R.J. Reynolds Pulling Back on Dissolvable Tobacco Products

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is cutting back on the marketing and sales of its dissolvable tobacco products after more than four and a half years in test markets.
According to a report by the Winston-Salem Journal, Camel Orbs, Camel Sticks and Camel Strips will remain in limited distribution at point-of-sale sites in Denver and Charlotte, N.C., as well as on the age-verified website www.cameldissolvables.com.
“At this time, there are no plans for any marketing beyond these channels,” said Richard Smith, spokesman for Reynolds. “We’ve found in our conversations with adult tobacco consumers that while there’s strong interest in the category, a different product form may present a better option over the long term. Though for now, Camel Sticks, Strips and Orbs will remain available while we continue to gather learnings.”
Dissolvable tobacco products have garnered criticism from organizations such as the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which believe that they will appeal to children due to their flavoring and packaging. Reynolds offered these products in child-resistant packaging, but some analysts have speculated that the difficulty in opening them may have had a detrimental effect, according to the report.
Others speculated that the market for dissolvables may already prefer other products. “My thought would be that the market for spit-less, non-combustible tobacco is probably already taken up by snus,” John Spangler, a professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine, told the news outlet. Reynolds took just two and a half years to move Camel Snus from test markets to national distribution after its April 2006 debut.
Reynolds initially offered its dissolvables for sale in Columbus, Ohio; Portland, Ore.; and Indianapolis before moving them to Denver and Charlotte. The company did not dictate retail prices, but suggested that they sell at a comparable price to a tin of Camel Snus, or between $4 and $4.50.
http://www.csnews.com/top-story-supplier_news-r.j._reynolds_pulling_back_on_dissolvable_tobacco_products-64184.html

NC law takes effect banning e-cigarettes to minors

MITCH WEISS
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) — At North Carolina smoke shops and other retailers, the warning signs are going up.
A law banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors takes effect Thursday.
Retailers now face the same misdemeanor charge if they sell e-cigarettes to a minor as they already did for other tobacco products. Penalties can be as high as a $1,000 fine.
So retailers say they’ll be careful.
E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution, creating vapor that users inhale. Some are made to look like a real cigarette with a tiny light on the tip that glows.
Devotees tout them as a way to break addiction to real cigarettes.
But public health officials say the safety of e-cigarettes and their effectiveness in helping people quit regular smokes haven’t been fully studied.
http://www.wwaytv3.com/2013/07/31/nc-law-takes-effect-banning-e-cigarettes-to-minors

