Filed under: Industry Tactics, New Products, Quitting and Cessation, Research | Tags: Dope on Nicotine, Nova
A very interesting and interactive website about nicotine addiction is available at this link:
Filed under: Flavored Cigarettes, Industry Tactics, New Products, Youth and Prevention | Tags: candy and tobacco
There are a lot of similarities between tobacco and candy advertisements. Still, the tobacco industry denies that they are marketing to youth. See for yourself. What do you think?
David Kessler’s new book, “The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite” offers an interesting premise: the food industry has purposely manipulated our food to make us eat more than we need and stimulate our brains in a way that creates an addictive behavior. The most blatant ingredients for manipulating? Salt, Sugar and Fat in varying arrangements. David Kessler was the long-time FDA director who highlighted the cigarette manipulation by the tobacco industry and specifically that they manipulated the nicotine yields through various techniques. One such technique involves adding ammonia to the products to make the nicotine absorb into the blood and brain more quickly -basically nicotine free-basing. What he found was that he was being triggered by certain foods (for him, usually sweet and fattening) much in the same way that it seemed tobacco users were triggered to use tobacco. So he set out to find out why.
The results of his studies are stunning. The more highly processed (palatable) a food item becomes, the closer it resembles a drug delivery device rather than a meal. He found that at Chili’s Restaurant, for example, that some appetizers contained more calories than most meals, but that the customers upon eating them were not only not filling up, but were more likely to eat more food (and calories) throughout the rest of the meal. This was due to the stimulation that the combination of fats, salts and sugars (and temperature) had on the brain. In laymen’s terms: it just felt too good to stop.
He also goes into other food industry dirty secrets such as their ingredient list (how many different ways can you list sugar?) and how they use certain bright colors (especially red) that stimulate hunger in the body. But overall, his book is a wake up call to be aware of what is going on and to take back the control of your own body and mind once the truth is known. He suggests we can use similar tactics as has been used in tobacco control to help change the norms of these tactics and perceptions of so-called “foods” that are little more than stimulants with little to sometimes no nutritional value to the body.
For a longer discussion with David Kessler, see below.
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=287080-1&showVid=true
Filed under: Industry Tactics, Laws, Youth and Prevention | Tags: No chew, Stampede
U.S. Smokeless Tobacco has had an immense and strong presence at the Greeley Independence Stampede for many years, but it is no longer that way. In December 2007, the Greeley City Council voted 4-3 in favor of passing an ordinance that prohibited the giving away of free tobacco in city limits. This included the Greeley Stampede. However that next summer at the Stampede, US Smokeless still had a booth and were giving away free items like bandanas. This year, there is no trace of them there at all. The reason is unknown, but the outcome is good all the same: children and adults alike will not associate the cancer-causing products with the fun events of the Stampede. Congratulations to the Stampede and Greeley!
BEFORE
AFTER
The Same Location as the First Picture a year later
While nicotine is what gets people addicted and gives them the buzz to keep using, it is not easily extracted from the plant form of tobacco. In order for it to release chemically, ammonia and other freebasing items are added to the products. American Spirit has often claimed to have no additives or preservatives, but recent research has shown it to have the highest level of free basing ability which indicates higher levels of ammonia. Maybe it’s just made from natural sources…like urine.
Adding ammonia to cigarettes increases the amount of easily absorbed “freebase” nicotine released by smoking, which may make some cigarettes more addictive than others depending on their formulas, the Independent reported July 28.
Researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University looked at 11 U.S. cigarette brands and found that some had up to 20 times more freebase nicotine — a form of the drug that is quickly absorbed and transmitted to the brain and central nervous system. Cigarettes with high levels of freebase nicotine probably are more addictive, researchers said.
American Spirit cigarettes, for example, had 36 percent freebase nicotine, compared to 1 percent in a benchmark cigarette, 2.7 percent in Camel, 5-6.2 percent in Winston, and 9.6 percent in Marlboro.
