to buy it for you."
Just for the record, I didn't check the boys for ID, and thus will have to trust them that those are their real names.
But if a tightening of access to cigarettes and the health warnings that come from this dangerous habit don't scare off the likes of Jortinder and Joey right now, hopefully the verdict from the healthier among them might, in time, prompt them to butt out for good.
"I would never date a smoker," says Kelsey. "I hate the smell, and I don't like guys who don't care about their health."
понедельник, 10 мая 2010 г.
Time to think about the cost of smoking
Do your children smoke? Then ask them to think about two people aged 20. Assume that one chooses to smoke, and the other chooses to invest the price of a large packet of cigarettes a day ($20 a day or $608 a month) into a managed fund that invests her money into a range of blue chip shares. The price of cigarettes rises at least as fast as inflation, so if we assume inflation runs at 4 per cent per annum, the price of cigarettes will rise by 4 per cent per annum.
If the non-smoker increases their investment by 4 per cent per annum too, the amount invested, or spent on cigarettes, by age 65 will be $818,000. If the share trust returns 10 per cent per annum, (a realistic return if inflation is 4%) the sum accumulated by the investor will be $8.2 million at age 65. The smoker’s return on their investment is ongoing health problems, the non-smoker has become seriously wealthy.
You may argue that $8.2 million won’t be a huge sum in 45 years time after inflation is taken into account, but it is equivalent to about $1.6 million in today's dollars.
Put it another way. If a person who is young now wants to retire at age 65 with the equivalent of nearly $2 million in today's dollars, all they have to do is invest the equivalent of a packet of cigarettes a day from the day they start work.
What if you are older and have a mortgage.
CASE STUDY
You are age 35 and have a home loan of $400,000 over 30 years which you are repaying it at $2661 a month. If you quit smoking and use the $608 a month saved to increase your payments to $3269 a month you will pay off the loan in 18 years. You will be debt free at 53 instead of 65 and save a huge $255,000 in interest. Home loan interest is not tax deductible so saving $255,000 is equivalent to your earning nearly $420,000 from your job. Just giving up smoking gives you the equivalent of $420,000 in extra salary.
If you give up smoking make sure you commit the money that you are going to save, otherwise, it’ll be quickly frittered away like your last pay rise. If you have a home loan immediately increase the repayments by the amount you no longer spend on cigarettes, f you don’t have a loan, talk to an adviser about a regular savings plan. Above all get serious – as my GP says “they all stop after the first heart attack."
Reader questions:
Question: It has been my understanding that a person’s tax return is to record income that has been received, during the financial year of that return and after 30 June, any new receipts are part of one’s income for the following financial year.
A number of companies when forwarding dividends, and associated cover notes, after the end of a financial year, state that these earnings were made in the preceding financial year, and should be shown on the recipient’s tax return for that year.
If a person, in early July, has already submitted a tax return, based on the amounts actually received, during the preceding financial year, will the ATO accept that these late received dividends become income for the year in which they are actually received?
Answer: You are correct in your assumption about dividends from direct shares – they should be included as income in the financial year that you receive the payment. But it's a different matter with some managed funds because they have transactions throughout the financial year but the book keeping is not completed until well after June 30th. This is why they forward you a statement which will detail the numbers that are to be included in your tax return for the financial year that is passed.
-------------------
Question: My wife has earned less than $6,000 per annum for a number of years. We have about $60,000 worth of shares in her name. When we bought them three years ago they were worth $20,000. If we cash them in now how much CGT will she pay?
Answer: The capital gain will be approximately $40,000 but as she has owned the shares for more than a year she will be entitled to the 50% discount. Therefore $20,000 will be added to her taxable income in the year of sale. If she earns no more than $6,000 in addition to this, the total CGT will be about $3,000.
-------------------
Question: We are in our forties and have small children. We have paid off the mortgage but are now saving and planning on renovating in about a year. In the meantime we are paying tax on interest on our savings. Can we put our savings - $30,000 - in the names of our children to save on tax?
Answer: If you transfer the money to your children and then transfer it back to yourselves the ATO will almost certainly take the view that it was your money at all times and assess the interest to you. While you are waiting to renovate the best option would be to hold this in the name of the lowest income earning spouse.
If the non-smoker increases their investment by 4 per cent per annum too, the amount invested, or spent on cigarettes, by age 65 will be $818,000. If the share trust returns 10 per cent per annum, (a realistic return if inflation is 4%) the sum accumulated by the investor will be $8.2 million at age 65. The smoker’s return on their investment is ongoing health problems, the non-smoker has become seriously wealthy.
