Associate Health Minister, Tariana Turia has said that there is a need to get more serious about the risks of smoking and the harms caused by smoking.
Therefore, legislation was today introduced in the parliament in an attempt to discourage smoking by removing displays of tobacco products in dairies and other retail outlets.
She asserted that the Government was quite serious about the reduction of the harms caused by smoking. She said, "It's harder to quit when you walk into a shop and are confronted with the instant temptation of tobacco on display".
She asserted that most of the smokers wish that there was some way which could help them quit smoking. There is a strong link between displays and young people taking up smoking.
Some evidences have shown that tobacco displays prompt impulse purchasing. A time would come when a person would be able to walk into the local corner shop `without being confronted with images of tobacco enticing customers to take up a habit which is unhealthy, addictive, and costly'.
The Health Select Committee will now be asked for a sanction following which the committee will call for public submissions.
Dec 22, 2010
R.J. Reynolds Pulls Dissolvable Smokeless Products from Test Markets
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.
R.J. Reynolds is the producer of Camel cigarettes.
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 under its new authority to regulate tobacco products. Earlier this year, the FDA wrote to RJR seeking information on consumer perceptions and use of the dissolvable products. In its letter, the FDA stated it "is concerned that children and adolescents may find dissolvable tobacco products particularly appealing, given the brightly colored packaging, candy-like appearance and easily concealable size of many of these products. We are also concerned about the extent to which the high nicotine content and rapid dissolution of dissolvable tobacco products may facilitate initiation of tobacco use, nicotine dependence and addiction in adolescents, and may serve as a mechanism for inadvertent toxicity in children."
The tobacco industry has intensified its marketing of smokeless products as cigarette smoking declines, smoke-free laws cover more Americans and smoking becomes less socially acceptable. According to the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission, smokeless tobacco marketing totaled $354.1 million in 2006, an increase of 53 percent since 2004. While most cigarette brands have stopped advertising in magazines with large youth readerships such as Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone, many smokeless tobacco brands continue to advertise in these publications, most notably R.J. Reynolds' Camel snus. As with cigarettes, the bulk of smokeless tobacco marketing is spent on price discounts that make these products more affordable to youth customers.
Most troubling, the most recent data on youth tobacco use, included in the Monitoring the Future Survey released just last week, shows a significant increase in smokeless tobacco use among high school students. Among 12th graders, 8.5 percent used smokeless tobacco in 2010, a 39 percent increase since 2006. Even more alarming, 15.7 percent of 12th grade boys currently use smokeless tobacco.
The increase in smokeless tobacco use also comes as some smokeless manufacturers have sought to portray their products as a less hazardous alternative to cigarettes. Rather than reducing the number of smokers, the Monitoring the Future survey indicates that the main consequence of current smokeless tobacco products and marketing is to increase the number of youth who use smokeless tobacco. That is bad news for health because smokeless tobacco is far from harmless. Smokeless tobacco use causes oral cancer, cardiovascular disease, gum disease and tooth decay. It has also been linked to cancers of the esophagus, pharynx, larynx, stomach and pancreas.
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 400,000 deaths per year and costing $96 billion in health care costs. The tobacco companies' flagrant efforts to lure young people to use these deadly and addictive products must finally end.
R.J. Reynolds is the producer of Camel cigarettes.
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 under its new authority to regulate tobacco products. Earlier this year, the FDA wrote to RJR seeking information on consumer perceptions and use of the dissolvable products. In its letter, the FDA stated it "is concerned that children and adolescents may find dissolvable tobacco products particularly appealing, given the brightly colored packaging, candy-like appearance and easily concealable size of many of these products. We are also concerned about the extent to which the high nicotine content and rapid dissolution of dissolvable tobacco products may facilitate initiation of tobacco use, nicotine dependence and addiction in adolescents, and may serve as a mechanism for inadvertent toxicity in children."
