Professor John Britton, chair of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP)tobacco advisory group,

October 6, 2007 - Professor John Britton, chair of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP)tobacco advisory group, believes smokers should be able to buy a lower risk alternative to cigarettes. British American Tobacco is quick to agree with Professor Britton and the RCP that smokers should be able use a tobacco product like SNUS which the Royal College has said is significantly less harmful than smoking.(Doctors call for new nicotine products, London (Reuters), news.scotsmen.com, 10/5/2007) But Who's listening to Professor Britton?? - NOT - at the 1st National Conference for the British Association for Stop Smoking Practitioners (BASSP) in Manchester on September 26, 2007 with an audience of over 100 smoking cessation specialists from hospitals, primary care and management within the National Health Service from all over the UK, voted strongly against the proposal to make SNUS more available in their practice - see related news brief: October 2, 2007. Dr. Britton implies that it is not nicotine that kills but it's the hundreds of other toxic chemicals that come with it. IS THIS TRUE!!Nicotine alone is an extremely toxic; 60 mg of nicotine (about the amount in three or four cigarettes will kill an adult). Not enough is known about smokeless tobacco. As pointed out by Marita Broadstock in her systematic review (Systematic Review of the health effects of modified smokless tobacco products, NZHTA Report, February 2007, Volume 10 Number 1), the number of studies on smokeless tobacco is relatively slight compared to the wealth of literature published relating to smoking.) More and more studies are surfacing about the dangers of nicotine, e.g., a new study from Weill Cornell Medical College provides evidence that nicotine may accelerate atherosclerosis and may be as dangerous as tar. A recent by Dr. Stephen Hecht and colleagues suggests that smokeless tobacco is not a good option for reducing health risks from smoking Considerable more quality research and product regulation is necessary prior to considering smokeless tobacco as a harm reduction method (Drs. Dorothy Hatsukami, Charlotte Lemmonds and Scott Tomar, Prev Med 38(3):309-317, 2004). Even Professor Britton agrees that more research into the long-term health effects of SNUS would be helpful. (TobaccoWatch.org) Regarding the availability of tobacco products. In the past, Dr. Britton has said, "At the moment we have the absurd situation that kids can easily get a hold of cigarettes...." (BBC News, Nicotine therapy for young smokers, 10/2/2001) How about kids easily obtaining and using SNUS - promoted for use anywhere, anytime, no one will ever know?? (TobaccoWatch.org) 

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NO Tobacco Ads appeared in the What's Up Section of the Raleigh News & Observer.

October 5, 2007 - NO Tobacco Ads appeared in the What's Up Section of the Raleigh News & Observer. It's because individuals and anti-tobacco groups continuously voiced their opinion to the publisher of this newspaper. People can still band together for a good cause and make a positive difference. Here's the ads that appeared in previous weeks. Just about every week a Kool XL ad appears. See related Kool XL Newsbriefs: July 8, 2007 and September 7, 2007. Camel Snus related Newsbriefs: September 14, 2007 August 31, 2007 August 24, 2007 August 17, 2007, August 14, 2007, August 10, 2007,August 3, 2007, July 27, 2007, July 23, 2007, July 13, 2007, July 12, 2007 and July 2, 2007. (TobaccoWatch.org) 

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FDA Head: 'No' to Tobacco Cigarettes too "inherently dangerous" to regulate; would "undermine mission."

October 5, 2007 - FDA Head: 'No' to Tobacco Cigarettes too "inherently dangerous" to regulate; would "undermine mission." The head of the federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, the FDA commissioner said that his agency should not be required to regulate tobacco, but that it is open to some expanded role in the fight against smoking. Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, the FDA commissioner, did not attend the hearing Wednesday on legislation to authorize his agency to determine how tobacco products should be made, marketed and sold, said the report. In a statement sent to the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, von Eschenbach said: "Associating the agency with the approval of these inherently dangerous products would undermine the agency’s mission.” He added that the legislation would not give the FDA—which is responsible for such things as pharmaceutical safety—adequate money to establish a new regulatory structure for tobacco and that the bill sets unrealistic deadlines to make progress against smoking. (CSP News) Without regulations that strictly limit the distribution of SNUS we will end up with another generation of nicotine addicts. from SNUS.biz: Even Chris Proctor, Head of Science and Regulation for British American Tobacco has stated, “We’re also responding to public health stakeholders who told us they believe snus, PROPERLY REGULATED, can contribute to reducing the impact of tobacco on public health. We hope more stakeholders, including governments, will agree.” Hyland et al. (Addictive Behaviors 31:1190-1200, 2006) have concluded that only under strict regulations the increase in low-nitrosamine smokeless tobacco use could reduce overall smoking prevalence yielding potentially substantial health benefits. Well - at the present time it looks like we are NOT going to have a federal agency to regulate tobacco products in the USA. . At least in the U.S.A. we'd never have strict restrictions that were enforced, e.g., Camel SNUS the tag line and an ad - Do you think they're appealing to inveterate (hard-nosed, long established, deep-rooted) cigarette smokers that refuse to consider trying to quit smoking tobacco?? Get Real!! (TobaccoWatch.org)