“During smoking, only the freebase form can [evaporate] from a particle into the air in the respiratory tract,” said study leader James Pankow. “Gaseous nicotine is known to deposit super-quickly in the lungs. From there, it’s transported rapidly to the brain. Since scientists have shown that a drug becomes more addictive when it is delivered to the brain more rapidly, freebase nicotine levels in cigarette smoke are thus at the heart of the controversy regarding the tobacco industry’s use of additives such as ammonia and urea.”
The study was published in the January 2003 issue of the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.
Pankow, J., Barsanti, K., & Peyton, D. (2003) Fraction of Free-Base Nicotine in Fresh Smoke Particulate Matter from the Eclipse “Cigarette” by 1H NMR Spectroscopy. Chemical Research in Toxicology, 16(1): 23-27.
Filed under: Industry Tactics, Quitting and Cessation | Tags: Cigarette price increases
Cigarette companies to increase prices by about $0.75/pack (between 71 cents and 81 cents plus retailer costs) in addition to and at about the same time as CHP tax of $0.61/pack goes into effect bringing most cigarettes over $5/pack.
The Cigarette really is becoming DEAD.
This is surprising and good news. In our program, we have already talked with a man who said that the new $5 packs of cigarettes have helped him make up his mind to quit for good. Another person at the gas station said she wanted to quit and wanted the QuitLine number. Joe Seller’s quit class already has four people signed up, largely because of these increases.
High price -due to taxes and otherwise- is the biggest factor that deters children from starting tobacco in the first place. Due to the state of the economy, we may see even more adults say enough is enough when it comes to tobacco as well. The only problem may be that cigarette smokers may look to spit tobacco as an alternative. We need to help steer them toward the FDA approved NRT products like the patches and gum instead.
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Following yesterday’s announcement by Altria (see article link below), Reynolds and Lorillard announced nearly identical cigarette prices hikes. Unless Altria, Reynolds or Lorillard also announce cigarette price discounts (to offset these price hikes), the nationwide average retail price of Marlboro, Camel and Newport (the most advertised and best selling brands) will exceed $5/pack next week.
Altria’s new huge price differential between its cigarettes and smokeless products may encourage many cigarette smokers to try spit tobacco.
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Marlboro price raised, some smokeless prices cut
By Jessica Wohl
Reuters
Thu Mar 5, 2009 7:29pm
* Prices to rise 71-81 cts per cigarette pack
* Prices of high end smokeless tobacco to be cut
* Attributes price hikes to federal excise tax
Filed under: Industry Tactics, New Products | Tags: E-Cigars, Electric Cigars
Could E-Cigars become the new thing? Made with water and nicotine extract, the only smoke it produces is water vapor. With a pretty high price tag of $100-200 per unit, it may not attract the cigarette smoking demographic. It is also not FDA approved and the risks are unknown.
Read more in the NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/nyregion/thecity/22esmo.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Filed under: Industry Tactics, Spit and Chew Tobacco | Tags: Altria, buy-out, chew, Philip Morris, Smokeless Tobacco, Spit Tobacco, US Smokeless
Altria buys maker of smokeless tobacco for $10 billion
By Michael J. De La Merced The Associated Press, The New York Times
Richmond, Virginia: Altria confirmed Monday that it would buy UST for nearly $10 billion in a deal that will give the maker of Marlboro cigarettes products in the smokeless tobacco market.
Altria, based in Richmond, Virginia, said it would buy UST for $69.50 per share in cash. UST makes the Skoal and Copenhagen smokeless tobacco brands.
The purchase price is a 3 percent premium to UST’s closing price Friday of $67.55.
Altria said it would also assume about $1.3 billion in UST debt in the deal, lifting the total value of the transaction to $11.7 billion.
Altria will also get Ste. Michelle Wine Estates as part of the deal.Altria still expects to earn between $1.63 and $1.67 per share from continuing operations in 2008.
It is Altria’s first major deal since it spun off its international tobacco business in March, and it may prompt more consolidation in the tobacco industry.
The move by Altria, formerly known as Philip Morris, will come as no surprise to analysts, who said on Friday that the combination made sense.
Cigarette sales have been declining for decades. Altria said in July that it expected shipments to fall 3.5 percent this year, more than it had initially projected. Rising cigarette prices and higher U.S. government excise taxes are expected to contribute to that drop, analysts say.