The tobacco industry has intensified its marketing of smokeless products as cigarette smoking declines, smoke-free laws cover more Americans and smoking becomes less socially acceptable. According to the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission, smokeless tobacco marketing totaled $354.1 million in 2006, an increase of 53 percent since 2004. While most cigarette brands have stopped advertising in magazines with large youth readerships such as Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone, many smokeless tobacco brands continue to advertise in these publications, most notably R.J. Reynolds' Camel snus. As with cigarettes, the bulk of smokeless tobacco marketing is spent on price discounts that make these products more affordable to youth customers.
Most troubling, the most recent data on youth tobacco use, included in the Monitoring the Future Survey released just last week, shows a significant increase in smokeless tobacco use among high school students. Among 12th graders, 8.5 percent used smokeless tobacco in 2010, a 39 percent increase since 2006. Even more alarming, 15.7 percent of 12th grade boys currently use smokeless tobacco.
The increase in smokeless tobacco use also comes as some smokeless manufacturers have sought to portray their products as a less hazardous alternative to cigarettes. Rather than reducing the number of smokers, the Monitoring the Future survey indicates that the main consequence of current smokeless tobacco products and marketing is to increase the number of youth who use smokeless tobacco. That is bad news for health because smokeless tobacco is far from harmless. Smokeless tobacco use causes oral cancer, cardiovascular disease, gum disease and tooth decay. It has also been linked to cancers of the esophagus, pharynx, larynx, stomach and pancreas.
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 400,000 deaths per year and costing $96 billion in health care costs. The tobacco companies' flagrant efforts to lure young people to use these deadly and addictive products must finally end.
Dec 17, 2010
More graphic images urged
Two health groups called for more graphic images on packs of smokes, hoping to curb more people from lighting up.
Members from the organizations joined Pat Tarbox, husband of the late anti-smoking advocate Barb Tarbox, in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s southeast Calgary riding yesterday morning to push for an update to health warnings on tobacco products.
Warning labels will be on every cigarette brand package no matter if it is Camel cigarettes or Winston cigarettes.
One of the images being pushed for by the Canadian Cancer Society and the Alberta Policy Coalition for Cancer Prevention is a gripping image of Barb Tarbox as the Edmonton native slowly succumbed to lung cancer linked to a longtime smoking addiction. She died in 2003 at the age of 41.
“She would have liked to speak to 500,000 if she could,” Pat Tarbox explained.
He said the process of updating health warnings in the U.S. has been much more fluid and a decision is expected by next June.
Dan Holinda, executive director of the Canadian Cancer Society Alberta division, said the images currently used are outdated and ineffective.
“People have seen them for over a decade,” he said. “We need to change the focus now to tell the truth to Canadians to save their lives.”
No sale of 'gutkha' in plastic pouches from March: SC
Sale of tobacco products like 'gutkha' in plastic pouches will not be allowed in the national capital from March 2011, the Supreme Court ordered today.
An example of very used tobacco products are cigarettes of differenet brand. There can be Pall Mall cigarettes or Lucky Strike cigarettes.
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly asked the manufacturers to explore and decide by March next year on the alternative material for packaging them.
The judges also directed the Delhi government to conduct a survey on the ill-effects of these products within eight weeks.
The apex court made it clear that after March 1, 2011, plastic packaging of such tobacco products shall not be permitted in the national capital.
The court is considering the validity of Delhi government's notification of January 7, 2009, banning the use of plastic bags in the city.
The Delhi government had banned use of plastic on the ground that it causes environmental pollution.
The association of plastic manufacturers has challenged the judgement of Delhi High Court vide which the ban on the manufacture, distribution and use of plastic bags in the national capital was upheld. UNI
An example of very used tobacco products are cigarettes of differenet brand. There can be Pall Mall cigarettes or Lucky Strike cigarettes.
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly asked the manufacturers to explore and decide by March next year on the alternative material for packaging them.
The judges also directed the Delhi government to conduct a survey on the ill-effects of these products within eight weeks.
The apex court made it clear that after March 1, 2011, plastic packaging of such tobacco products shall not be permitted in the national capital.
The court is considering the validity of Delhi government's notification of January 7, 2009, banning the use of plastic bags in the city.
The Delhi government had banned use of plastic on the ground that it causes environmental pollution.