You may argue that $8.2 million won’t be a huge sum in 45 years time after inflation is taken into account, but it is equivalent to about $1.6 million in today's dollars.
Put it another way. If a person who is young now wants to retire at age 65 with the equivalent of nearly $2 million in today's dollars, all they have to do is invest the equivalent of a packet of cigarettes a day from the day they start work.
What if you are older and have a mortgage.
CASE STUDY
You are age 35 and have a home loan of $400,000 over 30 years which you are repaying it at $2661 a month. If you quit smoking and use the $608 a month saved to increase your payments to $3269 a month you will pay off the loan in 18 years. You will be debt free at 53 instead of 65 and save a huge $255,000 in interest. Home loan interest is not tax deductible so saving $255,000 is equivalent to your earning nearly $420,000 from your job. Just giving up smoking gives you the equivalent of $420,000 in extra salary.
If you give up smoking make sure you commit the money that you are going to save, otherwise, it’ll be quickly frittered away like your last pay rise. If you have a home loan immediately increase the repayments by the amount you no longer spend on cigarettes, f you don’t have a loan, talk to an adviser about a regular savings plan. Above all get serious – as my GP says “they all stop after the first heart attack."
Reader questions:
Question: It has been my understanding that a person’s tax return is to record income that has been received, during the financial year of that return and after 30 June, any new receipts are part of one’s income for the following financial year.
A number of companies when forwarding dividends, and associated cover notes, after the end of a financial year, state that these earnings were made in the preceding financial year, and should be shown on the recipient’s tax return for that year.
If a person, in early July, has already submitted a tax return, based on the amounts actually received, during the preceding financial year, will the ATO accept that these late received dividends become income for the year in which they are actually received?
Answer: You are correct in your assumption about dividends from direct shares – they should be included as income in the financial year that you receive the payment. But it's a different matter with some managed funds because they have transactions throughout the financial year but the book keeping is not completed until well after June 30th. This is why they forward you a statement which will detail the numbers that are to be included in your tax return for the financial year that is passed.
-------------------
Question: My wife has earned less than $6,000 per annum for a number of years. We have about $60,000 worth of shares in her name. When we bought them three years ago they were worth $20,000. If we cash them in now how much CGT will she pay?
Answer: The capital gain will be approximately $40,000 but as she has owned the shares for more than a year she will be entitled to the 50% discount. Therefore $20,000 will be added to her taxable income in the year of sale. If she earns no more than $6,000 in addition to this, the total CGT will be about $3,000.
-------------------
Question: We are in our forties and have small children. We have paid off the mortgage but are now saving and planning on renovating in about a year. In the meantime we are paying tax on interest on our savings. Can we put our savings - $30,000 - in the names of our children to save on tax?
Answer: If you transfer the money to your children and then transfer it back to yourselves the ATO will almost certainly take the view that it was your money at all times and assess the interest to you. While you are waiting to renovate the best option would be to hold this in the name of the lowest income earning spouse.
понедельник, 3 мая 2010 г.
E-cigarettes can help kick the butt
E-cigarettes are electronic nicotine delivery devices that resemble cigarettes but do not use tobacco. They release a small dose of nicotine with each puff.
“The e-cigarettes that we tested appeared to be as effective as a standard nicotine replacement therapy inhalator in reducing the desire,” says Chris Bullen, associate professor at the University of Auckland, who led the study.
“Our results indicate that e-cigarettes have potential as a method to help people stop smoking, in the same ways as a nicotine inhalator. However, our findings should be seen as preliminary and need to be confirmed for this and other e-cigarette brands.”
“E-cigarettes are popular in the United States and Asia where people report buying them to reduce the cost of smoking, cut down on cigarette consumption, use in smokefree places, relieve tobacco withdrawal symptoms, or help quit smoking,” says Bullen.
But this is the first reputable clinical study to actually examine their effect on smokers,” says Bullen.
The study compared 40 adult smokers who on different days used a Ruyan V8 e-cigarette delivering either nicotine or placebo; a Nicorette nicotine inhalator; or their usual cigarette, says an Auckland release.
“We found that the device delivered nicotine to the bloodstream in a similar way as an inhalator, reduced the desire to smoke, and was acceptable to most users,” says Bullen.
“The e-cigarettes that we tested appeared to be as effective as a standard nicotine replacement therapy inhalator in reducing the desire,” says Chris Bullen, associate professor at the University of Auckland, who led the study.
