Lindsay Lohan’s Tooth Decay Caused By Cigarettes

After examining the pictures that have emerged of Lindsay Lohan’s teeth, celebrity dentist Dr. Pankaj Singh, of Arch Dental Associates, in New York City, says, “This type of damage appears to be from a combination of smoking, drug use and lack of personal care.” Think the discoloration can be caused just by cigarettes? Dr. Singh begs to differ.

According to Dr. Singh, “smoking causes yellowing of the teeth, which we definitely see here in this picture. However, at such a young age, smoking wouldn’t cause the decay and browning you see around the gums. Damage like that is something we see in patients who are using or have used drugs.”

What kinds of drugs can cause this decay? Could marijuana cause the same types of decay as harder drugs?

“The answer is no,” says Dr. Singh, “marijuana and other drugs don’t affect the teeth the same way. Marijuana is smoked and so the heat generated from smoking causes inflammation which can cause damage to the soft tissue. However, drugs like cocaine, crack, meth all have acidic properties which is more destructive to the enamel which ultimately leads to decay.”

Tell Reynolds Tobacco that farmworkers deserve basic rights!

If you are a farmworker in America, chances are you won’t live to be 50. That’s because the average life expectancy for a U.S. farmworker is 49 years. For an average citizen, it's 79. That’s a 30-year difference – and one that shouldn’t exist.

Farmworkers have been asking for years to meet with Reynolds Tobacco – to simply have a conversation about the state of their working conditions. But Reynolds has failed to sit down with farmworkers, leaving the conversation silent and workers struggling to get by.

This fight isn’t about more vacations or longer lunch breaks – it’s about making the work of farmworkers safe and sustainable.

Call on Reynolds Tobacco to stop the systematic abuse of farmworkers – and meet with them to ensure they have a safe and sustainable working environment.

Wath is Second-hand smoke?

Second-hand tobacco smoke is the smoke emitted from the burning end of a cigarette (also known as ‘side-stream smoke’) or from other tobacco products, in combination with the ‘mainstream smoke’ exhaled by the smoker. Second-hand smoke (SHS) is variously called involuntary smoking, passive smoking and environmental tobacco smoke.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has declared SHS as carcinogenic.124 Article 8 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) focuses on “protection from exposure to tobacco smoke” and signatories to the FCTC have agreed to recognise that “scientific evidence has unequivocally established that exposure to tobacco smoke causes death, disease and disability.” Signatories agreed to adopt effective legislation in order to provide protection from second-hand smoke in indoor workplaces, public transport, indoor public places and, as appropriate, other public places.
In 2002, before the introduction of smoke-free policies, second-hand smoking at work appeared to account for over 7,000 deaths across the EU every year. Second-hand smoking at home appeared to account for 72,000 deaths per year. Since the introduction of smoke-free policies, a Cochrane review by Callinan et al. has found consistent evidence of reduced exposure to SHS in workplaces, restaurants, pubs and in public places. Callinan et al. also found consistent evidence of a reduction in cardiac events as well as some improvement in other health indicators after the introduction of smoke-free legislation. In Scotland, following the introduction of smoke-free legislation covering all enclosed places, hospital admissions for acute coronary syndrome decreased by 17%, compared with only a 4% decrease in England (where the legislation was not in place at the time).
Although 67% of the decrease involved non-smokers, fewer admissions among smokers also contributed to the overall reduction. A study in northern Italy (Piedmont region) reported the number of admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) decreased significantly after the introduction of the smoke-free legislation: from 922 cases in February-June 2004 to 832 cases in February-June 2005 (sex- and age-adjusted rate ratio, 0.89; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.81-0.98 in those aged under 60 years). The authors postulated the effects on AMI admissions might be due to the reduction of passive smoking.
In Italy, after the smoke-free legislation there was a statistically significant reduction in acute coronary events in the adult population, suggesting that public interventions that prohibit smoking can have enormous public health implications.

WHAT IS MENTHOL?

Chemically, menthol is a monocyclic terpene alcohol. It is a naturally occurring chemical chiefly derived from the peppermint plant (Mentha piperita) or the corn mint (Mentha arvensis), but it can also be synthetically produced. The chemical structure of menthol is shown in Figure 1. Menthol can exist as
one of eight stereoisomers—molecules with identical formulas but different three‐dimensional shapes.

These isomers include menthol, isomenthol, neomenthol and neoisomenthol, each of which can exist asl, also called (‐), or d, also called (+). Each of the tereoisomers has distinct pharmacologic characteristics. The l, or (‐), isomer of menthol is the natural isomer and conveys the typical taste and sensory characteristics of menthol. The d, or (+), isomer is active but less so than l‐menthol
.
Tobacco companies use both natural and synthetic menthol in cigarettes. The natural menthol found in cigarettes (l isomer) is typically crystallized from steam‐distilled oil of the corn mint plant. Synthetic menthol (dl ‐ menthol) is racemic, meaning it contains both the d and l isomers and has different taste characteristics from natural menthol. Some cigarette manufacturers use natural menthol only; others use a mixture of natural and synthetic menthol. Natural menthol has been reported to impart greater cooling and mintness and less sharpness, perhaps due to trace chemicals in the natural extract.

Menthol is added to cigarettes in numerous ways:
(1) spraying the cut tobacco during blending;
(2)application to the pack foil;
(3) injection into the tobacco stream in the cigarette maker;
(4) injection into the filter on the filter maker;
(5) insertion of crushable capsule in the filter;
(6) placement of a menthol thread in the filter;
(7) a combination of the above (

Over time, menthol diffuses throughout the cigarette irrespective of where it was applied. Menthol cigarettes are typically blended using more flue‐cured and less burley tobacco. This is because some of the chemicals in burley tobaccos create an incompatible taste character with menthol.

How to buy Cigarettes Online

Internet has made things very easy for the people in every walk of life. Now you can easily buy premium cigarette brands on many online cigarette stores. These stores offer different tobacco products for the smokers. The purchase of cheap cigarettes from online cigarette stores is very simple and interesting. You can be able to make purchase of any amount of any premium cigarette brand just by sitting at your home. There are many online cigarette stores available on internet from where you can make purchase of many premium cigarette brands. There are many popular cigarette brands like Camel cigarettes, Marlboro cigarettes, Winston cigarettes, Lucky Strike cigarettes and many other brands are available on these online cigarette stores. There will be no shortage of any tobacco stock on these stores.

The good thing about these online cigarette stores is that you can be able to purchase many premium cigarette brands at very low price as compared to regular cigarettes. The low price of these is because there is no tax or duty on these cigarettes. You just need to go to any online cigarette store and provide some personal information like your name, address and credit card information. You don’t need to worry because your information will be kept secret by these stores. You can order any amount of any premium cigarette brand and delivery of these products will be made at your door step by the cigarettes stores. You can get registration of online cigarette stores in order to choose any premium brand of your choice.

Your request can be canceled if you don’t want to make purchase from these stores and you will get 100% money back guarantee from these stores as well in case cigarettes are damaged or stolen. Online cigarette stores will keep you up to date about your order when you place your order through email. The delivery of your order will be made within 10 to 15 days and it depends on your location. These online cigarette stores have made things very easy for the smoker as they are able to enjoy premium cigarette brands very easily with the help of these stores at very low price. The cigarettes can be delivered any where in the world when you make online purchase.

Online cigarette stores have provided lots of comfort to the smokers as they can be able to purchase any premium brand at very low price on these stores. There is no need to go to the cigarette shops and wait to purchase cigarettes. The price of these cigarettes is very low but quality of these cigarettes is very good. The purchase of these cigarettes is very simple like any online purchase of any other product. You can be able to find your favorite cigarette brand very easily on these online cigarette stores. You just need to pick your favorite cigarette brand and rest will be done by the online cigarette stores. It can be good for the smokers to purchase premium cigarette brand from these stores.