E-Cigarette Sales to Hit $1 Billion

By ALAN FARNHAM
E-cigarettes—a relative novelty three years ago–are about to hit $1 billion in sales, according to Wells Fargo securities analysts.
While that’s only 1 percent of sales of traditional cigarettes, the number of consumers who say they’ve tried e-smokes is growing fast. The sale of e-cigarettes totaled just $500 million last year.
According to the most recent survey by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, in 2011 about 21 percent of adults who smoke traditional cigarettes said they had tried the electronic alternative, up from about 10 percent in 2010.
“Overall,” says a CDC press release, “about 6 percent of all adults have tried e-cigarettes, with estimates nearly doubling from 2010.”
“E-cigarette use is growing rapidly,” said CDC director Tom Frieden in a February 2013 release announcing the survey’s findings. “There is still we do not know about these products.”
E-cigarettes, in their most popular form, look like conventional tobacco cigarettes. They do not, however, contain leaf tobacco and they do not burn. As described by CDC, they are battery-powered devices that provide inhaled doses of nicotine vapor and flavorings. Because they do not burn and do not produce smoke, their advocates consider them more socially acceptable than traditional cigarettes.
Their detractors do not. The Long Island Rail Road declared earlier this month that e-cigarettes violate LIRR’s smoking ban, which declares it unlawful for railroad patrons to “burn a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe or any other matter or substance which contains tobacco or any tobacco substitute.”
SAFER SMOKE OR NEW BAD HABIT?
In the eyes of some, the mere appearance of someone smoking—even smoking a non-tobacco, electronic substitute—creates the dangerous impression that smoking is okay.
“The use of e-cigarettes in public areas in which cigarette smoking is prohibited could counter the effectiveness of [smoke-free compliance] policies by complicating enforcement and giving the appearance that smoking is acceptable,” the CDC report says.
Gregory Conley, legislative director at the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association, scoffs at that attitude, saying, “It looks like smoking…so it must be evil.”
Conley’s association, he says, represents some 5,000 e-cigarette users. Conley says e-cigarettes “annoy people who don’t understand that they’re a great advertisement for smoking-cessation” and “people who believe no one should be allowed to have nicotine in any form.”
NO PROOF E-CIGARETTES COMBAT ADDICTION
The question whether e-cigarettes can be viewed as an aide to quitting smoking, for conventional tobacco users, is a contentious one. Eli Alelov, CEO of LOGIC Technology, makers of LOGIC e-cigarettes, says e-cigarettes are not a health product, and that he’s not claiming they are. At the same time, however, he points out, an e-cigarette contains no tar and no tobacco. It produces no second-hand smoke. Regulations prevent his suggesting that his product is healthier or safer, he says. “So, we leave that up to the public: they can use their logic.”
Alelov says that the people who hate e-cigarettes most include both big tobacco and the tax man. E-cigarettes aren’t taxed the same as regular cigarettes, so “the states hate us, because they’re losing money,” Alelov said.
Five years from now, he thinks, 30 to 40 percent of traditional smokers will have switched to e-cigarettes—perhaps as many as 20 million customers. In five years e-cigarette sales will grow to $15 billion to $20 billion a year, he thinks.
As for what further restrictions might be coming down the pike, Alelov says he’s not particularly worried about any regulations the FDA may eventually promulgate. (The FDA currently does not regulate e-cigarettes, but it is expected to in the future.) He expects the FDA’s regulations, when they come, would apply to packaging, labeling, and minimum age of the buyer.
Alelov says there are some venues where he, personally, won’t smoke an e-cigarette. They include McDonalds, movie theaters and children’s playgrounds. Everywhere else, however — everywhere that nicotine gum or nicotine patches are permitted — he feels e-smokes should be, too.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/electronic-cigarette-sales-billion/story?id=19815486
 

Reading the smoke signals on e-cigarettes: Can you puff away on a plane, train or in your local bar?

By / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Where there’s smoking, there’s no longer fire — but there’s plenty of heated debate.
Electronic cigarettes, known to smokers as e-cigarettes, are lighting up the city as puffers snuff out their butts in favor of the refillable, rechargeable alternative, which produces a not-so-smelly vapor instead of pungent smoke.
But should tokers treat these devices like cigarettes themselves, keeping the habit out of restaurants, bars, barbershops and airplanes? Or should they light up wherever the mood strikes, taking advantage of industry claims that the synthetic nicotine sticks are as harmless to passersby as nightclub fog machines?
Depends on who — and where — you ask.
Trains, planes and buses are out of the question.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority told the Daily News it allows no e-cigs on the E train or any of its rides, for that matter.
“We would interpret our prohibition on smoking as applying to electronic cigarettes,” a spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail.
The Long Island Rail Road also extends it cigarette ban to e-cigarettes.
The U.S. Department of Transportation says no smoking — or “vaping,” as e-cigarette enthusiasts call it — on airplanes.
But that’s where the formal prohibitions end. The city Parks Department doesn’t consider vaping to be smoking, meaning Mayor Bloomberg’s ban on puffers in parks is not airtight.
More importantly, the city’s Department of Health says Bloomberg’s defining Smoke Free Air Act, which prohibits smoking inside public places, does not govern electronic smoking. That means as far as the city is concerned, any bar, restaurant, movie theater, nightclub, bowling alley, nail salon or shopping mall is fair game for vaping.
That is, of course, if business owners choose to allow it.
Some do, and some don’t: Starbucks recently snuffed out the chance for patrons to enjoy coffee and e-cigarettes, while lower East Side bars Iggy’s, Whiskey Ward and Coal Yard don’t have a problem with it. On the other hand, many Times Square bars and Broadway theaters say no to e-smoking.
It’s a legal area that’s grayer than a smoker’s lungs, according to Phil Roseman, co-owner of VapeNY, Manhattan’s first electronic-cigarette shop.
“What we tell our customers is that you can vape anywhere you like,” says Roseman, whose newly opened lower East Side storefront sells the battery-powered devices for about $40 a pop, as well as flavored refills like coffee, vanilla and “juicy fruit.” “I’ve taken it on planes, into restaurants and movie theaters, and never had a problem.”
The store has been doing brisk businesses, as more and more nicotine addicts decide they don’t want to pay $15 for a pack of real cigarettes when there’s a cheaper, less-taxed, and more socially permissable alternative.
Not to mention, one that doesn’t stink up the whole apartment.
“I can use this e-cigarette as much as I want and my wife doesn’t complain about the smell,” says lower East Side resident Mike Chan, 41, a VapeNY regular who spends about $30 a month on the liquid refills, down significantly from his cigarette-smoking days.
That’s not to say all New Yorkers are welcoming the glowing tip of these electronic devices.
“There was a time when I was wasted, vaping an e-cigarette, and someone came up to me and told me to put it out,” says Alex Catarinella, 26. “I blew smoke in his face and then pretended to put out my cigarette on his chest. He jumped!”
Writers and regular e-smokers Christelle Gérand, 27, and Joel Johnson, 35, toured the city with the Daily News and vaped openly in bars, restaurants, a dry cleaner and even a grocery store without anyone telling them to cut it out.
“I am surprised at how many places don’t seem to mind — especially bars,” says Johnson.
One place that will never turn e-smokers away is the Henley Lounge, planned to open in SoHo in September. The local e-cigarette company hopes to screen films and host talks, all while passing out samples of its Henley e-cigs.
“Our job with this company is to educate people that nicotine is like caffeine,” says Henley co-founder Talia Eisenberg. “Yes, it’s addictive, but it’s not going to hurt you.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/rules-e-cigarettes-article-1.1412964?pgno=1#ixzz2ajJYNc2i
 

