Thailand - nicotine gel - e-cigarettes..

June 30, 2009 - Thailand Health Promotion Institute president Dr Hatai Chitanondh said yesterday, nicotine gel is already available at more than 400 retail shops in Malaysia. Despite its ban in Thailand, the product has the potential to find its way to Thai smokers via Internet advertisements. By just rubbing the gel in one's hands, one will be able to experience having a cigarette within 30 seconds. The nicotine gel is touted as a solution to people who feel the urge to smoke in smoking-free places.

Earlier related news brief:Nicogel - cigarette alternative to be sold in 10 Asian countries by year-end.

Dr Hatai Chitanondh: The problem is that there is no research to confirm that this product is really safe. "This is not a certified quit-smoking product.

"So, we need to monitor the product movement closely," Hatai said, a veteran crusader against smoking. Hatai said the gel could make people take in too much nicotine before they realise it. "Possible side-effects are higher blood pressure and faster heartbeat rate," he pointed out. "Such side-effects could be dangerous in people who have underlying diseases".

Hatai said he had heard that the nicotine-gel manufacturer had planned to introduce it in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, India, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam.

Thailand has also banned the sale of electronic cigarettes. Made of stainless steel, the e-cigarette has a chamber for storing liquid nicotine in various concentrations and it is powered by a rechargeable battery and resembles a real cigarette. Users puff on it as they would a real cigarette, but they do not light it, and it produces no smoke. Rather, it produces a fine, heated mist, which is absorbed into the lungs.

Companies often market electronic cigarettes as a healthier alternative to tobacco smoking. However, the World Health Organization last year issued a release warning it does not consider the electronic cigarette to be a legitimate smoking cessation aid. WHO said it had no scientific evidence to confirm the product's safety and efficacy.

Reference: Alternative cigarette raises concerns, The Nation, 6/29/2009.

Related news briefs: Nicogel - cigarette alternative to be sold in 10 Asian countries by year-end.; Tobacco Products When You Can't Smoke...
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Murray Kessler leaving Altria at the end of June 2009

June 29, 2009 - Altria Group Inc. said on Friday that Murray S. Kessler, now a vice-chair at Altria and formerly the chairman and CEO of smokeless tobacco company UST Inc., will leave the company at the end of June 2009 after overseeing key elements of UST’s integration into Altria.

Richmond-based Altria completed its $10.4 billion acquisition of UST in January, giving it market-leading brands such as Skoal and Copenhagen.

Since then, Altria said it has identified an additional $50 million in integration cost savings, bringing its savings to about $300 million by 2011. The company also consolidated its sales force to market its products.

Following Kessler’s departure, Dan Butler, president of U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., will report to Craig Johnson, executive vice president of Altria. Within UST Inc., Prior to moving to Altria Butler was President of USSTC (United States Smokeless Tobacco Company) - a subsidiary of UST, Inc. USSTC was the leading producer and marketer of moist smokeless tobacco products.

Altria has consolidated the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Brands and Philip Morris USA (PM USA) sales forces into a new entity, the Altria Sales & Distribution Inc., which now services all of Altria's tobacco businesses with an organization approximately the same size as PM USA's sales force prior to the acquisition.

Murray Kessler had been very disappointed in the total performance of whether -- they call it Snus or we call it spit-free. We've been testing this thing now for seven years (Revel). The newer entrance [entrees], if you go back, is now, in original markets, is over two years, and it is not gaining the traction, given the level of investment that's been put there. Kessler has stated in the past that "Nine out of 10 smokers that try smokeless still reject the product." Mr.Butler has alos been very disappointed with the progress of the SNUS segment in total. The entire segment itself has gained very little traction, and we had plans to be more aggressive. Frankly, we are revisiting those because the size of this market and how slowly it's developing -- it's so tiny and taking so long to gain any traction. (UST, Inc. Executives Very Disappointed in Sales of the Entire SNUS Segment..; UST, Inc. Don't view SNUS as something that has a major impact on our core business.; Nine Out of Ten Smokers Who Try Smokeless Still Reject the Product...)

References: Altria announces departure of UST executive by AP, Richmond Times Dispatch, 6/26/2009; Altria Announces Departure of Kessler UST integration progressing smoothly, company says, Convenience Store / Petroluem (CSP) Daily News, 6/29/2009.

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Eliminating global illicit cigarette trade would save lives and increase tax revenue..

June 29, 2009 - Cigarettes are the world's most widely smuggled legal consumer product. A growing global trade in black market cigarettes is killing tens of thousands of people a year, causing massive health problems and costing governments billions of pounds, a hard-hitting report warns today.

New Report from the Framework Convention Alliance: How Eliminating the Global Illicit Cigarette Trade would Increase Tax Revenue and Save Lives." The most authoritative report yet produced on the extent of the global illicit trade in cigarettes has been published, in time to inform discussions on the Illicit Trade Protocol at INB-3.