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British American Tobacco (BAT) feels its their corporate social responsibility ..

October 4, 2007 - British American Tobacco (BAT) feels its their corporate social responsibility to continue to press European regulators to lift the ban on snus, the smokeless tobacco, arguing that the use of snus helps to reduce tobacco-related harm. (It is important to note that sucking tobacco like SNUS is prohibited for import and sale in all the European Union countries and permitted only in Sweden and non-EU Scandinavian countries - Norway.)Tobacco companies have warned public health professionals if they don’t support the smokeless tobacco alternative they’ll be at fault for the suffering from chronic sickness and death of tobacco smokers. The European Commission is reviewing the EU’s tobacco legislation, but it made clear that a relaxation of the ban was unlikely. “We will be guided by the advice of our scientific committee. It has already produced its report ... and this clearly sets out the harm snus does to health,” a spokesman said. At the 1st National Conference for the British Association for Stop Smoking Practitioners (BASSP) in Manchester on September 26, 2007 with an audience of over 100 smoking cessation specialists from hospitals, primary care and management within the National Health Service from all over the UK, voted strongly against the proposal to make SNUS more available in their practice - see related news brief: October 2, 2007. SNUS is outlawed by the European Union (except Sweden) mainly because it was deemed an attraction to children, who would become easily hooked and move on to cigarettes. Imperial Tobacco Canada (a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of British American Tobacco(BAT)) announced that it will test market a reduced harm product, as compared to cigarettes, with the introduction of Swedish-style snus in Edmonton retail outlets - see related news brief:September 12, 2007. BAT accounts for about 10 per cent of sales in the Swedish snus market. BAT is the largest stockholder in Reynolds American with approximately 42% of shares. Camel SNUS now being test marketed in at least eight cities in the U.S. is manufactured in conjunction with BAT in Sweden. From snuz.biz: In about May 2005 BAT introduced two new snus products – one an extension of its Lucky Strike cigarettes and the other of its Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes--in Johannesburg, South Africa and Stockholm, Sweden. ( BAT calls for ban on ‘snus’ to be lifted, Rory Watson, The Times, 10/3/07 - part; also TobaccoWatch.org)

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We need more tobacco like a hole in the head - the world does not need: smokeless, chewless and spitless tobacco.

October 4, 2007 - We need more tobacco like a hole in the head - the world does not need: smokeless, chewless and spitless tobacco. Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.,is now test marketing in about 230 retail outlets in Edmonton, SNUS under the brand name du Maurier. Look for it in the fridge, near the Red Bull. Canada has 4.5 million smokers, and about 80 per cent of them are addicted to nicotine. The widespread availability of snus would create more nicotine addicts, and provide a marginal benefit to smokers. Despite the whitewashing and the soft-peddling by Imperial Tobacco, the reality is that snus is not designed to replace cigarette sales, but as an add-on. Smokers will likely stuff these little nicotine-laced bags in their mouths when they are craving a smoke and it's too cold to go outside, or when they are in public places where there are smoking restrictions. If smokers are looking to quit, there are many proven methods. This isn't one of them. Snus is not a smoking cessation aide, it's a smoking prolongation aide. It's also a fairly blatant method of recruiting young people to tobacco. Sell them this seemingly innocuous product that tastes good and provides a nicotine buzz, and in no time they will be lighting up. ( Andre Picard, Public Health Reporter, GlobeandMail.com) See related news brief:September 12, 2007.

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