What goes into tobacco products?

The majority of smokers use cigarettes. A manufactured cigarette is a carefully designed device for delivering nicotine. Cured and processed tobacco is packed and wrapped to create a standardised product. The characteristics of each brand depend on the tobacco type and blend, how it is cured, the additives used and other technical characteristics of the cigarette. These may affect for example the content of different substances in the smoke, burning characteristics nicotine release and the size of smoke particles.
In recent decades, more and more additives have been introduced, and current cigarettes may contain up to 10 per cent additives by weight. Nearly 600 different additives have been documented. They also affect smoke characteristics, such as colour, harshness, odour and flavour.
The main tobacco additives are sugars, which are also present naturally, and moisturising agents. Others include preservatives and numerous flavourings, including cocoa, liquorice, menthol and lactic acid.
Roll-your-own cigarettes, cigars, waterpipes and smokeless tobacco products, which may also contain additives, all account for small portions of the total market.

Bolshoi faces fine for advertising tobacco

Russia’s Bolshoi Theater has been found guilty of violating the law on advertising and is facing a fine of 110,000 rubles for promoting tobacco smoking, the country’s anti-trust watchdog said on Tuesday.
“Advertisements of Japan Tobacco International tobacco company were distributed through a booklet with the theater’s program at performances in September and October 2012 and were not accompanied by a warning of the harm caused by smoking,” the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) said on its website.
FAS has ruled to impose a fine of 110,000 rubles on the Bolshoi. The theater has 10 days to appeal against the ruling.

Korea enjoys tobacco trade surplus

The value of South Korea’s tobacco exports increased by 370 per cent during the past 10 years while imports remained steady, resulting in a tobacco trade surplus since 2004, according to a story in The Korea Times.
Ninety seven per cent of tobacco exports comprise cigarettes.
In 2002, Korea’s tobacco imports amounted to more than double its exports but, by last year, exports had risen to be 1.7 times higher than its imports, data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS) has shown.
“Much of the domestic demand for imported manufactured tobacco appears to have been replaced by demand for Korean-made products as their quality improved,” said a KCS official.
In 2002, more than three quarters of the tobacco imported by Korea was in the form of manufactured products, but this share fell to about 40 per cent last year, with the rest comprising unmanufactured leaf tobacco.
Meanwhile, the Yonhap News Agency said that the value of exports had increased from US$156.29 million to US$572.05 million during the 10 year period, says Tobacco Reporter.

Shareholders File Anti-Smoking Resolutions With Movie Companies

An anti-smoking crusade is being taken to movie companies by shareholders who are filing resolutions asking that movies designed for young people eliminate smoking or have R ratings.
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), one of the leaders of the effort, notes a recent U.S. Surgeon General report that says smoking depicted in movies causes more young people to take up smoking.
Shareholders of several major movie companies have filed resolutions asking that the companies give movies depicting smoking an R rating or eliminate smoking from movies anticipated to get a G, PG, or PG-13 rating. Shareholder resolutions have been filed with Time Warner, CBS and Comcast. Similar resolutions are to be filed with The Walt Disney Co., News Corp, Sony and Viacom, according to ICCR and As Your Sow, a nonprofit organization that promotes corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy.
Attorneys general in 38 states have written to media companies with similar requests, according to ICCR.
“Investors are concerned about the financial, legal, and reputation risks these studios may bear due to the health impact on children and teens that are exposed to smoking in the movies they watch,” says Cathy Rowan, director of socially responsible investments for Trinity Health, an ICCR member.
Tobacco use in youth rated movies increased in 2011 by 34 percent, says Michael Passoff, senior strategist at As You Sow, reports Financial Advisor.

Columbus eyes tobacco-free zones in parks

The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department is considering a policy that would create tobacco-free areas at city-run facilities.
The department is looking to eliminate the use of tobacco products - that includes cigarettes as well as smokeless products - in areas such as playgrounds, tennis courts, ball diamonds, basketball courts and youth-sports zones.
Officials with recreation and parks, along with Columbus Public Health, have sent a survey to tens of thousands of people and have posted the questionnaire on their individual websites. The survey also was sent to area commissions and civic groups.
"It's just our attempt to educate people as to what's the right and healthy thing to do for the community," said Steve Aumiller, an assistant director with recreation and parks.
The survey will help determine where appropriate restrictions should take place, Aumiller said.
Smoking already is prohibited in shelter houses and baseball dugouts but not in open-air picnic shelters.
In some places, such as Berliner Park, smoking, chewing tobacco and sunflower seeds are banned because of the potential damage to new artificial infields, Aumiller said.

Bulgarian PM hints at backtrack on smoking ban but Health Minister stands firm

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov has hinted that he will not oppose a backtrack being considered by his ruling party MPs that would see the indoor smoking ban eased to allow people to light up in restaurants and bars after 10pm, but Health Minister Desislava Atanasova has pledged to stand firm against the anti-smoking law being amended.
Bulgaria’s law against smoking in enclosed public spaces came into effect at the beginning of June 2012. The full ban overtook an earlier version that allowed restaurants and bars to set aside smoking spaces with separate ventilation.
With the advent of winter, campaigning in Bulgaria against the full ban has been stepped up and restaurants, bars and nightclubs have been increasingly strident in insisting that the full smoking ban is harming earnings and jobs.
A small group of independent MPs was the first to say that they would table in Parliament a bill to revert to the earlier version of the law, as restaurant and pub associations have asked, a proposal that at first met with firm rejection by Bulgaria’s centre-right ruling party GERB.
However, it has emerged that Parliament’s health committee, at a meeting on December 13, will consider amendments that would allow smoking in enclosed public places after 10pm, according to Sofia Globe.
Dr Daniela Daritkova, head of the committee, confirmed on December 7 that a discussion on the proposed amendments would take place.
However, she said that there was no serious evidence that businesses had been seriously hit in the first three months of the full ban being in effect. When it came to balancing the interests of business and of public health, it was health that should take precedence, she was quoted as saying.
Bulgarian-language media reports in Sofia and in Bulgaria’s second city, Plovdiv, said that there were widespread violations of the ban at places of entertainment at night.

New tobacco items pose risks

As cigarette smoking rates have dropped, and more states have adopted public smoking bans, the tobacco industry has created new products to keep users hooked and find new customers, according to Beloit Daily News.

“Other tobacco products,” or OTPs, are harmful and addictive. They are marketed aggressively and priced inexpensively. The new smokeless tobacco products appeal to youth. Adults need to know these products exist, and youth need more help to resist them.

Listed below are some of the most common types of OTP.

• Tobacco sticks resemble toothpicks and will dissolve within 10 minutes when placed in the mouth. One of these sticks contains three times the nicotine as one cigarette.

• Orbs look like small pellets, about the size of a Tic Tac breath mint and last for about 15 minutes. One orb contains 1 milligram of nicotine, which is the equivalent to the nicotine level of one cigarette.

• Strips, similar to a breath mint strip, take 3 minutes to dissolve. They contain slightly less nicotine than one cigarette.

• Snus, tobacco contained in small pouches, is another smokeless tobacco product that is being marketed to smoker to use when they aren’t able to smoke cigarettes.

OTP use is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking. The consequences of using OTP include cancer, tooth loss, gum disease, and increased risk of heart disease and stroke.