The association of plastic manufacturers has challenged the judgement of Delhi High Court vide which the ban on the manufacture, distribution and use of plastic bags in the national capital was upheld. UNI
Dec 2, 2010
New photos to grace cigarette packages by October 2012
Last Wednesday the FDA unveiled a new set of warning labels for cigarette packaging. The new warning labels are 36 proposed pictures, which will eventually be narrowed down to the nine pictures most effective at stopping smoking. These labels will be required on all cigarettes in the United States by October 2012.
These pictures are not going to be a simple no smoking sign. They are graphic pictures designed to elicit a strong desire to stop smoking in the buyers. Get ready for pictures of dead bodies, children crying, rotting teeth and cancer patients in the last stage of their disease.
I consider myself to be neutral on the smoking/no smoking issue. I don't smoke and have no desire to. I tend to hang around friends that do not smoke as well. I hate walking behind a smoker on campus, and I agree that smokers shouldn't be allowed to huddle around a doorway during the winter time. If cigarettes are so important to you, it won't hurt you to huddle around the corner in the cold for five minutes while you get your fix.
I do, however, have very mixed feelings about the new labels. The FDA and anti-smoking groups claim that they will cause a major decline in smoking by providing a graphic reminder of the consequences involved. The tobacco companies claim that they will have no effect and will only demoralize and stigmatize smokers. I am not sure that I believe either of the groups is correct.
The majority of smokers today know the negative effects of smoking. For whatever reason, they decide to ignore them and continue smoking. These pictures may be shocking for the first month that they are released, but by Christmas time they will be old news. Any smokers who failed to quit will probably be desensitized to them and will only consider them a nuisance.
Meanwhile, non-smokers will be forced to see constant pictures of dead bodies and blackened teeth every time they walk into a gas station, stand near a smoker or just walk down the street. I constantly see empty cigarette packaging all over the ground. Now instead of just having to look at litter, I have to stare at disgusting images all day.
If we are going to do this with cigarettes, why stop there? They might as well put images of extreme drunk driving accidents on alcohol. Let's add pictures of the homeless to lottery tickets to warn about the dangers of gambling addiction.
The new packaging for cigarettes is just a bad idea. Focusing on informing the public with real information rather than scare tactics is the best way to go. Allow adults to make an informed decision or just go ahead and make cigarettes illegal already, but don't flood everyone's eyes with depressing images.
These pictures are not going to be a simple no smoking sign. They are graphic pictures designed to elicit a strong desire to stop smoking in the buyers. Get ready for pictures of dead bodies, children crying, rotting teeth and cancer patients in the last stage of their disease.
I consider myself to be neutral on the smoking/no smoking issue. I don't smoke and have no desire to. I tend to hang around friends that do not smoke as well. I hate walking behind a smoker on campus, and I agree that smokers shouldn't be allowed to huddle around a doorway during the winter time. If cigarettes are so important to you, it won't hurt you to huddle around the corner in the cold for five minutes while you get your fix.
I do, however, have very mixed feelings about the new labels. The FDA and anti-smoking groups claim that they will cause a major decline in smoking by providing a graphic reminder of the consequences involved. The tobacco companies claim that they will have no effect and will only demoralize and stigmatize smokers. I am not sure that I believe either of the groups is correct.
The majority of smokers today know the negative effects of smoking. For whatever reason, they decide to ignore them and continue smoking. These pictures may be shocking for the first month that they are released, but by Christmas time they will be old news. Any smokers who failed to quit will probably be desensitized to them and will only consider them a nuisance.
Meanwhile, non-smokers will be forced to see constant pictures of dead bodies and blackened teeth every time they walk into a gas station, stand near a smoker or just walk down the street. I constantly see empty cigarette packaging all over the ground. Now instead of just having to look at litter, I have to stare at disgusting images all day.
If we are going to do this with cigarettes, why stop there? They might as well put images of extreme drunk driving accidents on alcohol. Let's add pictures of the homeless to lottery tickets to warn about the dangers of gambling addiction.
The new packaging for cigarettes is just a bad idea. Focusing on informing the public with real information rather than scare tactics is the best way to go. Allow adults to make an informed decision or just go ahead and make cigarettes illegal already, but don't flood everyone's eyes with depressing images.
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