Marlboro Man

Marlboro man is an American cowboy and the main character of Marlboro country - the best cigarette advertisement of the century, world-famous cigarette advertisement character, masculine trademark and macho icon.
Marlboro man is the ad character used by tobacco producer Philip Morris for Marlboro cigarettes sale, which in fact was initially a ladies' smoking brand.
The history of Marlboro man began in 1954. The father of Marlboro Man was Leo Burnet - an advertising agent. P. Morris Tobacco Company has introduced an innovation in Marlboro cigarette production that has lead to a fundamental shift in the brand's target group.
Marlboro have became a male cigarette. But, it wasn’t easy to escape the female image that accompanied this tobacco product. They were likely to be referred to as “sissy” cigarettes.
It was Burnet who purposed the advertisement of the new Marlboro cigs. While searching for a solution, Leo was brainstorming: “What is a masculine symbol people can think of?” The answer came from the Cimarron Ranch in wild New Mexico, the country of “real cowboys on horses”.
The final scene of Marlboro cig ad contained a rugged cowboy who smoked a Marlboro cigarette surrounded by wild nature.
Using this fantastic image, the legendary cigarette advertising campaign for Marlboro cigarettes has begun. In 1972, this tobacco ad brought Marlboro cigs the rank of world best-selling tobacco product. And the most famous too. Every image of a cowboy, western landscape and/or red color reminded of the Marlboro trademark no matter whether these images were accompanied by the slogan or not.
Marlboro man living in Marlboro country has become the symbol of freedom, liberty and independence. The famous cowboy was placed first on the list of “101 most influential people who never lived” in Imaginary Luminaries. He is also considered “the brand image of the century”.
The role of Marlboro man was played by famous people like: actor and author William Thourlby (the first Marlboro Man), Quarterback Charley Conerly, Darrell Winfield, Dick Hammer, Brad Johnson, Bill Dutra, Dean Myers, Robert Norris, Wayne McLaren, David McLean and Tom Mattox.

Tobacco ad campaign draws criticism

A recent ad campaign suggesting people who resolve to give up smoking in the new year try a smokeless product instead has drawn criticism from anti-tobacco advocates.

The campaign in question is the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s first effort aimed at getting smokers to switch to Camel Snus, introduced in early 2009. Users stick the small, tobacco-filled pouches between their cheek and gum.

The ads appeared recently in wide-circulation magazines like Time, Sports Illustrated and People, as well as in some alternative weekly newspapers around the country. They suggest, but don't say directly, that the pouches are a way to help kick the smoking habit.

Under federal law, companies cannot claim that tobacco products work as smoking cessation products. All the ads also warn: "Smokeless tobacco is addictive."

The Food And Drug Administration, which regulates tobacco advertising, is reviewing the Reynolds ad campaign.

Anti-tobacco campaigners say the Reynolds ads aim to reorient smokers to smokeless snus to keep them from being lost as potential customers.

Besides nicotine and, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 cancer-causing agents, smokeless tobacco can have other ingredients that negatively impact a person's health.

Some experts do see advantages to smokeless tobacco over cigarettes. A 2007 report from the United Kingdom's Royal College of Physicians argues some smokeless tobacco products are less harmful than cigarettes, at least from the perspective of secondhand smoke.

Korean Merchants protest cigarette prices

Korean merchants from across the province claim they’re being forced out business by Imperial Tobacco.

More than 800 members of the Ontario Korean Business Association, which represents 2,000 stores, travelled to Toronto on Tuesday to rally outside media companies to get their message out.

They charged that Imperial Tobacco is selling busy stores tobacco products at cheaper prices than retail outlets which are less active.

Association president Ken Lee said the company began last month charging mom and pop stores more expensive prices for cigarettes, as compared to stores that sold a huge volume of smokes.

Lee estimated about 30% of Ontario stores purchased cartons $5 to $10 less than other stores.

“This pricing is very unfair to us and it will drive many small stores out of business,” he said on Tuesday. “Many stores that don’t get a good price have to sell cigarettes at cost or under cost to stay alive.”

About 60 of the businessmen, who travelled from Niagara Falls, Barrie and other areas, were holding signs in a rally outside the Toronto Sun’s King St. E. offices on Tuesday.

Store owner Jay Jin said he has a tough time keeping his store open and called for a universal price for cigarettes.

“Under this system it is very difficult for us to make a living,” Jin said.

Imperial spokesman Eric Gagnon said some merchants belong to a preferred pricing program and get better rates based on the volume sold and other criteria they have to meet.

“We haven’t seen any store closures in a pilot project,” Gagnon said on Tuesday.

Smoking Women Color

The Wild Wild West of e-cigarette manufacturing

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside may as well tell smokers looking to switch to e-cigarettes to keep smoking regular cigarettes based on their study claiming that current versions of the cigarette alternative present a range of issues that pose possible public health risks. Published in today’s online issue of Tobacco Control, the UC Riverside study looked at five brands of e-cigarette — an “electronic nicotine delivery system” — for design features, accuracy and clarity of labelling and the quality of instruction manuals and associated print material supplied by the manufacturers. The study authors said that they uncovered design flaws in some brands of the e-cigarettes, noticed inadequate labelling in the packages and identified quality control issues, including leaky cartridges. This led them to suggest that regulators remove e-cigarettes from the market.

“Some people believe that e-cigarettes are a safe substitute for conventional cigarettes,” said study co-author Dr. Prue Talbot, director of UC Riverside’s Stem Cell Center. “However, there are virtually no scientific studies on e-cigarettes and their safety. Our study — one of the first studies to evaluate e-cigarettes — shows that this product has many flaws, which could cause serious public health problems in the future if the flaws go uncorrected.”

The authors’ failure to mention anything about the use of e-cigarettes as a harm reduction method while discussing the device’s public health impact frustrates ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. “What’s missing is whether e-cigararette vapors are safe or not. They only insist that we don’t know and shouldn’t take our chances. The message they send with such articles is: Keep on smoking.”

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross points out that the researchers’ objective was to investigate current manufacturing practices for the product, but that they failed to mention that e-cigarette manufacturing is in its infant stage of development. “If this were about a plant that manufactured Lipitor or asthma inhalers, you’d say ‘How could they get away with that?’ But we’re in the Wild Wild West of e-cigarette manufacturing with very little regulatory oversight as yet. Yes, we need to ensure that e-cigarette makers use good manufacturing practices. Yet, if given the choice, I’d still rather smoke an e-cigarette manufactured now than a traditional cigarette produced under tightly regulated manufacturing practices.”

The European Travel Retail Council raises alarm over duty-free tobacco threat

The European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) has expressed its concern that a claim in the World Health Organization's (WHO) Tobacco Free Initiative technical report on price and taxation policies of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) could threaten the future of duty-free tobacco sales. The report suggests that duty-free tobacco sales undermine national taxation policies, which could be indirectly used to attack the duty-free industry. It also claims that duty-free is a major source of illicit trade, tax avoidance and tax evasion.

ETRC secretary general Keith Spinks said: "These are claims made without any basis. Duty-free sales account for less than 1% of the global tobacco market. It is disingenuous in the extreme to suggest that with such limited presence, duty-free undermines national taxation policies. We anticipate the working group with begin its work in 2011 and the industry across the world will be responding accordingly."

The WHO working group, which was established to examine the use of price and taxation policies as a means to reduce the demand for tobacco following the fourth Conference of the Parties in Uruguay last week, will look to integrate finance ministries into tobacco control, an area typically reserved for health ministries. Its focus will be on areas raised by the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative in its technical report.

The group will comprise representatives from five states from each of the WHO's six regions and function without a budget in 2011. It also faces substantial opposition from various EU countries which believe taxation should remain a matter for national governments.

In a further development, the WHO will hold the next round of negotiations on the Illicit Trade Protocol in early 2012. The ETRC and other stakeholder organisations have consistently defended the industry against claims that duty-free is a major source of illicit trade.

Big tobacco gears up for awesome fight

Big tobacco is gearing up for the fight of its life against the federal government's plan to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes.

The industry has lodged 19 freedom of information (FOI) requests with the health department ahead of possible legal action against the reforms.

The requests seek thousands of official papers dating back to the early 1990s, including all documents created within the first Rudd/Gillard government relating to Labor's preventative health policies to reduce smoking.
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Health department secretary Jane Halton made public the scope of the industry's demands during a budget estimates hearing on Wednesday.

She was responding to a question from Australian Greens health spokesman Rachel Siewert.

"We have 20 FOIs at the moment in respect of this particular issue (tobacco)," Ms Halton said.

"Nineteen of the 20 are from tobacco companies."

The senior bureaucrat tabled the specifics of all 20 requests. She is taking further legal advice before possibly releasing the names of those behind the requests.

In April this year, Labor announced that from mid-2012 cigarettes would have to be sold in plain packets devoid of brand logos, images and colours.

Big tobacco immediately flagged possible legal action against the laws on the basis they would involve acquiring companies' intellectual property.

The government has said it expects cigarette manufacturers to use their combined resources to try to scuttle the move, which would be a world first.

The industry argues plain packages could easily be counterfeited and allow cigarettes to circulate without health warnings and ingredient reporting.

