cigarettes – Page 5 – Oral Cancer News

New Smokeless Tobacco from Sweden is Gaining Popularity in the US

Source: DrugFree.org A type of smokeless tobacco popular in Sweden called snus is growing in popularity in the United States. While most recognize that it is a safer alternative to cigarettes or older forms of smokeless tobacco, others are concerned that it will attract young people, becoming a steppingstone to cigarettes, says a researcher who spoke this week at the Smokeless Tobacco Summit in Austin, TX. There is also concern that smokers may use snus in places where they can’t smoke, which will encourage them to keep smoking instead of quitting, says Lois Biener, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychology at the University Of Massachusetts – Boston and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Survey Research, University Of Massachusetts – Boston. Snus (pronounced snoos) was first introduced in several U.S. test markets in 2006, and has been available nationwide since 2009. It is sold under several brands including Marlboro Snus and Camel Snus. The product is different from other types of smokeless tobacco in several important ways, Dr. Biener says. Snus is manufactured using a process that makes it lower in carcinogens called tobacco-specific nitrosamines. Snus also doesn’t stimulate saliva the way that snuff does and thus doesn’t require spitting. A person using snus puts a small pouch filled with the product between the lip and the gum. Dr. Biener’s research has shown that the primary group of snus users in the United States is male smokers. “There is very little trial of the product among females and virtually [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-16T11:25:33-07:00May, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

FDA panel finds ban on menthol cigarettes would ‘benefit the public health’

Source: www.washingtonpost.com Author: Lyndsey Layton An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration that has been studying whether the government ought to ban menthol cigarettes said Friday that the “removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit the public health.” The panel, made up of scientists, doctors and public health experts, stopped short of recommending a ban on menthol cigarettes, which make up about 30 percent of the $80 billion U.S. cigarette market. The committee, which spent a year analyzing menthol cigarettes before releasing its draft recommendations, said that compared to standard cigarettes, the mint-flavored products do not pose greater individual risk to smokers in terms of lung cancer, stroke and other tobacco-related diseases. But menthol cigarettes are especially enticing to teenagers and to blacks and are more likely to turn them into lifetime smokers, the panel found. Smokers of menthol cigarettes also find it harder to quit, the panel said. Lawrence R. Deyton, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said the agency will review the panel’s recommendations. The FDA is not required to follow the advice of its advisory panels but often does. “Now it’s up to us to do our job,” Deyton told the panel. The menthol question will be the first real test of how aggressively the FDA intends to regulate tobacco. Congress passed landmark legislation in 2009 that put tobacco under the authority of the FDA for the first time. The law prohibits the agency from outlawing tobacco or nicotine but gives [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-03-19T09:29:53-07:00March, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Dissolvable tobacco products may increase mouth disease in smokers, children

Source: onlinejournal.com Author: staff When they were originally released, it looked as though dissolvable tobacco might become a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes. After all, there is no smoke to breath in and no juice to spit out. But a recent study suggests that these tobacco lozenges have the potential to cause increased mouth diseases as well as possible harm to children. The study is based on findings from John V. Goodpaster of the Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and colleagues. After analyzing the complex ingredients in the products, researchers found that they contained nicotine, along with finely-ground tobacco and a variety of flavoring ingredients, sweeteners and binders. When these substances are dissolved near the lips and gums, the effects can be just as harmful for the mouth as more traditional tobacco products. When the first dissolvable tobacco products in pellet, stick and strip forms went on sale to test markets in Indianapolis, Ind., Columbus, Ohio, and Portland, Ore., they were billed as a safer way to get your tobacco fix. But the study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, asserts that nicotine is still a harmful substance and prolonged exposure on the lips and gums is still harmful, no matter the delivery mechanism. The study also expressed concerns over other ingredients in the products, including coumarin, which has been banned as a flavoring agent in food because of its link to a risk of liver damage. 'The results presented here are the first to reveal the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-03-19T09:25:03-07:00March, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Florida ruling Big Tobacco won comes back to bite it

