Source: www.sltrib.com
Author: Tribune editorial

Tobacco-product marketers face an uncommon business problem: They have to lure new customers to replace the nearly half-million Americans who are killed by their products each year.

These folks are smart or, should we say, devious. They know that some people never start smoking simply because they don’t like the smell on their clothing and their breath, or because laws prevent them smoking indoors and they don’t want to face the social stigma associated with lighting up outdoors or chewing and spitting. And some smart and determined smokers are able to quit for the same reasons.

So, these clever marketers have come up with new tobacco products that smell minty, produce no smoke or need to spit, and can be used discreetly. They claim the new smokeless tobacco isn’t aimed at teenagers, but the evidence clearly indicates otherwise. They have catchy names like Snus, Orbs and Stride and come packaged in brightly colored, cell-phone-size containers. Some look and taste like candy. They can be carried and used without parents or teachers catching on.

And they contain so much highly addictive nicotine — triple the amount in cigarettes — and they’re so easy to use, that once a kid gets hooked, he or she usually stays hooked. Even better for tobacco pushers, they often move on to cigarettes once they’re addicted, and studies show the younger people are when they start smoking, the harder it is to quit.

For tobacco companies, it looks like problem solved.

But these new killers, being test-marketed in Columbus, Ohio; Portland, Ore.; and Indianapolis, Ind., are creating a new set of health problems for users and for taxpayers who will have to help pay their medical bills. Because these innocent-looking products can cause disfiguring and sometimes fatal mouth and throat cancers. And, since their toxins are carried throughout the body, they contribute to heart disease, stroke and cancers afflicting other organs, including liver cancer, which has an overall five-year survival rate of only 10 percent.

Unintended victims of the new smokeless products are children and toddlers who could find an open container and ingest a dangerous number of the candy lookalikes. The companies tout their containers as child-proof, but as parents can attest, that doesn’t mean children won’t find a way into them. A 1-year-old could become seriously ill or even die from ingesting as few as 10 of the mint-like Camel Orbs.

These dangerous products have passed no clinical trials for safety, nor do manufacturers have to reveal their ingredients. Altogether, they are a recipe for public-health disaster and should be banned.