In the FOI requests, big tobacco seeks all documents created between January 2008 and mid-2010 by the National Preventative Health Taskforce relating to "anti-counterfeit measures" and "any anticipated increase in illicit trade".

Among the avalanche of requests, there is also a demand for papers relating to the 1992 legislation regarding advertising bans and the 1994 introduction of health warnings on cigarette packets.

Law snuffs out mailing smokes to deployed troops

Family and friends have suddenly found themselves blocked from shipping cigarettes and other tobacco products to American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq because of a new law meant to hamper smuggling and underage sales through the mail.

The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2009 quietly took effect June 29. It cut off those care packages by effectively requiring that tobacco be sent with one particular kind of U.S. Postal Service shipping that requires a signature for delivery but does not deliver to most overseas military addresses.

April Woods, the 26-year-old wife of a Fort Campbell soldier in Afghanistan, used to regularly send him packages of snacks, drink mixes, pictures and cartons of his favorite variety of Marlboros.

"I would hope that they would change it. It's just ridiculous that they take so much away from our soldiers," Woods said.

Woods said her husband, Sgt. Randall Woods, doesn't have easy access to the stores on some Afghanistan bases that sell cigarettes and he also doesn't keep a lot of cash on him while deployed.

"So the only way he has to get cigarettes is through family members," she said.

Woods said every friend of hers with a spouse who smokes is very upset over the restrictions.

The law was created to prevent minors from ordering cigarettes through the mail and to prevent trafficking by requiring tracking and confirmation that the recipient is old enough. It allows small shipments of tobacco products, but only via Express Mail because that's the only postal service product that meets the identification requirements under the law.

"The issue is that Express Mail is not available to some overseas military destinations, primarily Iraq or Afghanistan," said Beth Barnett, spokeswoman for the postal service in Tennessee.

Families don't have any other options for shipping cigarettes. The law only affects the U.S. Postal Service because UPS and FedEx do not allow consumer-to-consumer shipping of tobacco.

Lynn Becker, a spokeswoman for the bill's sponsor, Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the law did not intend to restrict mailing tobacco to soldiers.

"Sen. Kohl's counsel is working with the legal office at USPS to determine whether there is an alternative to Express Mail that could be used to reach troops overseas," Becker said. "He's also working on a legislative fix to ensure that service members overseas can receive care packages that include tobacco products."

Kohl sent a letter to the Postmaster General asking him to change the regulations, because the bill also expressly permits the shipping of tobacco from adult to adult, including to military addresses.

The military has been trying to reduce smoking among soldiers and vets, including banning indoor smoking and ending smoking on submarines by the end of the year. The Pentagon laid out a plan in 1999 to reduce smoking rates by 5 percent a year and reduce chewing tobacco use to 15 percent by 2001, but wasn't able to achieve the goals. And the Defense Department received a study last year recommending the military move toward becoming tobacco-free perhaps in about 20 years.

But the sudden shift on mailing rules has sown confusion among family and charity groups who now wonder how else to get cigarettes to troops.

Susan Baldwin, of Fairview, Tenn., is the mother of two sailors in the Navy. One of her sons is deployed and asked her to send him a certain type of coffee and his favorite brand of menthol cigarettes.

Baldwin went to the post office to ship the items, but was repeatedly told she couldn't include the cigarettes in the package.

Tracy Della Vecchia, executive director and founder of MarineParents.com, said she thinks a quick fix would be to just exempt packages to military addresses from having to ship by Express Mail because soldiers serving overseas are old enough to buy tobacco.

"It's discriminating against people who are serving in combat zones," she said.

In the past, the group has sent care packages to Marines that include smokeless tobacco or cigarettes if they request it.

"For now, I will absolutely not send any tobacco, because we are a huge organization and I don't want the much needed supplies like baby wipes and toothpaste to go unreceived," she said.

But for parents looking to make their son or daughter a little happier while in a war zone, that's not always an easy decision.

Woods said her husband and the soldiers he's serving with are doing the best they can among themselves.

"Basically everyone tries to share what they can share," she said.

Passive smoking and children

In 2003, over 11,000 people in the UK are estimated to have died as a result of
passive smoking.* Although regarded for many years as little more than a
nuisance, exposure to ambient tobacco smoke released directly by burning
tobacco and indirectly by exhalation of smoke by smokers (also variously
referred to as environmental tobacco smoke, second-hand smoke, or tobacco
smoke pollution) is now a recognised cause of significant short- and long-term
harm to others. Many of those adverse health effects were summarised,
particularly in relation to adult exposure, in an earlier Royal College of
Physicians report.†
Increasing awareness of these health risks has led the UK and several other
countries to introduce legislation restricting or prohibiting smoking in enclosed
public places. This legislation has typically been justified by the legal and moral
obligation to ensure safe working environments and, in the UK, to prevent the
600 or so deaths previously estimated to be caused each year by passive smoking
at work.* However, these are the minority of deaths caused by passive smoking,
the bulk of which (an estimated 10,700 deaths in adults in 2003)* arise from
exposure to tobacco smoke in the home.
Passive smoking in the home is also a major hazard to the health of the
millions of children in the UK who live with smokers, and the extent of this
health problem has not, to date, been accurately quantified. In this report, we
therefore use established literature and additional analysis to estimate the
prevalence, determinants and trends in passive smoking exposure, present new
systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the magnitude of the effects of passive
smoking on the main recognised health consequences in children, and estimate
the numbers of cases of illness and death arising from these effects. We also
quantify the effect of exposure to smoking behaviour on the risk of children
starting to smoke, and estimate the number of children who do take up smoking
as a consequence. We then consider the financial cost of the disease burden for
the NHS and wider society arising from all of these exposures. The report also
explores ethical issues relating to passive smoking and children, and public
opinion on measures to prevent passive smoking, concluding with policy options
that would reduce exposure of children to this significant health hazard and
negative behavioural model.
Governments, and societies, have a duty to ensure that children grow up in a
safe environment, and are protected from explicit or implicit encouragement to
take up hazardous behaviours such as smoking. This report provides some of the
background and policy measures necessary to ensure that that duty is discharged.
I am personally very grateful to John Britton and the other members of the
RCP’s Tobacco Advisory Group, and the many contributors to this report who
have continued the excellent tradition of the RCP in this important area.

Women smoking cigarettes pictures

Taiwan Children Health Study

The Taiwan Children Health Study (TCHS) has a multipurpose nationwide design, and is focused on common environmental factors such as outdoor pollutants and household ETS exposure. Communities in Taiwan were selected with the aim of maximizing the variability and minimizing the correlations of exposures to outdoor pollutants based on historic routine air monitoring data. In communities with pollution patterns of interest, neighborhoods with stable, largely middle-income populations were identified from 2004 census data.
To address community-level sources of variability, we randomly sought participating communities within existing financial constraints. School district representatives in participating communities were consulted to identify suitable schools, based on demographic stability, likely parental cooperation, and absence of local pollution sources. Our study population finally comprised middleschool children from 14 diverse communities in Taiwan. To permit cross-sectional assessment of environmental factors, we recruited 350-450 participants from each of the study communities. In each classroom targeted for participation, every student was invited to volunteer.
Classroom-level incentives were used to encourage participation. In each school, science, health, or physical education classes were targeted, excluding any special classes for gifted or learning-disabled subjects. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board at our university hospital, and it complied with the principles outlined in the Helsinki Declaration [28]. Questionnaire of respiratory health A total of 5,804 seventh and eighth-grade children were recruited from public schools in 14 Taiwanese communities in 2007.
The questionnaire was distributed in all communities simultaneously; subjects were given the forms by project staff following their pulmonary function tests and asked to complete and return them the following day. Questionnaire responses by parents or guardians were used to categorize children’s asthma status, age at asthma diagnosis, wheeze, and history of bronchitic symptoms. Children were considered to have asthma if there was a positive answer to the question “Has a doctor ever diagnosed this child as having asthma?” Active asthma was defined as physician-diagnosed asthma with any asthma-related symptoms or illness in the previous 12 months. Serious asthma was defined as ever visit emergency rooms or ever hospitalized. Early-onset asthma was defined as age of onset for asthma before 5 years of age. Late-onset asthma was onset after 5 years of age. Wheeze was defined as any occurrence of the child’s chest sounding wheezy or whistling.
Current wheeze was defined as wheezing for 3 or more days out of the week for a month or longer in the previous year. Bronchitis status was positive if subjects had a physician-diagnosed episode in the prior 12 months. Chronic cough was defined as cough in the morning or at other times of the day that lasted for three months in a row or more during the prior 12 months. Chronic phlegm was defined by a “yes” answer to the question “Other than with colds, does this child usually seem congested in the chest or bring up phlegm?”

