Source: KSPR News
Author: News Staff
Tobacco companies are facing new criticism, accused of targeting your kids.
Not with ads, but with new types of tobacco products.
Like Camel Snus, tea-bags filled with mint-flavored tobacco. R.J. Reynolds says Snus have become so popular, they’re taking the next step — totally dissolvable tobacco The company says it will solve all kinds of problems for traditional smokers.
“They don’t have second hand smoke. They don’t have a litter problem. The product actually dissolves in your mouth as opposed to having to spit or extract something like a patch from your mouth like other smokeless products,” says Tommy Payne of R. J. Reynolds.
The company will soon test three new products: Camel Sticks that dissolve when you suck them, Minty Tobacco Strips that look like breath strips, and Orbs, flavored dissolvable tablets that some say look and taste like candy.
Critics say R. J. Reynolds is doing what it did with Joe Camel — marketing not to adult smokers, but smoker wanna-bes.
“Really what you’re doing with kids actually, it’s kind of like a gateway drug. You’re getting them addicted to nicotine, which then leads them to possibly wanting to do other things,” says Dan Smith of the American Cancer Society.
The Indiana Poison Control Center says just one Camel dissolvable delivers up to 300 percent of the nicotine found in just one cigarette.
Take too many, and nicotine poisoning might set in, and you could develop oral cancer.
R. J. Reynolds says their new “dissolvables” have warning labels, it’s illegal for kids to buy them, and while they’re not completely safe, they’re meant for adults.
May 28th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
This is ridiculous! One strip has 300 time more nicotine than one cigarette! Of course this is a gateway drug for non-smokers and minors. The packaging itself reflects bright colors and looks like a pack of mints making this product easy for minors to use in classrooms. In addition to containing harmful carcinogens that can cause oral cancer, there’s no telling what other cancers this product could cause since its ingested into the body. And to comment on their statement, “they don’t have a litter problem”, thats a poor rebuttal. Littering will be the last of their problems when they’re diagnosed with oral cancer.