“Our results indicate that e-cigarettes have potential as a method to help people stop smoking, in the same ways as a nicotine inhalator. However, our findings should be seen as preliminary and need to be confirmed for this and other e-cigarette brands.”
“E-cigarettes are popular in the United States and Asia where people report buying them to reduce the cost of smoking, cut down on cigarette consumption, use in smokefree places, relieve tobacco withdrawal symptoms, or help quit smoking,” says Bullen.
But this is the first reputable clinical study to actually examine their effect on smokers,” says Bullen.
The study compared 40 adult smokers who on different days used a Ruyan V8 e-cigarette delivering either nicotine or placebo; a Nicorette nicotine inhalator; or their usual cigarette, says an Auckland release.
“We found that the device delivered nicotine to the bloodstream in a similar way as an inhalator, reduced the desire to smoke, and was acceptable to most users,” says Bullen.
понедельник, 26 апреля 2010 г.
Philip Morris International 1Q profit rises
Higher selling prices helped boost cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc.'s first-quarter profit 15 percent, but results missed expectations due to pressure from steep excise taxes in some countries, and the weak economy.
The seller of Marlboro and other brands overseas says profit rose to $1.7 billion, or 90 cents per share, up from $1.48 billion, or 74 cents, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 17 percent to $15.59 billion from $13.29 billion. Excluding the benefit of the weaker dollar, revenue rose 8 percent, mainly due to higher cigarette prices across all business segments.
The world's second-biggest cigarette maker also reaffirmed full-year guidance of $3.75 to $3.85 per share. Analysts expect a profit of $3.84 per share
Cigarette shipment volume edged up less than 1 percent. Volume fell in the Baltics, Romania, Turkey and the Ukraine because of a steep excise tax. Volume was stronger in Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Korea and volume from a new business combination in the Philippines.
While tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma have cut cigarette demand worldwide, the decline is less stark in markets outside of the United States.
The company, which has offices in Lausanne, Switzerland, and New York, has compensated for consumers buying cheaper cigarettes worldwide _ and for the weak economy _ by raising its prices, increasing its market share and cutting costs.
Growing demand in Africa, Asia and the Middle East also has helped to offset declines in the European Union, Latin America and Canada.
In recent quarters, Philip Morris International's earnings have been hindered as the stronger dollar shrank the profit it earned in other currencies. But the weaker dollar helped results in the current quarter.
When the dollar is strong, companies that sell goods internationally and must convert revenue from foreign currencies usually take a hit unless they raise prices abroad. Conversely the weaker dollar is a benefit.
That effect is particularly strong for Philip Morris International, because all its business is overseas.
Altria Group Inc. in Richmond, Va., owner of Philip Morris USA, spun off Philip Morris International in 2008.
The seller of Marlboro and other brands overseas says profit rose to $1.7 billion, or 90 cents per share, up from $1.48 billion, or 74 cents, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 17 percent to $15.59 billion from $13.29 billion. Excluding the benefit of the weaker dollar, revenue rose 8 percent, mainly due to higher cigarette prices across all business segments.
The world's second-biggest cigarette maker also reaffirmed full-year guidance of $3.75 to $3.85 per share. Analysts expect a profit of $3.84 per share
Cigarette shipment volume edged up less than 1 percent. Volume fell in the Baltics, Romania, Turkey and the Ukraine because of a steep excise tax. Volume was stronger in Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Korea and volume from a new business combination in the Philippines.
While tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma have cut cigarette demand worldwide, the decline is less stark in markets outside of the United States.
The company, which has offices in Lausanne, Switzerland, and New York, has compensated for consumers buying cheaper cigarettes worldwide _ and for the weak economy _ by raising its prices, increasing its market share and cutting costs.
Growing demand in Africa, Asia and the Middle East also has helped to offset declines in the European Union, Latin America and Canada.
In recent quarters, Philip Morris International's earnings have been hindered as the stronger dollar shrank the profit it earned in other currencies. But the weaker dollar helped results in the current quarter.
When the dollar is strong, companies that sell goods internationally and must convert revenue from foreign currencies usually take a hit unless they raise prices abroad. Conversely the weaker dollar is a benefit.
That effect is particularly strong for Philip Morris International, because all its business is overseas.
Altria Group Inc. in Richmond, Va., owner of Philip Morris USA, spun off Philip Morris International in 2008.
понедельник, 19 апреля 2010 г.