Types of Tobacco Use

Manufactured cigarettes consist of shredded or reconstituted tobacco processed with hundreds of chemicals. Often with a filter, they are manufactured by a machine, and are the predominant form of tobacco used worldwide.
Bidis consist of a small amount of tobacco, hand-wrapped in dried temburni leaf and tied with string. Despite their small size, their tar and carbon monoxide deliveries can be higher than manufactured cigarettes because of the need to puff harder to keep bidis lit.
Cigars are made of air-cured and fermented tobaccos with a tobacco wrapper, and come in many shapes and sizes, from cigarettesized cigarillos, double coronas, cheroots, stumpen, chuttas and dhumtis. In reverse chutta and dhumti smoking, the ignited end of the cigar is placed inside the mouth. There was a revival of cigar smoking at the end of the 20th century, among both men and women.
Kreteks are clove-flavoured cigarettes. They contain a wide range of exotic flavourings and eugenol, which has an anaesthetising effect, allowing for deeper smoke inhalation.
Pipes are made of briar, slate, clay or other substance – tobacco is placed in the bowl and inhaled through the stem, sometimes through water. Sticks are made from sun-cured tobacco known as brus and wrapped in cigarette paper.
Chewing tobacco is also known as plug, loose-leaf, and twist.
Pan masala, or betel quid consists of tobacco, areca nuts and staked lime wrapped in a betel leaf. They can also contain other sweetenings and flavouring agents.
Varieties of pan include kaddipudi,hogesoppu, gundi, kadapam, zarda, pattiwala, kiwam, mishri, and pills. Moist snuff is taken orally. A small amount of ground tobacco is held in the mouth between the cheek and gum. Increasingly manufacturers are pre-packaging moist snuff into small paper or cloth packets, to make the product easier to use.
Other products include khaini, shammaah and nass or naswa.
Dry snuff is powdered tobacco that is inhaled through the nose or taken by mouth. Once widespread, its use is now in decline. Cigars are smoked throughout the world. Regional variations include cheroots and stumpen (western and central Europe) and dhumtis (conical cheroots) used in India.
The water pipe, also known as shisha or hubbly bubbly, is commonly used in north Africa, the Mediterranean region and parts of Asia. Bidis are found thoughout south-east Asia, and are India’s most used type of tobacco.
Kreteks are clove flavoured cigarettes widely smoked in Indonesia. In Southeast Asia clay pipes known as suipa, chilum and hookli are widely used. Tobacco is used orally throughout the world, but principally in Southeast Asia. In Mumbai, India, 56% of women chew tobacco.
Cigarettes are available throughout the world. Filter-tipped cigarettes are usually more popular than unfiltered cigarettes. Hand rolled cigarettes are also widely smoked in many countries. Whether it is inhaled, sniffed, sucked or chewed, or whether it is mixed with other ingredients, there is no safe way of using tobacco.

R.J. Reynolds’ cigarette shipment volume

For the second quarter and the first half, higher pricing, lower promotional expense and additional productivity gains, including those from last year’s restructuring at R.J. Reynolds, more than offset the impact of lower cigarette volume, higher pension and legal expense, and MSA costs.
“R.J. Reynolds’ cigarette shipment volume fell 6.0 percent in the second quarter compared with an industry decline of 4.1 percent. That performance was significantly better than the first quarter, largely due to strong Pall Mall volume, as well as trade inventories returning to more normal levels after the federal tax increase,” said Daniel M. Delen, the company’s chairman, president and chief executive.
The company’s first-half cigarette volume decline of 8.1 percent was slightly higher than the industry decline of 7.1 percent.
R.J. Reynolds’ growth brands, Camel and Pall Mall, delivered a strong second-quarter cigarette market share gain of 2.6 percentage points, bringing their combined share to 12.7 percent. That drove the company’s total cigarette market share to 28.7 percent, up 0.4 percentage points.
Camel, the company’s flagship brand, continued to perform well, with a second-quarter total-tobacco market share of 7.8 percent, up 0.3 percentage points over the prior-year quarter.
Camel Crush, which uses R.J. Reynolds’ innovative capsule technology to offer smokers the choice of regular or menthol with each cigarette, posted market share of 0.6 percent in the second quarter even though it has received relatively low promotional support since its national introduction in the third quarter of 2008.
Camel Snus was expanded nationally in the first quarter and continues to gain awareness and trial. The company is also moving forward with its innovative line of dissolvable tobacco products. Camel Orbs went into three lead markets in the first quarter and will be joined by Camel Sticks and Camel Strips this summer.
Pall Mall, R.J. Reynolds’ other growth brand, performed extremely well in the second quarter, with continued high levels of trial and conversion. Its second-quarter market share rose 2.6 percentage points from the prior-year period, to 5.2 percent.
“Pall Mall is a high-quality, longer-lasting cigarette at an attractive price, so it’s particularly appealing in today’s economic environment,” Delen said. “The brand’s most recent promotional period, which coincided with the federal excise tax increase, was widely welcomed by adult smokers as they reevaluated brand choices in light of higher prices. The promotion ended in late May and many of the adult smokers who tried the brand are sticking with Pall Mall.”

Policies to prevent public subsidy of tobacco imagery in youthrated films

Film producers are by no means automatically entitled to public subsidies.
They must apply for them and meet a state’s particular requirements, which are
often quite stringently designed to minimize abuse of these programs. Eligibility
procedures in different states require applicants to submit shooting scripts,
production budgets, and day‐by‐day production schedules for state review before
shooting begins; prove the residency of crew members; contribute to local
educational and training programs; and supply the state with certified accounts
after production. States may require producers and directors to be interviewed, in
person, by program staff before an eligibility ruling. Many states require an
acknowledgment in the film’s final credits; some specify precise wording or size.

Most states disqualify certain kinds of media productions from subsidies,
such as: news, weather, and sports programs; reality shows and daytime TV;
political commercials and digital gambling projects. All except Louisiana and Puerto
Rico specifically disqualify obscene material, the definition referring either to a state
statute or to the federal age‐recording requirements for performers in sexually
explicit material.

States often allow for administrative discretion in the final decision about
which films to subsidize, based on general economic benefits to the state or, as in
Texas and Utah, how the film portrays the state’s citizens. In Georgia, “NC‐1717 or
unrated movies may not qualify at the sole discretion of the [Georgia Film Office].”
Also, projects “determined not to have positive marketing value for the State and
which are deemed not beneficial to the State of Georgia's branding initiatives and
goals" may be denied use of the “Georgia Entertainment Promotion” logo and the
additional 10 percent tax credit that goes along with it. Florida offers a bonus 2
percent tax credit to “family friendly” films, as determined by “review of the script
and an interview with the director.”

Florida states:
Family‐friendly productions are those that have cross‐generational appeal;
would be considered suitable for viewing by children age 5 and older; are
appropriate in theme, content, and language for a broad family audience;
embody a responsible resolution of issues; and do not exhibit any act of
smoking, sex, nudity, or vulgar or profane language.

Recovery memory suppression

It’s normal to slowly grow complacent during the
months and years after ending nicotine use. Complacency is fueled by quickly failing
memories of the daily captivity stress factors that compelled us to seek freedom. It’s also
fueled by an inability to recall the intensity of early withdrawal anxieties, the power of
cue triggered crave episodes or the duration of conscious fixation.