Most U.S. youth exposed to tobacco advertising in stores

ATLANTA, July 31 (UPI) — U.S. researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say a lot of kids continue to see tobacco ads and be influenced by them.
Dr. Shanta Dube, lead health scientist for surveillance in the Epidemiology Branch, Office on Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues examined the proportion of adolescents exposed to pro-tobacco advertising and assessed the association between this exposure and susceptibility to smoking.
The researchers used data from the 2011 National Youth Tobacco Survey to calculate the proportion of susceptible middle-school and high-school students exposed to pro-tobacco advertisements via stores, magazines and the Internet. Susceptibility to smoking cigarettes was defined as “never smoked but open to trying cigarettes,” Dube said.
In 2011, 81.5 percent of middle-school students and 87 percent of high-school students were exposed to tobacco advertisements in stores; 48 percent of middle-school students and 54 percent of high-school students were exposed to such advertising in magazines.
Exposure to tobacco advertisements on the Internet was similar at about 40 percent for both middle-school and high-school students.
Of those surveyed, 22 percent of middle-school students and 24 percent of high-school students were susceptible to trying cigarettes.
Exposure to magazine advertising declined from 71.8 percent in 2000 to 46 percent in 2009 among susceptible middle-school students; but exposure increased to 55 percent in 2011. Tobacco advertising seen through the Internet among susceptible high-school students increased from 26 percent in 2000 to 45 percent in 2011.
The study was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/07/31/Most-US-youth-exposed-to-tobacco-advertising-in-stores/UPI-26521375321062/#ixzz2ajGPXhMN

E-CIGARETTE BAN: Hennepin County property now off-limits

by Bill Keller
Smokers may be able to smoke in vehicles and their homes, but there are fewer public places to light up. Now, even electronic cigarettes are banned on Hennepin County property.
Most private buildings have a rule about smoking near entrances, but a new law is cutting a new way to cut cravings out of the picture.
“I was just a little disappointed that the county would take that stand on them because people are trying to quit,” said Donna Bratulich.
E-cigarettes seemed to fill a void as smoking restrictions continued to mount by offering a way to get a nicotine fix without breaking the law, but Hennepin County employees got an e-mail clarifying the tobacco-free property policy on Tuesday that listed the devices on a list of prohibited products.
“We are proactive. We’ve been proactive here,” said Hennepin County Administrator David Hough. “We want to make sure that our workforce and the residents, clients in the building are being protected.”
Hough said the decision was made after concerns were raised last week even though e-cigarettes do not violate the state’s Clean Indoor Air Act.
“The law is very specific in how it defines smoking as involving the combustion of tobacco or other materials to create smoke,” Dan McElroy, of the Minnesota Restaurant Association, told FOX 9 News. “So, an e-cigarette is not a cigarette or smoking device in the eyes of the law.”
McElroy told FOX 9 News he is not aware of any restaurants that ban e-cigarettes, but he has fielded several questions on the topic.
“The difference in e-cigarettes is they don’t create second-hand impact,” he explained.
Hennepin County’s decision may mark the first ban on nicotine regardless of where it comes from, and it applies to anyone on Hennepin County property regardless of whether the person works there or not.
Metro Transit is also in the process of updating its rules to make using e-cigarettes on a bus or light rail a violation of its code of conduct.
Read more: E-CIGARETTE BAN: Hennepin County property now off-limits – KMSP-TV http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/22973287/e-cigarette-ban-hennepin-county-property-now-off-limits#ixzz2ajIG8Ki4
 

