Anti-Tobacco People Don't Like IT - Camel SNUS and Lorillard's SNUS product Triumph both being test marketing in Columbus, OH..

March 17, 2008 - Anti-Tobacco People Don't Like IT - Camel SNUS and Lorillard's SNUS product Triumph both being test marketing in Columbus, OH.. (The Triumph test product is part of a joint venture formed in October 2006 with Swedish Match North America Inc. to develop smokeless tobacco products.) The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. started selling Camel Snus in central Ohio in July 2007. Lorillard Tobacco Co. introduced its lower-cost Triumph brand in central Ohio this year (believe made its debut here -TW). Triumph comes in a 24-pouch container with a spittoon on the top - to discard the grimy/scuzzy used bag -TW), and the Liggett Group is including Columbus among the seven cities in which it plans to test-launch its Grand Prix snus this summer. The tide of snus comes about a year after a tough anti-smoking law took effect across Ohio (December 7, 2006), barring people from lighting up in virtually all public buildings. R.J. Reynolds acknowledged that the ban, and similar anti-smoking laws in other states, played a role in its decision to market snus. A Lorillard advertisement for Triumph in Ohio also alludes to the smoking ban: "No smoking? No problem." Representatives of the American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids held a news conference Wednesday (3/12/2008) to decry the spread of snus in Ohio. They noted that, while smokeless tobacco doesn't cause lung cancer or emphysema, it is blamed for mouth cancers and heart disease caused by increased heart rates. (Other dangers of SNUS use includes the increased risk of the most deadly of all cancers - pancreatic cancer. Initial results from the test marketing of SNUS pouches in the U.S. have been poor. The majority of smokers are turned off by the use of smokeless tobacco products. This is especially true with SNUS - advertised as spitless - this means the user has to keep the pouch in a specific location in their mouth for around 30 minutes. Any movement of the bag will increase saliva secretion increasing the urge to spit. Young adults and kids that want to be young adults will take time out to learn the art of SNUSing. This could result in our future leaders - our children being nicotine addicts - never able to reach their full potential. Recall the Camel SNUS tagline - "Pleasure for where ever, whenever" - so SNUS can be used discretely no one will ever know.) Ads for Camel Snus, note that it can be used on airplanes and in nightclubs and other public places. (TobaccoWatch.org) Also, see news brief directly below entitled, "OSU tells R.J. Reynolds stop using university insignia..".