April 28, 2010 - Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to pull the dissolvable tobacco products – namely Camel’s Orbs, Sticks, and Strips – from stores until the agency could conduct a study of their effects on children and teenagers. (Lautenberg wants FDA to yank candy-like tobacco from store shelves by Jordy Yager, The Hill, 4/24/2010)
In Lautenberg’s letter to the FDA he cited a study published in the Pediatrics medical journal, which found that some of the dissolvable tobacco products had very high levels of nicotine and the increased chance of developing nicotine toxicity with these dissolvable tobacco products. (Camel Dissolvables like Orbs - chance of nicotine poisoning increased..)
In a commentary in the journal of Pediatrics, Dr. Laurence R. Deyton, director of the newly formed Center for Tobacco Products at the FDA indicated that dissolvable products are the second priority for review by the FDA office, after menthol cigarettes. This would put the start of the dissolvable products review around the first of next year. By this time we could have a few nicotine poisonings but thousands of children with a life-long addiction to nicotine. This is unacceptable, after all we are involved in public health - if you see an epidemic brewing you react immediately.
Regarding menthol - as pointed out by Dr. Cheryl Healton, President and CEO, Legacy - Lorillard Inc. CEO Martin L. Orlowsky's March 30th op-ed mischaracterizes the study of menthol cigarettes by the FDA's new advisory panel. Mr. Orlowsky claims the panel must "answer the question—does menthol make cigarettes more harmful?"
Actually, to quote the law establishing the panel, it must review "the impact of the use of menthol in cigarettes on the public health." Meaning, does menthol make cigarettes easier to smoke, luring young people into a deadly addiction? And does menthol make it harder for smokers to quit? If the answer to either question is yes, then menthol negatively impacts the public health and should be prohibited.
The science is clear: Newer and younger smokers smoke menthols at much higher rates than established smokers. (Menthol Cigarettes Are Harmful, Cheryl Healton, Dr. PH., The Wall Street Journal, 4/4/2010.
FDA commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg: “These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers.”
The difficult task is how can removal of menthol cigarettes be accomplished.
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Terry F. Pechacek, associate director for science in the Office on Smoking and Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “We are continuing to find that Marlboro, Newport and Camel brands, among the most heavily advertised brands, continue to be overwhelmingly the preferred brands of cigarettes smoked by middle school and high-school students.”
Another major problem with these highly flavored dissolvable tobacco products is exposure to our children resulting in a life-long addiction to nicotine. Dr. Karl Olov Fagerström who was the founder of Niconovum now owned by Reynolds American has stated that addiction in general is a "unnatural state."As pointed out by Dr. Gregory Connolly, the director of the Tobacco Control Research Program at the Harvard School of Public Health, these nicotine dosage forms (Sticks like a toothpick, Orbs, which is a pellet and edible film Strips - like placing a postage stamp on your tongue similar to breath strips) are easier to tolerate so kids will become possible life-long nicotine addicts at a much younger age compared with cigarette initiation.
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, a pediatrician and the FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner, while cigarette use by teens and young adults has decreased in recent years, cigar smoking continues to be a "serious and growing health problem." "Youth are twice as likely to report seeing advertising for flavored tobacco products as adults are," said Dr.Sharfstein. "Marketing campaigns for products with sweet candy and fruit flavors can mislead young people into thinking that these products are less addictive and less harmful." By flavoring a product to mask its otherwise appallingly disgusting taste, tobacco companies extend their reach into the marketplace to sustain and often grow their addicted consumer base.
We must stop any further marketing of these products. Altria is waiting on the sidelines to see what will happen. Altria Group Chairman and CEO Michael Szymanczyk has stated: "He did not elaborate on those, though Altria researchers have for years explored dissolvable strips and inhalers." (Altria - new marketing strategy with emphasis on Marlboro SNUS..) Susan Ivey, Chairman and CEO of Reynolds American has stated, "I believe these products (oral tobacco products) can drive our sustainability into the future. Having a forward vision is important”.
From Columbus, OH - one of the three test market sites for Camel Dissolvables. Our contact describes the sampler pack: it has 3 Orbs Mellow, 3 Orbs Fresh, 2 Sticks and 4 Strips. On the pack it says that it’s free with any R.J. Reynolds Tobacco tobacco purchase, but this person picked it up the sampler pack and was looking at it and they said he could just have it. It comes with a coupon for a free dissolvables with tobacco purchase.
C-Store Update - Camel Dissolvable Tobacco Sampler and etc..
Some supporting news briefs:
Camel Dissolvables like Orbs - chance of nicotine poisoning increased..;
Dissolving Tobacco Hits Columbus, OH Test Market - see VIDEO..;
Portland, Oregon - Camel ORBS - candy-like tobacco tablets..;
U.S. - A contradiction H.R. 1261 Youth Prevention and Tobacco Harm Reduction..;
R.J. Reynolds Smokeless so safe - not fair to tax.??;
U.S. group acknowledged that smokeless-tobacco products are an option for reducing health risks for tobacco users..;
Poison Control Centers - Camel Dissolvables - Nicotine Toxicity..; Nasal snuff another harm reduction product..;
Why does R.J. Reynolds Tobacco keep on selecting Portland, OR as a test site..;
Camel Tobacco Dissolvables - Natl Assoc of Attorneys General - wait and see!!;
STOP the Release of Dissolvable Tobacco Products..;
We must stop the launch of dissolvable tobacco products..; Reynolds America moving ahead with dissolvable tobacco products..;
STOP - the Proliferation of Flavored Tobacco Products..;
R.J. Reynolds Dissolvables - it looks like candy..;
Snus News & Other Tobacco Products: STOP - the Proliferation of Flavored Tobacco Products..
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