Most of us failed to keep a detailed record of why we commenced recovery or what those
first two weeks were like. Without a record to remind us, we are forced to rely upon our
memory to accurately and vividly preserve the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
truth. But now, the memory in which we placed our trust has failed us.
It isn’t that our memory is bad, faulty or doing anything wrong. In fact, it’s working as
designed to preserve in as much detail as possible the joyful events of life, while
suppressing and helping us forget life’s stressful events, anxieties, trauma and pain. To
do otherwise would make life inside these minds unbearable. In fact, post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) is believed to reflect a breakdown in the mind’s ability to forget.396
If women were forced to remember the agony and pain of childbirth, most would likely
have just one. We are each blessed with the ability to forget.
So how does the recovered nicotine addict who failed to record their journey home revive
their passion for freedom and recall liberty's price? If we forget the past are we destined
to repeat it? Not necessarily. But just as any loving relationship needs nourishment to
flourish, we should not take our recovery for granted or the flame could eventually die
and the fire go out. It’s my dream to protect my freedom until that final breath. If you
feel the same then we need to nourish our desires. If we do, we win. If not, we risk
complacency allowing nicotine back into our bloodstream. We risk dying as slaves.
Whether daily, monthly or just once a year, our recovery benefits from care. But where
do we turn if our recovery memories have been suppressed and we have kept no record?
Our best resource is probably our brothers and sisters still in bondage. Why not enlist
their help in revitalizing our own memories of active dependency? Talk to them. Let
them know what you seek. Encourage them to be as candid and truthful as possible.
Although it may look like they’re enjoying their addiction, their primary objective is to
stay one step ahead of insula driven urges and craves. Tell them the truth about where
you now find yourself. Although not always the case, with most you’ll find their
responses inspiring. Be kind and sincere. It wasn't long ago that those were our shoes.
Try hard to recall those first two weeks without nicotine. Think about earlier uneducated
attempts. What were they like? Can you recall your mind begging to be fed? Feel the
anxieties. Were you able to concentrate? How was your sleep? Did you feel depressed,
angry, irritable, frustrated, restless or anxious? Were there rapidly cycling emotions,
irrational thinking or emotional outbursts? Do you remember these things? Do you
remember the price you paid? Do you recall the reasons you willingly paid it?
We can go on-line if we have access to a computer, visit scores of smoking cessation
support groups and find thousands of battles being fought, hear a multitude of cries and
watch hundreds struggling for survival as they dream of the calmness and quiet you now
call home. They cannot begin to imagine traveling so far that remembering their turmoil
becomes the greatest challenge of all.
If permitted, send a message to those in need. The most important thing you can tell
them is the truth about why you came. If still in the first few days they may be facing
hurricane anxieties. Their mind may have them convinced that their emotional storm will
never end. Don’t pretend that you can feel their anxiety. Instead give them what they
need, the truth! Let them know that you’ve traveled so far that it’s now hard to relate.
Tell them how comfortable and complacent you’ve grown. Describe last week and how
many seconds, if any, that you devoted to thinking about using. Fear of the unknown is
frightening. Teach them what life on Easy Street is like. By aiding them we aid
ourselves.
It may be that complacency has you at a point where thoughts of wanting are again taking
root. But think back. How long had you gone without wanting? If it is happening,
rekindling pride in the amazing journey you once made may silence such chatter. If not
I’d encourage you to re-read Chapters 3 and 12, as I suspect that you’ve either developed
a romantic fixation with using or failed to let go of one during recovery.

The Bigger the Better

Although the above crave episode chart reflects averages of quitter data from a specific
study of a unique population, it shows two factors common to every recovery. It
evidences the fact that the number of daily crave episodes quickly peaks. It also shows
that the number then begins to gradually decline. I’d like to spend a moment focusing
upon natural consequences associated with the decline.
Unless following the bum advice portion of “Clearing the Air” and hiding in a closet in
order to avoid temptation, locked up in prison, or laid up in a hospital room, we have
no choice but to meet and extinguish the bulk of our subconscious feeding cues within
the first week. The number and frequency of early challenges kept us on our toes and
prepared to swing into action and confront challenge on a moment’s notice.
As the crave episode chart a few pages back shows, by the 10th day the average exuser
was experiencing just 1.4 crave episodes per day. That translates to less than five
minutes of significant challenge. But what about the days that follow? What would be
the natural and expected consequences of beginning to go entire days without once
encountering an un-reconditioned crave trigger? What will happen to anticipation, your
preparedness, your defenses and battle plans once you experience a day or two without
serious challenge?
For purposes of discussion only, let’s pretend that during recovery days 14, 15 and 16
that although you remained occupied in dealing with what at times seemed like a
steady stream of conscious thoughts about “wanting” to use nicotine, that you did not
encounter any un-extinguished feeding cues. Although unlikely you’d have noticed,
wouldn't it be normal to begin to relax a bit and slowly lower your defenses and guard?
And then it happens. Assume that on day 17 you encounter a subconscious crave
triggering cue that wasn’t part of normal daily life. It catches you totally unprepared,
off-guard and surprised. You scramble to muster your defenses but it’s as if you can’t
find them, that they too are being swallowed by a fast moving tsunami of rising
anxieties. You feel as if you’ve been sucker-punched hard by the most intense crave
ever. It feels endless. Your conscious thinking mind tells you that things are getting
worse, not better. The thought of throwing in the towel and giving-up suddenly begins
sloshing through a horrified mind.

Tobacco Tax Proposed to Fund Medicaid

More people are turning towards Utah's Medicaid program at a time when there's fewer dollars to go around. Since the recession began, the program has seen a 20 percent enrollment increase. The program went from 160,000 participants to 200,000 participants. "What Medicaid does in times like this is it catches those people who can't get health care coverage on their own anymore," said Lincoln Nehring, Utah's Medicaid Policy Director.

A new report by the Utah Health Policy Project made several recommendations as to how the state can not only save money but raise revenue for Medicaid. The report suggests the state work harder at preventing Medicaid fraud, revise the program's preferred drug list, and increase tobacco taxes from 70 cents per cigarette pack to two dollars per pack.

"If you look long term for the state of Medicaid, a tobacco tax increase will probably serve the program and the health of Utahns well." says Nehring.

Last year, a similar tax increase failed, but Medicaid advocates believe the state's current budget deficit will force lawmakers to act.

Top senate leadership responded to the tobacco tax idea. Senator Wayne Neiderhouser says he doesn't think it will solve Medicaid's problem in the long term. He would only support a tobacco tax increase if the money went towards Utah's tobacco trust fund.

Senator Michael Waddoups says the plan would likely have enough votes to pass the senate, but only if the governor approves.

Malawi Deports Universal

Malawi, the world’s largest burley tobacco producer, said it will deport officials of Alliance One Inc. and the local unit of Universal Corp. for paying below government-mandated prices for the leaf.

“This is the action I have taken,” President Bingu wa Mutharika said in a speech broadcast live on the state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corp. radio station today. “They have been defying my orders to pay better prices and I have decided to chase them.”

The government yesterday revoked temporary work permits for officials of Alliance One, Universal-unit Limbe Leaf Tobacco, and Premium Tama Tobacco Co., and issued them with 24-hour deportation orders.

Karen Whelan, spokeswoman for Richmond, Virginia-based Universal, didn’t immediately return a message left on her office phone. Henry Babb, a spokesman for Morrisville, North Carolina-based Alliance One, didn’t return a message left at his office. A receptionist at Premium Tama’s Lilongwe office said Managing Director Tom Malata isn’t available to comment.

Malawi started setting minimum prices for the various grades of tobacco two years ago after it accused merchants of putting farmers out of business. While dealers denied that they underpaid farmers, Wa Mutharika on April 6 threatened to deport buyers if prices didn’t improve.

‘Can’t Allow It’

“They have been telling our farmers to grow better quality leaf and yet what they are buying at the auction floors is the low quality tobacco,” he said today. “They have been doing this deliberately to accuse the farmers of producing low quality leaf and paying them less. I can’t allow that.”

This season Malawi set a price of $2.15 a kilogram (2.2 pounds) for burley tobacco and $3.09 a kilogram for flue-cured tobacco. Tobacco Control Commission Chief Executive Officer Bruce Munthali on Sept. 4 reported to the government that buyers were ignoring these prices, the president said today.

The southern African nation relies on sales of the leaf for 60 percent of its export earnings. Burley tobacco is a lower- grade variety of the leaf used to fill cigarettes flavored with higher-grade flue-cured tobacco.

Malawi is forecast to produce 245 million kilograms (539 million pounds) of burley this year, according to the Web site of Universal. That’s more than double its closest rivals, Brazil and the U.S., and more than a quarter of global output. Flue- cured production of 25 million kilograms is about 0.6 percent of the projected world crop.

Universal, the world’s largest tobacco merchant, owns 58 percent of Limbe Leaf through its Continental unit, with the remainder owned by Press Corp. Ltd. of Malawi, according to Limbe’s Web site.

Calls to the local office of Alliance One in Lilongwe were not answered. A person who answered the phone at Limbe Leaf in the city said Chairman Mathews Chikaonda is the only official authorized to speak to the press and he is unavailable because he’s in China.

Hot air from Big Tobacco

Any company selling products that addict and eventually kill 400,000 customers annually might well be reluctant to point out the health dangers.

So the federal courts should be mighty skeptical when Big Tobacco screams about its First Amendment rights to keep peddling cigarettes without the oversize health warning labels ordered by Congress this year.

With a free-speech lawsuit filed last week, the nation's largest tobacco companies challenged marketing restrictions and a mandate from the Food and Drug Administration to cover the top half of cigarette packages with graphic warnings by next year.