Source: seattletimes.nwsource.com Author: Curt Anderson A Florida Supreme Court ruling that threw out a $145 billion award against cigarette makers is biting Big Tobacco back, making it dramatically easier for thousands of smokers to sue and turning the state into the nation's hot spot for damage awards. The 2006 ruling has helped generate more than $360 million in damage awards in only about two dozen cases. Thousands more cases are in the pipeline in Florida, which has far more smoking-related lawsuits pending than any other state. Though the justices tossed the $145 billion class-action damage award, they allowed about 8,000 individual members of that class to pursue their own lawsuits. And in a critical decision, they allowed those plaintiffs to use the original jury's findings from the class-action case. That means the plaintiffs don't have to prove that cigarette makers sold a defective and dangerous product, were negligent, hid the risks of smoking and that cigarettes cause illnesses such as lung cancer and heart disease. The plaintiffs must mainly show they were addicted to smoking and could not quit, and that their illness - or a smoker's death - was caused by cigarettes. Jurors have sided with smokers or their families in about two-thirds of the 34 cases tried since February 2009, when the first Florida lawsuit following the rules set by the Supreme Court decision went before a jury. Awards have ranged from $2 million or less to $80 million, though tobacco companies are appealing them all. The successes [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-02-19T10:02:14-07:00February, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Ban flavored tobacco products

Source: www.acscan.org Author: staff On 1/5/11, the Assembly introduced legislation banning the sale of flavored tobacco products. The American Cancer Society continues to be a strong advocate of this effort. Below is our memo of support: Memorandum In Support A. 288 An Act to amend the public health law, in relation to prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products. This measure prohibits the sale in New York of tobacco products, other than cigarettes, containing natural or artificial additives that impart to a tobacco product or its smoke flavors attractive to youth including, but not limited to, fruit, chocolate, vanilla, honey, candy, cocoa, dessert, alcoholic beverage, herb or spice flavoring. Menthol, mint and wintergreen flavors are excepted. In no event shall a tobacco product be construed as flavored based solely on the use of additives or flavorings in its manufacture, or their presence on an ingredient list. In 2009, Congress enacted the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act granting the federal Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products and banning the use of flavors other than menthol in cigarettes. However, other tobacco products, including "little cigars" (cigarettes wrapped in paper containing tobacco), cigars, snuff and other smokeless tobacco products were not included in the prohibition. This bill corrects that oversight. An important function of the flavorings affected by this legislation is to mask from tobacco product users, particularly new users, the harsh, toxic properties of tobacco smoke and spit tobacco. Tobacco industry internal documents uncovered during the course [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-01-12T16:02:56-07:00January, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Quitting smoking makes economic sense

Source: www.latimes.com Author: Francesca Lunzer Kritz What does it cost to stop smoking? For just about anyone, less than it does to keep smoking. Many smokers burn through thousands of dollars each year buying cigarettes alone. Then there are peripheral costs like breath mints, extra trips to the dry cleaner and higher premiums for health insurance. Quitting costs money too, but it's a better long-term investment. Plus, much of what you'll need to get started — nicotine gum, patches and even counseling sessions — is often available free. "The cost of quitting isn't typically the reason smokers give for not giving up the habit," says Dr. Cheryl Healton, president of the American Legacy Foundation, a smoking cessation advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. "But finding out that it can be a very manageable cost is good news for smokers who make the decision to stop." Nationwide, the average cost of a pack of cigarettes (including the federal cigarette tax and state sales taxes) is about $5.51, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, D.C. For those who smoke a pack a day, that works out to about $155 a month, or just over $2,000 a year. Quitting, on the other hand, generally costs $25 to $150 a month, according to Dr. Michael Fiore, director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention. One-on-one counseling may add to the tab, he said. Smokers may need to make several attempts before they kick the habit for good, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-01-04T20:24:18-07:00January, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

R.J. Reynolds Pulls Dissolvable Smokeless Products from Test Markets; Company Must Stop Pushing Tobacco Products that Entice Kids

Source: PR Newswire It is good news for the communities involved that R.J. Reynolds has decided to stop its initial test-marketing of new, dissolvable smokeless tobacco products – called Camel Sticks, Strips and Orbs – that look, taste and are packaged like candy and are likely to entice children. According to media reports and a letter RJR sent to customers, the company is pulling the products from the test markets of Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis and Portland, Oregon, where the products have provoked outrage among public officials and the public. Unfortunately the company told the media that these products have been pulled only for potential redesign and may be test-marketed elsewhere in the future. We call on R.J. Reynolds to permanently pull these products and to stop its insidious marketing of tobacco products in ways that appeal to kids and seek to discourage smokers from quitting and keep them hooked on nicotine. The Camel dissolvable products appeal to children in that they are easily concealed and colorfully packaged, shaped and flavored to resemble mints or gum. These products also have been marketed as an alternative to cigarettes in the growing number of places where smoking is not allowed, which discourages smokers from quitting and truly protecting their health. One ad for these products states, "Enjoy Anywhere. Anytime. Anyplace." U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) took swift and laudable action by including a mandate that the Food and Drug Administration review the impact of these products on public health [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-22T10:51:57-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Burgeoning market for smokeless tobacco products