Smokeless tobacco products target teens
They bear the names "Wild Honey" blunt wraps and "Peppermint" snus, but they are not the latest confections from Willy Wonka.
They are part of an effort by tobacco companies to market products to adolescents and teenagers, said Judith Coykendall at Partners for Clean Air, a Seven Hills Behavioral Health program in New Bedford.
"They smell delicious," she said, reaching into her American Cancer Society tote bag, which she calls her "bag of poisons," to pull out the cheerfully colored packets of "blunt wraps," which look to the undiscerning eye like fruit rollups and come in enticing flavors — watermelon, strawberry, blueberry and "sexual chocolate," the wrapper of which features a pair of bare female legs dripping with what appears to be melted chocolate.
Snus are marketed on the Camels website as a "smoke-free, spit-free" product and come in intriguing flavors, such as "frost" and "mellow." According to the American Cancer Society website, snus are commonly used in Scandinavia as quitting aids. The clinical-sounding "Nicogel," which looks exactly like a portable hand wipe and absorbs through the skin, is also marketed as a quitting aid.
However, Coykendall said she is concerned that what might help alleviate a seasoned smoker's cravings might also get a young person hooked for the first time. After all, she said, although most teenagers have heard that smoking is bad for their health, nicotine and tobacco are harmful whether smoked or not.
"Their natural assumption is that, if it doesn't have smoke, it doesn't have the dangers," Coykendall said. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, smokeless tobacco can still increase risk of mouth or nasal cancer and cause high blood pressure. Then there is the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, Coykendall said, which leads to smoking.
According to the National Institute for Drug Abuse, "The amount of nicotine in smokeless tobacco is three to four times greater than that delivered by a cigarette." The nicotine also stays in the bloodstream longer.
In 2009, largely because of smoking bans and anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette use among high school students in Massachusetts fell to 16 percent, an almost 20 percent reduction since 1995. However, according to the same study, released by the Department of Public Health and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, sales of cigars and smokeless tobacco products in Massachusetts, like the Snus, have surpassed sales of regular cigarettes among minors in the last year, at 17.6 percent, a steady increase since 2003.
Over the past year, Nic Charest, director of the Greater New Bedford Tobacco Control Program, said he has seen these alternative tobacco products gain in popularity throughout New Bedford, Fairhaven and Dartmouth.
Charest works with a dozen high school students in Greater New Bedford, ages 15 to 17, to do compliance checks on the sale of cigarettes, part of a state initiative to make sure that stores are not selling tobacco-related products to minors — those under 18. In a carefully planned sting, the students try to buy cigarettes without producing identification.
State law requires retailers to ask for an ID if a customer appears to be under 27. "If they're successful" buying cigarettes, Charest said of his undercover crew, "we have enforcement that we'll follow up on."
Over the past few years, Charest said, tobacco sales to minors took place at 13 percent of the stores in Greater New Bedford, although that number dipped to 5 percent last year.
There might be a bright side for concerned anti-smoking advocates: A lot of teenagers around here haven't yet heard of products such as snus or Nicogel. In a room filled with teens at the Boys & Girls Club of New Bedford, no one nods when asked whether they have friends who use snus.
Cameron Lewis, an eighth-grader at Keith Middle School, and Katherine Sullivan, a 10th-grader at New Bedford High School, have parents who smoke, but neither uses tobacco.
Coykendall, however, said it might only be a matter of time for the trend to catch on.
"The tobacco industry had to come up with a product that could get their sales up tremendously," she said.
Alesha Gilbert and Markus Watson, both juniors from BMC Durfee High School in Fall River, have participated in Teaching Against Drug Abuse, an extracurricular program in Fall River that surveyed 49 stores that sell tobacco, looking at marketing rather than compliance.
Watson said he discovered that in most of the stores, the ads were placed at a 3-foot eye level.
"So it's not really targeting adults," he said. "Because most adults are not 3 feet tall."
Asked what makes her friends buy cigarettes, Gilbert said, "I think it's whatever is cheap. Whatever you can get your hands on."
According to information from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the price difference between cigarettes and snus is significant. Camel's frost-flavored snus, for instance, which come in a pack of 12, cost less than $4. Cigarettes cost at least $9 a pack.
Coykendall said these products fall into a legal "loophole" in which they are not subject to the state's cigarette tax. Nor do they fall under the state's ban on flavored cigarettes.
She also said the packaging for these products is attractive and enticing. Plus, snus dissolve in the mouth, making it hard to detect in school.