The glaring warnings on cigarette packs are among the directives provided under the FDA's new oversight of tobacco products approved in landmark public-health legislation signed by President Obama in June.

Along with the warning labels and limits on tobacco advertising, the FDA won the right to ban toxic substances in cigarettes and restrict levels of addictive nicotine.

But the trade-off was a major victory for tobacco companies such as giant Philip Morris U.S.A. that assured nicotine would never be banned. And now the industry can market its products as having the FDA's stamp of approval, even though smoking-related illnesses will continue to kill thousands.

Even with those gains in hand, there was little doubt that cigarette makers would try to wriggle out from under the FDA advertising and labeling mandates. In fact, it took just a few months.

For decades, tobacco firms hid the devastating health risks of smoking, made bogus safety claims, and pitched smoking to teens.

Despite that history as a rogue industry, the tobacco companies contend in their lawsuit that tobacco products are legal and, therefore, they have a right to market widely and refuse labels that "stigmatize their own products."

The case likely will reach the Supreme Court, which decisively struck down restrictions on billboard tobacco ads on free speech grounds in 2001. Were the industry's broad legal challenge to succeed, FDA regulation of tobacco would be virtually meaningless.

Maybe Big Tobacco will be able to hide behind the Bill of Rights, but Americans should have a greater right to public-health efforts designed to safeguard them from the deadly ills of smoking.

Tobacco Plant Used to Create First-Ever 'Cruise Ship' Virus Vaccine

As one of the main ingredients in cigarettes, tobacco certainly gets a bad rap.

But the tobacco plant has been used to develop a new vaccine to thwart the dreaded norovirus – an illness that has been know to wreak havoc on cruise ships sickening passengers (sometimes hundreds of passengers) with diarrhea and vomiting.

The vaccine is unique in its origin as it was made in a tobacco plant using an engineered plant virus. Researchers are using plants in the battle against norovirus, swine flu, bird flu, and other infectious diseases, said Dr. Charles Arntzen, speaking Tuesday at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

The norovirus, like the flu virus, is constantly changing, which has made creating a vaccine for it challenging for pharmaceutical companies, Arntzen said.

“The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza virus has once again reminded us of the ability of disease-causing agents to mutate into new and dangerous forms,” he said in a news release.

The norovirus will continue to evolve into new strains, so Arntzen’s team designed a vaccine manufacturing process quick enough to keep up with it and other shape-shifting viruses, he said.

“We think we have a major advantage in using engineered plant viruses to scale-up vaccine manufacture within weeks instead of months,” he said.

While not as dangerous as the flu, norovirus spreads rapidly and can sicken people with diarrhea and vomiting for up to three days.

“It essentially closes down wings of hospitals, schools, day care centers and homes for the elderly. In the case of the military, it can shut down an entire ship and delay military operations while there is a cleanup in process. Because the disease spreads so rapidly, the major economic consequences are caused by the disruption of normal daily life and commerce,” Arntzen said.

To battle each new strain of the norovirus and to keep full resistance to older strains, Arntzen says the vaccine could be administered as a booster every 12 to 18 months. After successful experiments in mice, his team is developing a nasal delivery system for the virus-like particles. Arntzen expects to start clinical trials in late 2009 or early 2010.

Tobacco Maker Names Chairman

British American Tobacco PLC on Wednesday tapped former Bank of Ireland PLC Governor Richard Burrows as its new chairman.

Mr. Burrows will take over from Jan du Plessis, who will become chairman of Rio Tinto PLC, on Nov. 1.

Mr. Burrows resigned from the Bank of Ireland in May, following a troubled fiscal year in which the bank's net profit dropped to €69 million ($97.5 million) from €1.7 billion a year earlier and had to seek €3.5 billion in financial assistance from the Irish government. Mr. Burrows apologized to investors at the time for the loss of shareholder value and the cancellation of the company's dividend.

BAT, meanwhile, demonstrated the resilience of the tobacco industry last month when it posted a 16% rise in first-half net profit to £1.45 billion ($2.4 billion).

Sales of cigarettes are continuing to hold up pretty well in the recession because smokers are reluctant to give up tobacco. Also, any dropoff in volume can be offset with price increases. The company's shares have risen 3.4% in the past year.

Analysts weren't concerned by Mr. Burrows's Bank of Ireland record, concentrating instead on his highly successful career in the fast-moving consumer-goods industry.

He was chief executive of Irish Distillers from 1978 until its takeover by Pernod Ricard SA in 1988. He continued to work within the French drinks company and eventually served as co-chief executive of Pernod Ricard from 2000 to 2005.

The BAT chair is a nonexecutive position, but a higher-profile role than at other similarly sized companies. During his five years in the job, Mr. du Plessis took responsibility for commenting on any political issues -- such as antismoking legislation -- leaving Chief Executive Paul Adams to concentrate on operational matters.

Mr. Burrows will be paid an annual salary of £525,000 and will work a two-day week for BAT. The salary is below the £686,000 Mr. du Plessis received to reflect the short working week, the company said.

Tobacco farming killing food production in West Nile

During the recent Jinja Agricultural Trade Show, I went to the World Food Programme (WFP) stall to find out if our small farmer groups in West Nile can benefit from P4P initiative supported by Bill Gates and Melinda, unaware of the fact that the region is not a beneficiary because of her inability to produce, even feed her own people.

While Food and Agriculture Organisation’s latest estimates put the number of chronically hungry people at 1.02b, up from 915m in 2008, Uganda’s West Nile region isn’t exempt from these global figures save for reasons that force people to go hungry. In an earlier article, I stressed the need for tobacco firms to be socially responsible, well aware of colossal cost we could one day pay for sticking to this cash crop.

Tobacco growing has partly contributed to the famine in West Nile. First and fore most, tobacco growing has led to destruction of forests and fruit trees to the point that the region now faces drought, reduced honey production and general environmental degradation-- a typical example of collapse Jared Diamond talked about in his book ‘Collapse: how Societies choose to Succeed and Fail’ in which he referred to Haitain society that ended up in cannibalism after destroying the vegetation on which their survival depended.

Because tobacco production also requires dedicating labour, land and other resources at the expense of growing subsistence crops, the potential for hunger and starvation is imminent. My estimation is that over one million people are engaged in tobacco value chain in Uganda. According to BAT, there are 17,500 registered tobacco farmers in West Nile. With such a high number of people engaged in tobacco and neglecting food production, what do we expect?

The health effects of tobacco production such as nicotine poisoning, pesticide exposure, respiratory effects, musculoskeletal and other injuries have consumed parts of the household incomes that would have gone to food production and purchase. Planting of eucalyptus with very high transpiration rate has drained a lot of water from the soils. Just imagine how much water has been drained from West Nile soils since the introduction of tobacco in the 1930s if over 100,000 combined farmers plant 100 eucalyptus seedlings each year with each tree sucking about 5 litre a day?

According a study by Prof. Zake of Makerere University, Ugandan soils have lost Nitrogen, Potassium and Calcium minerals. In tobacco growing areas, because of high population pressure, land is never allowed to rest to regain fertility. Remedial-yearly-application of fertilizers to increase tobacco yields seemed to have changed the soil PH, water retention and other properties of the soils thus contributing to the infertility.

In this catastrophe where governments and aid agencies strive to help the starving population, promoters of tobacco have done nothing to rescue their farmers? I thought the dramatic camping of two women with children at Arua Police Station could have sharpened their zeal to help but did it?

Above all, in West Nile, tobacco is grown by the poor, sold at throwaway prices determined by tobacco companies, processed by low-paid workers, sold to the poor and used by the poor, the majority of whom starve, stay poor, get sick while generating wealth for multinationals. With most profits going to middle men (tobacco buyers) and multinationals, farmers are left with no option but starvation after failure to raise enough money to buy food whose production is often ignored.

Sudan now offered unprecedented market and production stimulus for West Nile but this largely remained untapped because farmers opted for tobacco, insisting there is ready market.

The government should inform of seed inputs and subsidies support shift from tobacco to cultivation of other alternative crops with less requirements than tobacco. I also request WFP, as part of P4P initiative, to support tobacco farmers so as to increase food production in Maracha and Terego.

Raising cigarette tax may backfire

Raising Michigan's $2-a-pack cigarette tax another 25 cents -- an idea floated by Gov. Jennifer Granholm -- would generate minimal revenue and encourage more smuggling from other states with lower cigarette taxes, according to a new study.

The report by three economists was commissioned by a lobby group for gas station convenience stores, which plans a news conference today. The study concludes that a 25-cent tax cigarette tax hike -- a 12.5% increase -- would produce 8.5% more in tobacco tax revenue.