C-stores Could Hit $1B in E-Cigarette Sales This Year

NEW YORK — New Nielsen convenience store data indicates that electronic cigarette sales could hit $1 billion this year, with that figure jumping to $1.7 billion when factoring in online sales.
Leading e-cigarette sales at c-stores is Lorillard Inc.’s blu eCigs brand, according to Bonnie Herzog, managing director of tobacco, beverage and consumer research at Wells Fargo Securities LLC. She cited Nielsennumbers showing that blu captured 39 percent of the dollar share in the convenience channel during the most recent four-week period ended July 6, followed by NJOY with a 30.1-percent share.
Looking at extended all-outlet coverage (XAOC) from New York City-based Nielsen, blu came in first again with a 44.5-percent share. Other leading brands in the XAOC channel include FIN at 20.6 percent, Mistic at 11.7 percent and NJOY at 10.8 percent.
“We believe e-cigarette consumption could surpass traditional cigarettes within the next decade and the combined operating profit pool could generate a CAGR [compounded annual growth rate] of 7 percent over the next decade,” Herzog stated.
While electronic cigarette dollar sales grew 189.6 percent in the four-week period ended July 6, according to Nielsen, total cigarette dollar sales in the U.S. convenience channel grew 1.2 percent over the same timeframe, vs. 1 percent in the last four-week period and 1.3 percent in the prior year.
Unit sales posted their best results – meaning their lowest decline — of the past 12 periods, Herzog said, adding that this was likely driven by moderating net price realization.
“We believe the recent cigarette list price increase of 6 cents per pack is now reflected in the c-store channel. Despite somewhat tepid price realization for retailers per the Nielsen data, we expect net price realization for the manufacturers to accelerate to about 4 percent in [fiscal year] 2013, which should offset volume declines, leading to positive dollar sales,” she explained.
As for individual cigarette brands, all three Big Tobacco companies — the Altria Group Inc. Reynolds American Inc. and Lorillard — saw positive numbers during the period, she added.
http://www.csnews.com/top-story-tobacco-c_stores_could_hit_$1b_in_e_cigarette_sales_this_year_-64164.html

University of Texas at San Diego to Study Health Effects of E-Cigarettes

San Francisco, CA – William Cooke and Donovan Fogt, UTSA kinesiologists, have received a $30,000 seed fund from the University to help investigate the health effects of electronic cigarettes. They will be teaming up with Assistant Professor Caroline Rickards at the University of North Texas to help gather data about the effects of e-cigarettes and the body’s basic physiological health.
e-Cigarettes have been around for about six years, and have been marketed as an alternative to smokers who want to decrease their risk of serious health risks of smoking, but still enjoy the effects of nicotine. The devices have been aggressively marketed to make people believe that there are little-to-no side effects of inhaling pure nicotine, but in reality, very little research has been done to study the effects of inhaling vaporized nicotine.
The scholars will be working under the hypothesis that vaporized nicotine “stimulates the human nervous system in ways that could seriously impact daily living”. They believe that the inhalation of pure nicotine has the potential to increase a person’s resting metabolism, making exercise problematic, just as in smoking traditional cigarettes. They also are hypothesizing that e-cigarettes will prevent the cardiovascular system from properly system from properly regulating arterial pressure.
If the hypothesis is correct, additional research will be needed to help understand the immediate effects of vaporized nicotine, as well as the impact of dosage in each device, and age on the e-cigarette user’s health.
http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/university-of-texas-at-san-diego-to-study-health-effects-of-e-cigarettes-292135.htm