"If I used tobacco, I can imagine I would probably turn to another tobacco product that's more concealable so that I can get my nicotine for the day," Watson said. "Like kids who have to go through that eight-hour day and are not allowed to smoke."
Is nicotine consumption in class that easy?
"Like texting isn't allowed, but somebody manages to do it anyway," Gilbert said.
They are part of an effort by tobacco companies to market products to adolescents and teenagers, said Judith Coykendall at Partners for Clean Air, a Seven Hills Behavioral Health program in New Bedford.
"They smell delicious," she said, reaching into her American Cancer Society tote bag, which she calls her "bag of poisons," to pull out the cheerfully colored packets of "blunt wraps," which look to the undiscerning eye like fruit rollups and come in enticing flavors — watermelon, strawberry, blueberry and "sexual chocolate," the wrapper of which features a pair of bare female legs dripping with what appears to be melted chocolate.
Snus are marketed on the Camels website as a "smoke-free, spit-free" product and come in intriguing flavors, such as "frost" and "mellow." According to the American Cancer Society website, snus are commonly used in Scandinavia as quitting aids. The clinical-sounding "Nicogel," which looks exactly like a portable hand wipe and absorbs through the skin, is also marketed as a quitting aid.
However, Coykendall said she is concerned that what might help alleviate a seasoned smoker's cravings might also get a young person hooked for the first time. After all, she said, although most teenagers have heard that smoking is bad for their health, nicotine and tobacco are harmful whether smoked or not.
"Their natural assumption is that, if it doesn't have smoke, it doesn't have the dangers," Coykendall said. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, smokeless tobacco can still increase risk of mouth or nasal cancer and cause high blood pressure. Then there is the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, Coykendall said, which leads to smoking.
According to the National Institute for Drug Abuse, "The amount of nicotine in smokeless tobacco is three to four times greater than that delivered by a cigarette." The nicotine also stays in the bloodstream longer.
In 2009, largely because of smoking bans and anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette use among high school students in Massachusetts fell to 16 percent, an almost 20 percent reduction since 1995. However, according to the same study, released by the Department of Public Health and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, sales of cigars and smokeless tobacco products in Massachusetts, like the Snus, have surpassed sales of regular cigarettes among minors in the last year, at 17.6 percent, a steady increase since 2003.
Over the past year, Nic Charest, director of the Greater New Bedford Tobacco Control Program, said he has seen these alternative tobacco products gain in popularity throughout New Bedford, Fairhaven and Dartmouth.
Charest works with a dozen high school students in Greater New Bedford, ages 15 to 17, to do compliance checks on the sale of cigarettes, part of a state initiative to make sure that stores are not selling tobacco-related products to minors — those under 18. In a carefully planned sting, the students try to buy cigarettes without producing identification.
State law requires retailers to ask for an ID if a customer appears to be under 27. "If they're successful" buying cigarettes, Charest said of his undercover crew, "we have enforcement that we'll follow up on."
Over the past few years, Charest said, tobacco sales to minors took place at 13 percent of the stores in Greater New Bedford, although that number dipped to 5 percent last year.
There might be a bright side for concerned anti-smoking advocates: A lot of teenagers around here haven't yet heard of products such as snus or Nicogel. In a room filled with teens at the Boys & Girls Club of New Bedford, no one nods when asked whether they have friends who use snus.
Cameron Lewis, an eighth-grader at Keith Middle School, and Katherine Sullivan, a 10th-grader at New Bedford High School, have parents who smoke, but neither uses tobacco.
Coykendall, however, said it might only be a matter of time for the trend to catch on.
"The tobacco industry had to come up with a product that could get their sales up tremendously," she said.
Alesha Gilbert and Markus Watson, both juniors from BMC Durfee High School in Fall River, have participated in Teaching Against Drug Abuse, an extracurricular program in Fall River that surveyed 49 stores that sell tobacco, looking at marketing rather than compliance.
Watson said he discovered that in most of the stores, the ads were placed at a 3-foot eye level.
"So it's not really targeting adults," he said. "Because most adults are not 3 feet tall."
Asked what makes her friends buy cigarettes, Gilbert said, "I think it's whatever is cheap. Whatever you can get your hands on."
According to information from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the price difference between cigarettes and snus is significant. Camel's frost-flavored snus, for instance, which come in a pack of 12, cost less than $4. Cigarettes cost at least $9 a pack.
Coykendall said these products fall into a legal "loophole" in which they are not subject to the state's cigarette tax. Nor do they fall under the state's ban on flavored cigarettes.