But smokeless tobacco has grown about 7 percent annually over the last four years.
Acquiring UST, formerly the U.S. Tobacco Company, would significantly strengthen Altria’s presence in the smokeless tobacco business. To date, Altria’s only major competitor to Copenhagen and Skoal has been Marlboro-branded moist smokeless tobacco and snuff, which have not been popular in the United States.
Altria’s marketing and distribution muscle may also lift UST’s fortunes, as the smaller company faces increased competition on the lower end of the smokeless tobacco market. With consumer spending falling, many analysts and industry executives expect that buyers will spend less on premium products and switch to lower-end smokeless tobacco.
In a way, Altria is playing catch-up with its biggest competitor, Reynolds American. In 2006, Reynolds bought Conwood, the second-largest maker of smokeless tobacco after UST, for $3.5 billion.
Analysts speculated that Altria’s deal might prompt Reynolds American to respond by making a bid for Lorillard, the other major American tobacco company.
UST also owns Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, which is one of the 10 largest producers of premium wines in the United States.
Filed under: Industry Tactics, Laws, Youth and Prevention | Tags: marketing, Tobacco, youth
Major Report from U.S. Government Concludes Tobacco Marketing Promotes Youth Smoking
Statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids especially among children.
•A comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising and promotion is the most effective way to address the harmful impact of tobacco marketing. Partial bans allow tobacco companies to find new ways to market their products.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— A comprehensive report issued by the National Cancer Institute of the U.S. presents definitive conclusions that tobacco marketing increases tobacco use,
The report also concludes that mass media campaigns to educate the public and comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising and promotions are effective at reducing tobacco use.
The 684-page report, entitled, “The Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use,” is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the scientific evidence on the media’s role in encouraging and discouraging tobacco use.
The report is based on a review of more than 1,000 studies worldwide in the fields of marketing, psychology, communications, statistics, epidemiology and public health.
It provides powerful scientific evidence and guidance to governments around the world on how the tobacco industry uses and manipulates the media to encourage tobacco use and effective steps governments can take to protect the health of their citizens.
The report’s conclusions should spur nations to effectively implement the World Health Organization’s (WHO) international tobacco control treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The treaty commits nations to implement scientifically proven measures to reduce tobacco use, including comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorships and well-funded mass media campaigns to educate the public about the dangers of tobacco use.
The report reaches several important conclusions that should guide policy makers worldwide in implementing measures to reduce tobacco use:
•The scientific evidence shows that tobacco advertising and promotion cause tobacco use to increase, and even a brief exposure to tobacco advertising can influence adolescents. Much tobacco advertising targets the psychological needs of adolescents, such as popularity, peer acceptance and positive self-image.
•The scientific evidence also shows that exposure to smoking in movies is causally related to youth smoking initiation.
•Mass media public education campaigns are effective at preventing youth from starting to smoke and encouraging current smokers to quit. However, so-called “youth smoking prevention campaigns” sponsored by the tobacco industry have been generally ineffective and may actually have increased youth smoking.
•Tobacco companies seek to weaken public or legislative support for effective tobacco control policies through various media tactics, including corporate sponsorship of events and social causes, corporate image campaigns that highlight their charitable work, and their “youth smoking prevention campaigns.” The tobacco industry also works to impede tobacco control media campaigns by preventing or reducing their funding or weakening the messages.
This report is very timely as nations implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and step up efforts to combat tobacco use, which the WHO has found is the world’s leading cause of preventable death.
Tobacco use killed one hundred million people in the 20th century, and if current trends continue, it will claim one billion lives in the 21st century, according to the WHO.
Tobacco use already kills 5.4 million people a year and the epidemic is worsening, especially in the developing world where more than 80 percent of tobacco-caused deaths will occur in the coming decades.
With 80 percent of smokers beginning as teens, the tobacco industry will continue to place a heavy emphasize on attracting a new generation of smokers.
Every day, 80,000 to 100,000 young people around the world become addicted to tobacco. If current trends continue, 250 million children alive today will die from tobacco-related disease.
To read the report’s executive summary, please go to Helpful Links. To read the full report, please go to
cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/monographs/
