Source: MetroSource News
Author: staff

A new lozenge made from tobacco hits some stores in January.

“USA Today” says R.J. Reynolds, the maker of Camel cigarettes, is calling
the melt-in-your mouth product “Orb.” It’s designed for smokers who can’t
light up in restaurants or at the office. But public health officials fear
it’ll end up in school lockers and backpacks too. One official from
Harvard’s School of Public Health called it, quote, “a wake-up call.”
Gregory Connolly said, quote, “These products are designed to enhance social
acceptability of tobacco.” He likened them more to food and said that while
sucking on an Orb may be less dangerous than smoking a Camel, it’s still
addicting.

The Orb is the latest smoke-free tobacco product, following on the heels of
“snus,” or pouches that sit in the mouth and aren’t spit out. A spokesman
for Philip Morris, which makes snus, said smokeless tobacco sales are
growing annually by between six and eight-percent, while cigarette sales are
falling by about two to three-percent a year. The Orb makes its debut in
Portland, Oregon, Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis in January.