The report says the 25-cent tax increase would cost convenience stores a combined $6.5 million because smokers, who buy other things at the stores, would buy fewer cigarettes or shop elsewhere, such as Ohio and Indiana, where tobacco taxes are lower.
State senators' spat won't require discipline

A state Senate investigation into a heated exchange between two members in a Capitol elevator June 17 found insufficient evidence of behavior that would require disciplinary action, Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, announced Monday.

Bishop, in a letter sent to Sen. Irma Clark-Coleman, D-Detroit, said he would not take any formal action against Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw, whom Clark-Coleman had accused of acting in a threatening manner during an argument over state spending.

The investigation by Senate staff concluded that there was little evidence beyond Clark-Coleman's assertion.

Shands Healthcare plan to go tobacco-free

Patients, visitors and employees at the University of Florida Health Science Center campus and Shands HealthCare facilities throughout north central Florida are going Tobacco-Free Together, officials announced today (Aug. 4).

As of Nov. 1, the use of cigarettes or other tobacco products in any of the Health Science Center, Shands or UF Physicians buildings and parking lots, or in vehicles in these areas, will not be permitted. UF plans to implement the policy on its main campus in July 2010.

“Going tobacco-free on our health-care campuses is the right thing to do for our patients and visitors — and for each other,” said Dr. David S. Guzick, UF’s senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System. “Coinciding with Tobacco-Free Together will be the opening of the Shands Cancer Hospital at UF, which reflects our commitment to the prevention and treatment of cancer.”

The new rule mainly affects a few designated outdoor smoking and tobacco-use areas and the properties surrounding Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare facilities. Smoking and tobacco use are already prohibited indoors.

“The decision to have tobacco-free campuses systemwide supports our commitment to providing a healthy environment for our patients and to improving health in our communities,” said Tim Goldfarb, chief executive officer of Shands HealthCare. “We not only provide outstanding medical treatment and patient care, but also work hard to promote wellness and disease prevention.”

Tobacco dependence is the nation’s most preventable cause of death and disease, including cancer, heart disease and stroke. Nationally, tobacco use is responsible for nearly one in five deaths or an estimated 440,000 deaths per year, according to the Florida Hospital Association. That’s approximately 1,200 people each day — more than deaths caused by alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car crashes, fires and AIDS combined. Currently, one out of every seven adults hospitalized at Shands at UF is treated for cancer or cancer-related illnesses.

Throughout Florida, more than 70 hospitals support the Florida Department of Health’s “Tobacco Free Florida” campaign and have tobacco-free campuses. Shands Jacksonville and the UF Health Science Center-Jacksonville went completely tobacco-free last November.

The Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare are providing information and resources to assist employees, patients and visitors who would like to break the habit. A wide selection of counseling services, self-help materials and medicines are available to help smokers and tobacco-users quit successfully. More information is available at www.tobaccofree.health.ufl.edu.

The University of Florida Health Science Center — the most comprehensive academic health center in the Southeast — is dedicated to high-quality programs of education, research, patient care and public service. The Health Science Center encompasses the colleges of Dentistry, Public Health and Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine, as well as the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and an academic campus in Jacksonville offering graduate education programs in dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy. Patient care activities, under the banner UF&Shands, are provided through teaching hospitals and a network of clinics in Gainesville and Jacksonville. The Health Science Center also has a statewide presence through satellite medical, dental and nursing clinics staffed by UF health professionals; and affiliations with community-based health-care facilities stretching from Hialeah and Miami to the Florida Panhandle.

Philip Morris, Reynolds Top Analyst Profit Estimates

Philip Morris International Inc., the world’s largest publicly traded tobacco company, and Reynolds American Inc., the second-largest U.S. cigarette maker, reported second-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates and raised their 2009 earnings forecasts.

Higher prices helped Philip Morris, the maker of top- selling Marlboro cigarettes, earn 83 cents a share excluding some items, beating the average analyst estimate of 77 cents. Reynolds’ profit of $1.29 a share topped analysts’ expectations by 13 cents.

Philip Morris and Reynolds joined Altria Group Inc., the largest U.S. tobacco company, in saying price increases contributed to earnings and helped counter declining or little- changed shipments. Altria reported second-quarter earnings yesterday that also exceeded analysts’ projections.

“Everybody’s pricing has been impressive and shows the resilience of the tobacco space,’‘ Brian Barish, who manages Philip Morris and Altria shares at Cambiar Investors, said today in an e-mail. The Denver-based firm oversees $4.7 billion.

Philip Morris advanced $2.14, or 4.9 percent, to $46.02 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have risen 5.8 percent this year. Reynolds gained $1.04, or 2.5 percent, to $42.22.

Net income at New York-based Philip Morris, which generates all of its revenue outside of the U.S., fell 8.6 percent to $1.55 billion, or 79 cents a share, in the second quarter from $1.69 billion, or 80 cents, a year earlier. Revenue declined 8.9 percent to $15.2 billion.

Philip Morris Forecast

Higher prices in Argentina, Germany, Russia and other major markets added to Philip Morris’ earnings while shipments of 223.2 billion cigarettes were little changed.

The company said currency fluctuations will hurt earnings less than it anticipated this year. It expects to earn $3.10 to $3.20 this year, higher than its February forecast of $2.85 to $3 a share.

Some analysts such as Christopher Growe of Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in St. Louis already raised their full-year expectations because of currency changes, pushing the average estimate to $3.11 a share.

The higher forecast “should bolster investor confidence that Philip Morris can sustain its solid underlying business momentum,’‘ Judy Hong, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst in New York, wrote today in a note to clients. She recommends buying the stock.

Through yesterday, the U.S. currency had fallen over the past month against all 16 most-traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The dollar’s decline helps revenue by increasing the value of overseas sales when converted to the U.S. currency.

Reynolds Earnings

Reynolds, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said higher prices countered a 6 percent drop in shipments in the second quarter to 22.4 billion cigarettes.

Camel’s share of U.S. cigarette sales remained unchanged at 7.5 percent, while Pall Mall‘s share rose 2.6 percentage points to 5.2 percent. Reynolds’ total market share increased to 28.7 percent.

Reynolds “gained market share at the retail level, the first time in many years that the company was able to accomplish this,’‘ Thilo Wrede, a Credit Suisse analyst in New York, wrote today in a note to clients. He rates the stock as “neutral’‘ and said promotions contributed to the market share gain.

The company’s smokeless tobacco unit increased its market share to 29.4 percent from 27.5 percent, led by Grizzly snuff.

Reynolds projected 2009 profit of $4.40 to $4.60, an increase from a forecast of $4.15 to $4.45 in April.

Altria, based in Richmond, Virginia, reported yesterday adjusted earnings of 50 cents, helped by price increases and manufacturing cost cuts. The profit beat the average analysts’ estimate by 3 cents. Altria also raised its full-year profit forecast.

Tobacco tax will save lives, cut medical costs

As a practicing physician for over 20 years in Kern County, I have seen many patients who have been affected by smoking -- including those who have never smoked -- and I want to do everything in my power to make sure that early detection of lung disease, cancer research and smoking prevention programs are growing in California.

SB 600, a bill authored by state Sen. Alex Padilla and co-sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association and other health organizations, does just that.

SB 600 would increase the cigarette and tobacco tax in California by $1.50 per pack, a portion of which would go the tobacco control and lung cancer research, and would most importantly reduce the number of teen smokers. Smoking is the largest preventable cause of death in California, and by reducing consumption through an increased tax, we can save hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of dollars in health care costs. It's about time that California increase the cigarette and tobacco tax.

SB 600 will not only save lives, but will keep nearly 361,000 kids from becoming addicted. In my years as a doctor in the San Joaquin Valley, where air pollution is higher and asthma more prevalent than other parts of the state, I understand the need to detect and treat emphysema, asthma, bronchitis and other lung diseases immediately, especially in children.

One in five children in the San Joaquin Valley have asthma, in Kern County alone there are over 20,000 cases of pediatric asthma and nearly double the amount of adult asthma cases. SB 600 will help to reduce the growth of those numbers by expanding the tobacco control program, deterring teens from starting to smoke and reducing the number of smokers.

California hasn't increased the tax on cigarettes and tobacco in 10 years, but the incidence of heart and lung disease and smoking related cancers continues to rise, claiming nearly 40,000 lives annually. SB 600 is projected to reduce youth smoking by 21 percent, cause nearly 190,000 current smokers to quit, prevent more than 165,000 premature deaths and save California $8.1 billion in health care costs.