She also said the packaging for these products is attractive and enticing. Plus, snus dissolve in the mouth, making it hard to detect in school.
"If I used tobacco, I can imagine I would probably turn to another tobacco product that's more concealable so that I can get my nicotine for the day," Watson said. "Like kids who have to go through that eight-hour day and are not allowed to smoke."
Is nicotine consumption in class that easy?
"Like texting isn't allowed, but somebody manages to do it anyway," Gilbert said.
четверг, 15 апреля 2010 г.
Cigarette Makers' India Pipe Dreams
Some hopes may have gone up in smoke.
After much deliberation, India has banned further foreign direct investment in the cigarette business.
That seems to be a blow to the likes of Japan Tobacco and British American Tobacco, which were lobbying to expand their small presence in the growing and increasingly affluent market. But the protectionist move should hardly come as a surprise, especially given that ITC, which has nearly 80% of the cigarette market, is 34%-government owned through state-run insurance companies. And it should give companies time to think if they really are missing out.
Despite rapid growth in disposable income and massive migration of people from rural to urban areas, cigarettes are the choice of only a slim segment of Indian tobacco users. Many prefer chewing tobacco. Among those who smoke, hand-rolled leaf tobacco is favored; a mere 15% smoke cigarettes.And profit margins are tight, in part because of competition from contraband cigarettes smuggled across the borders and illegally made local smokes. Though there are no specific estimates of how many such smokes circulate in the market, ITC says they are its biggest challenge.
On top of that, New Delhi, particularly the Health Ministry, is increasingly vocal about curbing smoking. Even before the formal investment ban, the government had rejected proposals by foreign players to increase their presence in India. Existing rules use licenses to cap the number of cigarettes a company can produce in a year, and there are loud calls for higher tax rates to reduce tobacco use. The country's tobacco tax already represents 69% of the retail price of a cigarette -- among the highest percentages in the region, according to the Tobacco Institute of India, a trade group.
And cigarette makers bear a disproportionate share of the tobacco tax. Though cigarettes represent only about 40% of India's $12 billion tobacco market, they generated 80% of the revenue collected from the tobacco industry in 2007-08. The non-cigarette industry is fragmented, consisting of many small-scale players.
Certainly, global companies may have hoped a market like India -- where cigarette consumption is growing around 5% a year, according to Datamonitor -- could offer growth potential they lack at home. Japan Tobacco is hunting for new markets as its domestic market shrinks due to a declining population and fewer people lighting up.
But when the smoke clears, foreign firms may see India's protected market has its own shortcomings.
After much deliberation, India has banned further foreign direct investment in the cigarette business.
That seems to be a blow to the likes of Japan Tobacco and British American Tobacco, which were lobbying to expand their small presence in the growing and increasingly affluent market. But the protectionist move should hardly come as a surprise, especially given that ITC, which has nearly 80% of the cigarette market, is 34%-government owned through state-run insurance companies. And it should give companies time to think if they really are missing out.
Despite rapid growth in disposable income and massive migration of people from rural to urban areas, cigarettes are the choice of only a slim segment of Indian tobacco users. Many prefer chewing tobacco. Among those who smoke, hand-rolled leaf tobacco is favored; a mere 15% smoke cigarettes.And profit margins are tight, in part because of competition from contraband cigarettes smuggled across the borders and illegally made local smokes. Though there are no specific estimates of how many such smokes circulate in the market, ITC says they are its biggest challenge.
On top of that, New Delhi, particularly the Health Ministry, is increasingly vocal about curbing smoking. Even before the formal investment ban, the government had rejected proposals by foreign players to increase their presence in India. Existing rules use licenses to cap the number of cigarettes a company can produce in a year, and there are loud calls for higher tax rates to reduce tobacco use. The country's tobacco tax already represents 69% of the retail price of a cigarette -- among the highest percentages in the region, according to the Tobacco Institute of India, a trade group.
And cigarette makers bear a disproportionate share of the tobacco tax. Though cigarettes represent only about 40% of India's $12 billion tobacco market, they generated 80% of the revenue collected from the tobacco industry in 2007-08. The non-cigarette industry is fragmented, consisting of many small-scale players.
Certainly, global companies may have hoped a market like India -- where cigarette consumption is growing around 5% a year, according to Datamonitor -- could offer growth potential they lack at home. Japan Tobacco is hunting for new markets as its domestic market shrinks due to a declining population and fewer people lighting up.
But when the smoke clears, foreign firms may see India's protected market has its own shortcomings.
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