The report comes as representatives of governments gather in Geneva to negotiate the first worldwide protocol on illicit trade in tobacco products. FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) Conference of the Parties, Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on a Protocol on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, Geneva, Switzerland, June 28th - July 5th, 2009.

About 657 billion cigarettes a year are sold illicitly - representing an enormous missed tax opportunity for governments, as well as a missed opportunity to prevent many people from starting to smoke and encourage others to quit.

"The burden of illicit (illegal, contraband, counterfeiting) trade falls mainly on lower-income countries", the study found. While the black market accounts for 11.6% of all cigarettes consumed worldwide, its market share is 9.8% in well-off countries but 16.8% on average in poorer ones. In Georgia 50% of all cigarettes sold are contraband, while 40% of those in Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Bolivia share that source. The figure stands at more than 20% in 15 other, mainly poor, countries. Buyers are tempted by low prices, which prompt them to buy more and smoke more often, leading to illness, says the study.

Developed countries such as Canada are also having major problems with illicit cigarettes. Last year (2008), one-third of all cigarettes in Canada were sold illegally. In the Province of Ontario, it skyrocketed to almost half -- 48%. The year before, the figure was roughly 22% across Canada, with just over 30% in this province.

Related news brief: All EU states sign up against illicit tobacco trade..; Many others news briefs - do a random search.

References: Developing world faces black market cigarette plague Governments plan fightback against smugglers who benefit from corruption and lax policing, Denis Campbell, health correspondent, guardian.co.uk The Observer, 6/28/2009; Tobacco Atlas - Illegal Cigarettes; Big stakes in tobacco, BusinessMirror.com, 6/30/2009.
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Illicit cigarettes - unpleasant ingredients like insect droppings..

June 28, 2009 - Smokers in Dudley are being warned they face getting more than they bargain for if they buy illegal (illicit, contraband)tobacco products from unlicensed sellers.

Dudley Primary Care Trust’s Stop Smoking Service is taking their ‘Dodgy Cigs Roadshow’ on tour to raise awareness of the dangers of buying counterfeit cigarettes. It will be at Rock the Castle festival in Himley Park on July 3 and at Stourbridge Carnival in Mary Steven’s Park on July 5.

As well as providing advice for those wishing to stop smoking, it will also show smokers the variety of unusual substances they may be inhaling if they buy counterfeit or illegally-bought cigarettes. The event is the latest part of a hard-hitting poster and radio advertising campaign from the Department of Health and HM Revenue & Customs highlighting some of the unpleasant ingredients that can be found in illicit tobacco products, such as floor sweepings, insects, sawdust and animal droppings.

Paul Hooper, regional tobacco policy manager for the West Midlands, said: “People often say these cigarettes taste different and this unusual mix of ingredients is often the reason why.”

Visit http://www.dodgycigs.co.uk about illicit tobacco and the penalties for selling it.

According to The Tobacco Atlas, cigarettes are the world’s most widely smuggled legal consumer product. In 2006, contraband cigarettes accounted for 11 percent of global cigarette sales, or about 600 billion cigarettes.

Image from BBC News article: 42m illicit cigarettes discovered, 5/29/2006.
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Texas - to tax smokeless tobacco by weight rather than by price..

June 28, 2009 - Smokeless tobacco in Texas would be taxed by weight instead of the list price under a bill the Legislature has sent to Gov. Rick Perry. The state House approved the measure Friday evening, May 29th. The Senate passed a weight-based tax on smokeless tobacco on May 26, 2009.

Texas lawmakers passed a tax break for small businesses, and Governor Rick Perry signed it into law with great fanfare (while quietly signing the linked smokeless-tobacco tax increase).

The tobacco measure’s author, Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston, said weight is a fairer way to tax the products. He said the loan repayment program will benefit people wherever there’s a doctor shortage and the small-business tax break will help drive job creation. “It’s a user fee,” Edwards added. “If you don’t buy it, you don’t spend it." - A Voluntary Tax..

It will mean a jump of about $1 a can for users of “value” moist tobacco, plus higher taxes for such products as chewing tobacco, dry snuff and pipe tobacco, according to a retailer who opposed the increase. Value priced/discount smokeless tobacco like Conwood's Grizzly would cost more.

The measure, which takes effect September 1, 2009 and initially focused on addressing a doctor shortage in some areas, got an added boost when the size of a tax break for small business also was tied to it.

Reference: New fees for tobacco, parking and more by PEGGY FIKAC, Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau, 6/27/2009;

Related news briefs - Texas: Texas - smoke-free legislation falls short..; Texas - tobacco lobbyists - derailing state smoking ban/smokeless tobacco tax change..; The Word From Dallas - Test Market for Marlboro SNUS...
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