SB 600 will also help California get back on track by contributing $1.2 billion to the state's general fund in the first year alone. The budget deficit in California has forced already existing health and education programs to be cut and in some cases, eliminated, but SB 600 would help close that gap by contributing to the general fund.

The funds not used for tobacco prevention can help save some of the vital health and education programs threatened by California's budget deliberations.

Big tobacco companies have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to avoid a tax increase in California- and they've gotten away with it for over a decade. Nine states (with both Democratic and Republican governors), Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, have enacted tobacco increases in 2009. There is no better time than right now to increase the tax; it will save lives, prevent tobacco addiction by our teens, reduce future health care costs and help balance the state budget. It's about time.

Ravi Patel, MD, is a board certified oncologist and founder of the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center. He lives in Bakersfield.

Stearns could get up to $917,000 to counteract obesity, tobacco

Area public health agencies are anticipating several million in state grant dollars over the next two years to combat obesity and tobacco use, underlying factors in the leading causes of death in Central Minnesota.

The money is part of the Statewide Health Improvement Program passed by the Legislature in 2008 as part of state health care reform. Lawmakers allocated $47 million for the program.

All three St. Cloud-area counties have applied for the program. Sherburne County has been told it will receive $601,000 over the next two years, said Vonna Henry, public health director.

Stearns County could get as much as $917,000, public health director Renee Frauendienst said.

Benton County's amount is still uncertain.

SHIP is modeled on an initiative called Steps to a HealthierUS, which was tested in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Willmar and Rochester.

The goal was to reduce the state's health care costs by getting "upstream" of health problems, said Cara McNulty, program director with the Minnesota Department of Health.

SHIP aims to encourage policy and environmental changes that make it easier for people to make more healthful choices, she said.

The program focuses on obesity and tobacco use because they are both common in Minnesota and the leading causes of chronic diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes and cancer. Many of the deadly diseases driving up health care costs are preventable, McNulty said.

An estimated 38 percent of Minnesota adults are classified as overweight and one quarter are obese as measured by body mass index. Only 51 percent get 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity five days a week. Eighteen percent of adults smoke.

SHIP is different from past prevention programs because it doesn't just tackle one risk factor in a single setting such as schools, McNulty said. Rather, it involves communities, schools, workplaces and health care systems using strategies proven to work, she said.

Some examples: working with schools to make sure they are providing healthful, affordable breakfasts so students aren't hungry during the day; helping to make communities safer and easier to walk or bike; and promoting farmers markets to make sure the community has access to locally grown fruits and vegetables.

Pentagon OKs tobacco in combat

Everyone knows that we all would be better off if no one smoked. It would prevent a lot of premature deaths and save a lot of money on medical and insurance bills. And it's nice to enjoy a nice piece of salmon in a good restaurant without having to inhale someone's second-hand smoke.

But telling someone to quit who is at risk of getting his or her tail shot off or walking by an exploding car might be too much. So, the Pentagon told its troops Wednesday that it won't ban tobacco products in war zones.

Eventually, the military might become nonsmoking but that is a long way down the road, maybe 20 years or more. The Pentagon has had plans before to reduce or ban smoking in the military with little success. A 1999 plan to reduce smoking rates by 5 percent a year and reduce chewing tobacco use to 15 percent by 2001 fell flat.

The press secretary for the Defense Department said that Defense Secretary Robert Gates "knows that the situation they (soldiers) are confronting is stressful enough as it is. I don't think he is interested in adding to the stress levels by taking away one of the few outlets they may have to relieve stress."

Of course, smoking in combat zones will make it more difficult to quit smoking when the soldiers return. That has been a problem in every war.

Maybe getting the recruits to quit during basic training and at the service academies would be a good place to start the nonsmoking policy.

CC tobacco stats reveal younger smokers

While less Oregonians are lighting up than years past, Coos County continues to exceed the state average. Now, some specialists fear that this trend could breed younger smokers.

According to the Oregon Tobacco Prevention and Education Program, Coos County ranks the fourth highest in tobacco consumption in the state, with roughly 27% of the adult population using tobacco products.

But the addiction starts young, with as much as 14% of 8th graders and 34% of 11th grade students using tobacco in the county.

According to Tobacco Program Coordinator, Stephen Brown, over 90%of all nicotine products are sold to people who started before age 21.

"Most long term smokers begin smoking when they're 12,13 or 14 years old and if you start at that age, you're much more likely to become addicted and become a long term smoker," says Brown.

Brown adds that one of the big misconceptions among the youth is that they think smoking and chewing is far more common then it really is. In fact, nearly three-quarters of Coos County's population doesn't use tobacco.

But despite all the education surrounding the dangers of this product, Brown says the only way to change the status quo is by limiting its public consumption.

"A community as a whole indicates to kids that smoking is not a good behavior and the best way for a community to do that is to not smoke," says Brown. "Especially to not some around children and to not smoke in public places."

Philip Morris to Acquire Protabaco for $425 Million

Philip Morris International Inc. agreed to buy Productora Tabacalera de Colombia, Protabaco Ltda. for $452 million, its second acquisition this month as tobacco demand rises in emerging markets.

The purchase of Colombia’s second-largest tobacco company needs regulatory approval and is expected to be completed within six months, New York-based Philip Morris said today in a statement. The maker of Marlboro cigarettes bought Colombia’s biggest tobacco company, Compania Colombiana de Tabaco SA, in 2005.

Philip Morris, the world’s largest publicly traded tobacco company, agreed to buy Swedish Match AB’s South African unit for $224 million last week. Spun off last year from Altria Group Inc., Philip Morris generates all its sales outside the U.S. Revenue from Latin America and Canada rose 11 percent in the first quarter while falling 12 percent in Europe, the company said in April. Shipments in Colombia declined during the period, Philip Morris said.

Closely held Protabaco sells the Mustang, Premier and President brands. It had about 32 percent of Colombia’s cigarette sales last year, with revenue of $107.6 million and shipments of 6.1 billion cigarettes, Philip Morris said.

Philip Morris rose 1 cent to $42.35 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have dropped 2.7 percent this year.

Occasional Smoker, 47, Signs Tobacco Bill

President Obama does not discuss the fact that he still occasionally smokes, a habit he very publicly tried to kick during his race for the White House.

But there he was on Monday, talking about cigarettes. As he signed legislation bringing tobacco products under federal control for the first time, the president conceded that the new law, aimed at keeping children from starting to smoke, could have helped him three decades ago.

Mr. Obama noted that 90 percent of smokers began on or before their 18th birthday.

“I know — I was one of those teenagers,” he said, standing beneath a punishing afternoon sun at a Rose Garden ceremony. “I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it’s been with you for a long time.”

With that, Mr. Obama moved on. He did not mention whether he still smokes, a topic that has been a subject of considerable curiosity, and family drama, for years. Instead, he talked about the dangers of the addiction and its causes.

“Kids today don’t just start smoking for no reason,” he said. “They’re aggressively targeted as customers by the tobacco industry. They’re exposed to a constant and insidious barrage of advertising where they live, where they learn and where they play.”

The new law, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, allows the Food and Drug Administration not only to forbid advertising geared toward children but also to lower the amount of nicotine in tobacco products, ban sweetened cigarettes that appeal to young taste buds and prohibit labels like “light” and “low tar.”

When Mr. Obama entered the presidential race, he said his candidacy had been contingent on a deal with his wife, Michelle, that he quit smoking. The couple discussed his habit on “60 Minutes,” where Mrs. Obama declared, “I hate it.”

“That’s why he doesn’t do it anymore, I’m proud to say,” she continued. “I’m the one who outed him on the smoking. That was one of my prerequisites for, you know, entering this race, is that he couldn’t be a smoking president.”

Now there are few touchier questions inside the White House than whether Mr. Obama is still smoking. One senior administration official declined to answer, but pointed out that the president spoke Monday in the present tense, saying, “I know how difficult it can be to break this habit,” as opposed to “I know how difficult it was to break this habit.”

As Mr. Obama shook hands with some of the guests at the bill-signing ceremony, he wandered near a group of reporters. Dan Lothian, a correspondent for CNN, asked, “Mr. President, how difficult has your struggle been with smoking?”

The president, a mere few feet away, did not reply.

Several minutes later, the question came up at the daily White House press briefing. When asked directly if Mr. Obama was still smoking, Robert Gibbs, the president’s press secretary, replied: “He struggles with it every day. I don’t honestly see the need to get a whole lot more specific than the fact that it’s a continuing struggle.”