The electronic cigarette ignites debate

By Michael Crusan – email
Eau Claire (WQOW) – Electronic cigarettes are technically smoke free, but some businesses and health experts are drawing the line to put them out.
This alternative to smoking is receiving mixed reviews in Eau Claire.
“Have the brown filter, the white battery, I mean it looks just like you’re naturally smoking a cigarette and even the end lights up red,” explains regional manager of Eau Claire Tobacco Shop, Jessica Hartkemeyer.
A red light leading restaurant owners and health officials to say stop.
“Electronic cigarettes, to me, is smoking.  It’s the same thing, it’s the same type of scene it is.  In all our restaurants where we have non-smoking areas, it will be non-smoking for electronic cigarettes,” says Eau Claire restaurant owner Lisa Aspenson.
Especially when the federal government isn’t controlling what’s in a cloud of e-cig vapor.
“The FDA has not evaluated it for the content of nicotine or for other dangerous drugs,” says Mayo Clinic Health System Nurse Practitioner, Kim Edson.
“The FDA, I think, is avoiding putting their stamp of approval on this because it’s not necessarily a quit smoking device.  It can be used as a replacement that’s just a little bit cheaper,” says Hartkemeyer.
So what does your average e-cig contain in a puff of vapor?
“USP grade liquid nicotine, kosher certified natural and artificial flavors,” says Hartkemeyer.
Much shorter than the list of ingredients in a cigarette, but still not approved by doctors.
“For the intent of stopping smoking we don’t recommend it because it still promotes the behaviors of smoking,” says Edson.
Because it’s hard to tell if the cigarette is made with paper or plastic.
“When they first came out I did have customers say, ‘Well bars asked me not to use these or restaurants because it gives the impression that we are smoking in the establishment’,” says Hartkemeyer.
“So I think we’ll just stay with the non-smoking trend and maybe be the first to implement it in the Eau Claire area,” says Aspenson.
Instead asking smokers to step outside whether they light or ignite.
Aspenson also owns the Livery in downtown Eau Claire and says they do allow outdoor smoking for tobacco or electronic cigarettes at that location.
Read more or view video:  http://www.wqow.com/story/22960738/2013/07/29/the-electronic-cigarette-ignites-debate

Law banning smoking in restaurants turns 10

 / Featured Stories, Fulton News
For many of us, it seems like a lifetime ago when we were asked if we wanted to be seated at the smoking or non-smoking section in our local restaurant.
For Zachary and Matthew Metott, it was an actual lifetime ago. The Metott boys turn 10 years old this year and have never known a world where smoking was allowed in New York state restaurants. July 24th is the 10th anniversary of the Expanded Clean Indoor Air Act, most commonly known for prohibiting smoking in bars and restaurants.
The 2003 state law banned smoking in almost all workplaces, bars, restaurants, bowling facilities, taverns and bingo halls and protected millions of New Yorkers from daily exposure to second-hand smoke and the illnesses it causes.
When the Metott boys were asked their thoughts on having smoking and non-smoking sections in restaurants Matthew replied, “That’s just weird!” Zachary added “I’d wonder why they were doing that.”
Zachary and Matthew met at Vona’s Restaurant to talk with the Tobacco Free Network of Oswego County about this milestone. Vona’s was one of the first Oswego restaurants to go smoke-free, making the decision before New York even passed the Expanded Clean Indoor Air Act. The boys also had strong opinions on being exposed to smoke in restaurants.
“We wouldn’t want to go there to enjoy time with our family because it would hurt us or make our little sisters sick,” said Zachary.
A recent survey of bars and restaurants in Oswego County revealed that compliance with the law 10 years later is excellent. In fact, there was a 100 percent compliance rate at the time of the unannounced survey. Despite the success of this law and the countless lives that have been saved, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and kills more than 25,000 New Yorkers every year.
The U.S. Surgeon General characterizes youth smoking as a pediatric epidemic, and states that the evidence is clear that tobacco marketing causes youth to start smoking, and most start before they reach the age of 18.
“Smoking is still a problem in Oswego County and New York state as whole, particularly among teens,” said Abby Jenkins, Program Coordinator of the Tobacco Free Network of Oswego County. “Zachary and Matthew have never known a time when smoking was allowed in restaurants. Maybe the next generation of 10 year olds will never know a time when they were inundated with tobacco marketing.”
For more information about efforts to reduce smoking and protect youth from tobacco marketing, visit www.tobaccofreenys.org.
http://valleynewsonline.com/blog/2013/07/27/law-banning-smoking-in-restaurants-turns-10/