Smokers See Some Smoking Brands As Safer

One in five smokers believes some brands of Lucky Strike cigarettes are safer than others, a study has found. Smokers of ”gold”, ”silver” or ”slim” cigarettes were also more likely to think their brands were less harmful. The findings highlight the power that packaging can have on risk perception, and come as the federal government prepares to introduce its plain-packaging legislation.

As part of an international study, published in the journal Addiction, researchers surveyed more than 8000 current and former smokers, including more than 2000 Australians, about their smoking beliefs.

Females were more likely to believe some brands might be less harmful while older individuals considered their cigarettes brand was safer.

More than a third of respondents falsely believed nicotine was linked to cancer, and 41 per cent believed light cigarettes were better for them.

California, Ohio Use Reserves for Tobacco Bonds

California, Ohio and Virginia will use reserve funds to pay interest and principal on bonds backed by tobacco company payments under a 1998 health-care settlement, according to a report by Herbert J. Sims & Co. Payments to the states by Altria Group Inc. (MO)’s Philip Morris unit, Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) and other companies have declined on lower U.S. cigarette sales and as the companies lose market share to tobacco manufacturers that didn’t participate in the settlement, according to Richard Larkin, director of credit analysis at Sims in Iselin, New Jersey. “Any time you see a municipal bond go to their reserve fund, it’s a significant sign of trouble,” Larkin said in a telephone interview. “It’s not an imminent default, but it’s a sign that cash flow is certainly far weaker than any of us thought.”

America’s Best Selling Brand – Marlboro

Highly recognizable brands can be priceless, but they require a permanent attention. Their importance can rise or even fall because of state management decisions, changes in the competitive environment, and the beliefs that a brand has aged beyond its useful lifetime. Very often the precise causes of decrease in Marlboro smoking brand value are mistake and arrogance. A recent study investigated nine popular brands and it found that even the most powerful tobacco products cannot survive horrible government decisions. A brand obtains its value from several main factors. And the most evident being how much it can earn. This is not the least evident with Marlboro — the best-selling smoking brand for its two owners, tobacco companies Philip Morris and Altria. The companies have encouraged the cigarette brand through hundreds of millions of dollars of advertising and tobacco marketing support.

Electronic Cigarettes History, Tobacco Market

The history of the e-cigarette is a fascinating one and one that stemmed from a Chinese pharmacist and inventor, who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, being determined not to die of cancer the way his father did. He set out to find an alternative.
The electronic cigarette, alternatively known as an e-cig or e-cigarette, is an inhaler that looks like a regular cigarette but which uses a vaporizer that produces a pressurized jet of an aerosol mist that looks like real cheap Pall Mall cigarette smoke. This vapor dilutes the nicotine by using propylene glycol, a food additive used in consumer products and drug treatments. The e-cigarette has many health advantages because it is tobacco free, ash free, tar free, carbon monoxide free and odorless.
His education was in Chinese medicine using herbal remedies. He infused the propylene glycol with a flavoring and genuine nicotine to make it feel and taste like a genuine cigarette. He utilized a disposable cartridge in plastic which holds the liquid and provides a mouthpiece.
First introduced to the domestic market in China in May 2004, Lik’s company changed its name to Ruyan, which means “resembling smoking”, and began exporting in 2005-2006. In 2007, the company received the first international patent. These electronic cigarettes were introduced in the United States in 2006-2007.

Evidence does not support menthol restrictions, Altria says

The scientific evidence does not justify a ban or restrictions on menthol flavoring in cigarettes, a representative for cigarette maker Philip Morris USA told a government advisory panel Wednesday.

"The weight of the scientific evidence indicates that menthol does not change the inherent health risk of smoking," said Jane Lewis, senior vice president for tobacco regulatory and health sciences at Altria Client Services Inc., which provides support functions for Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries, including top U.S. cigarette maker Philip Morris USA,producer of Marlboro cigarettes which sells several menthol cigarette brands.

Lewis spoke at a meeting of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, a 12-member panel appointed to study tobacco-related issues and advise the Food and Drug Administration on regulating the industry.

The advisory committee is scheduled to submit a report about the public-health impacts of menthol cigarettes to the FDA by March 23. The group could recommend banning menthol, but the FDA is not required to adopt the findings.

A draft copy of the panel's report released this week said the evidence is insufficient to conclude that smokers face higher health risks from menthol cigarettes compared with unflavored cigarettes.

However, the report said menthol flavoring may make it easier for young people to start smoking and may increase the likelihood of addiction.

Lewis told the panel that the impact of menthol on smoking initiation is a "complex issue" that needs more study. The weight of evidence, she said, indicates that menthol flavoring does not increase smoking dependence.

A ban on menthol could instead have the unintended consequence of creating an illegal trade in menthol cigarettes, Lewis said.

David T. Levy, a professor of economics at the University of Baltimore, told the panel that his research indicates a ban on menthol would reduce smoking rates enough to prevent between 323,000 and 633,000 deaths from smoking-related diseases by 2050. He said the research was funded by the American Cancer Society and the American Legacy Foundation, a tobacco-control group.

Menthol brands make up about 30 percent of the U.S. cigarette market, and about 80 percent of black smokers use menthols, research from the Federal Trade Commission shows.

Niger Innis, a national spokesman for the civil-rights group Congress of Racial Equality, also argued before the committee that a ban on menthol would create an illicit trade.

He said his group supports "rigorous and early education about the dangers of smoking in the schools," but not a ban on menthol.

"If the government is not going to ban all cigarettes, then the obvious question is why should it selectively ban those cigarettes that African-Americans tend to prefer?" he said.

The committee's chairman, Dr. Jonathan Samet, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California, said the report to the FDA would include research on the potential unintended consequences of a ban, such as an illegal, underground market.

Two of the nation's largest cigarette makers last Friday filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the FDA from relying on recommendations made by the scientific advisory committee.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington by Lorillard Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., claims several members of the committee have a financial conflict of interest and bias because they have testified against tobacco companies in smokers' lawsuits or worked for pharmaceutical firms that make smoking-cessation products.

Altria Group is not part of that lawsuit, but the company has raised objections with the FDA about alleged conflicts of interest among members on the advisory committee.