Source: www.acsh.org Author: staff Now for some more good news on the harm reduction front: While cigarette sales have fallen by 17 percent since 2005 due to robust health campaigns and steeper taxes, smokeless tobacco products sales have grown by an annual rate of approximately 7 percent, reports The Chicago Tribune. The increase in sales of smokeless tobacco products can be partially attributed to their invisibility. For addicted smokers stuck in a smoke-free office environment all day long, these products relieve them of their nicotine craving. Economic factors have also been responsible for the rise in smokeless tobacco sales since a can of premium Swedish snus can run not much more than half the cost of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in places where state, county and city excise taxes are high. Perhaps the most intriguing element to this story is that the use of smokeless tobacco products is increasing even though advertisers aren’t allowed to market them as a safer alternative to cigarettes. “I wonder how these people get the message,” ponders ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. Even though medical experts agree that quitting tobacco altogether is the ideal scenario, scientists admit that smokeless tobacco products are much less harmful than cigarettes. But the potential benefit of these products, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, is often overshadowed by anti-tobacco camps that focus on the possibility of increased risks of oral cancer from smokeless tobacco products. Dr. Ross notes that this risk “is essentially nil in the kinds of highly purified [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-12T10:03:39-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Scared smokeless–The FDA should use the most graphic images possible in its new warnings on cigarette packs.

Source: Los Angeles Times It's easy to guess what would happen if a pharmaceutical company asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve a new product with the following characteristics: no proven health benefits. Major known side effects: greatly increased risk of emphysema, heart attacks, stroke and cancer, including lung, cervical, mouth, stomach and bladder. The product also lowers bone density in older women and causes higher rates of serious health problems among newborns. It significantly harms the health even of those who merely spend time near the drug while it's in use. And it's addictive. If cigarettes were a new invention, they'd never pass muster with even the most lax of regulatory agencies. Unhappily for our collective health, not only does tobacco's legacy date back thousands of years, but it is inextricably tied to the birth of the United States. None other than John Rolfe, best known as Pocahontas' husband, is credited with the first commercial cultivation of tobacco in Jamestown, in 1612. Four hundred years later, we've learned a thing or two about tobacco, especially in its inhaled form. Now we wrestle with how to act on that information. Cigarettes are a terrible health scourge, but this is also a country that respects the right of adults, in most cases, to ruin their own health as long as they are not endangering others. So driving drunk is forbidden, as is smoking in many indoor public spaces, but cigarettes themselves remain legal. Yet as a society, we don't want to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-11-23T10:56:50-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Smokeless Tobacco Rates on the Rise

Source: WebMD By: Bill Hendrick Even after a generation of warnings from public health officials about the dangers of tobacco use, about 20% of Americans still smoke cigarettes, a CDC report says. The report also shows the rate of smokers who also use smokeless tobacco, such as chewing tobacco and snuff, is rising. Using smokeless tobacco can keep the nicotine habit alive, making it even harder to quit than going cold turkey, Terry Pechacek, PhD, of the CDC, tells WebMD. More Americans are turning to smokeless tobacco because of laws that prohibit smoking in public places such as bars, restaurants, and airplanes -- and also because smokeless forms can be used in offices and on the job, Pechacek says. Immediate Benefits of Smoking Cessation The tobacco companies market smokeless tobacco as a substitute for smokers, but they don’t help people quit smoking, Pechacek tells WebMD. “We are making no progress in getting people to quit smoking,” he says. “This is a tragedy. Over 400,000 people are dying prematurely and won’t be able to walk their children down the aisle or see their grandchildren.” Contrary to common beliefs of smokers, the benefits of quitting start immediately, Pechacek tells WebMD. “We see lower rates for heart attacks within months of quitting,” he says. “And lower rates for lung cancer, too. Stopping a decline in lung function is one of the biggest benefits of quitting smoking.” The national smoking prevalence rate was 20.6% in 2008 and 2009. About 23% of males smoke, compared [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-11-22T12:24:26-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|