Tobacco.org

Army of smokers who shield parents from truth 

Britain has an army of smokers who cover up their sneaky cigarette habit from family and friends, according to a survey.

As millions get ready to try to kick the habit again this year, the poll revealed millions of adults still don't smoke in front of their parents �?" despite being in their 20s and 30s.

The survey was carried out on 1,000 people who had bought the NJOY "electronic" cigarette, an aid to kicking the habit.

Of those buying the device, 77 per cent admitted they still hid the fact from their parents despite, on average, being over 27. . . .

NJOY is a £60 replica cigarette, a battery powered, tobacco-free device which mimics the process and sensation of smoking. A chemical reaction between the ingredients in the device produces an odourless and harmless vapour that looks like cigarette smoke.

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Nabi Biopharmaceuticals Reaches Special Protocol Agreement With FDA for NicVAX(r) Phase 3 Trial Protocol  

Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:NABI) announced it has reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of NicVAX(r) (Nicotine Conjugate Vaccine), the company's innovative and proprietary investigational vaccine to treat nicotine addiction and prevent smoking relapse. The SPA is a process by which sponsors and the FDA reach agreement on the design and size of clinical trials. It is intended to form the basic foundation to support approval of a New Drug Application.

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• Switzerland's stinky city  

There has to be some reason why it's impossible to find anywhere to dine, drink or even enjoy a concert without going home stinking of cigarette or cigar smoke.

Coming out of Zurich airport to the hotel shuttle buses, the first thing that hits you is cigarette smoke. And throughout an entire trip, it keeps on hitting you. . . .

For Zurich is almost like last man standing when it comes to banning smoking.

Restaurants, bars, taxis, hotel lobbies are all muggy. We were unable to find a restaurant that even had a no-smoking area. . . .

For companies, the failure of Zurich - and other cities that are out of line with the increasingly global approach to smoking - there is a compliance hazard. How long is it before an employee claims that he cannot go to a city where he is forced to sit in smoke to eat or socialise with clients because it is a health hazard and covered by health and safety at work provisions?

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• Bars take hit as noose tightens on smoking in public 

When Alberta's Tobacco Reduction Act kicked in last year, the new law transformed the province from a smoker's haven to a leader in limiting where people can smoke.

The legislation's final phase took effect Thursday. Stores that sell prescription drugs will no longer be allowed to sell cigarettes, unless they have gas bars, erected mall kiosks or created separate enclosed spaces for smoke sales.

Tobacco sales have also been outlawed at health-care facilities and post-secondary schools.

While many bars, bingos and casinos contend they've taken a significant financial hit because of the smoking ban, it's been business as usual at some restaurants.

Okotoks' In Cahoots Bar and Grill welcomed the provincial law forcing it and its competitors to go smoke-free, said manager Esther Vanderermeulen.

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• Beating nicotine 

IT’S near the top of many people’s New Year resolutions list, but can often be one of the hardest to keep – giving up smoking.

Now, in 2009, pharmacies across York and North Yorkshire are offering more help to smokers who are struggling to give up nicotine.

NHS North Yorkshire and York’s Stop Smoking Service has trained staff from 56 pharmacies throughout the region to widen the support they can offer.

They will be able to provide over-the-counter smoking cessation programmes run by specialist advisors in the field, and reluctant smokers will receive vouchers to take to one of the participating pharmacies and trade them in for medication, such as nicotine patches and gum at prescription costs.

In the first few weeks of trying to give up, when withdrawal symptoms are at their worst, smokers will also be able to pick up tips on coping with the cravings and the necessary encouragement to continue on their quest.

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Cumbrian chemists sign up to help people stop smoking  

Scores of pharmacists across Cumbria have signed up to an initiative that aims to help people quit smoking.

Health experts are redoubling their efforts to combat the habit, which kills more than 100,000 people every year in the UK.

Smoking is linked to many life-limiting illnesses and conditions, including cancer, heart disease and poor circulation. Now smokers in Cumbria are being offered extra help to kick the habit.

A new NHS Cumbria scheme means that from the beginning of January, participating pharmacies across the county will be offering free advice and regular support including nicotine replacement.

More than half of Cumbria's 102 pharmacies have joined the scheme which gives people easier access to NHS stop smoking services.

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• Electronic Clearing House, Inc., Agrees to Stop Enabling Online Tobacco Sales 

An electronic payments processor has agreed to stop handling transactions for the illegal online sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and the attorneys general of New York and California reached the settlement with Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (ECHO), of Los Angeles, California.

"Online tobacco retailers are a major source for young people to buy cigarettes illegally," Attorney General Wasden said. "Stopping the illegal sale of cigarettes, especially to minors, is a major step in protecting public health. ECHO has acted responsibly in agreeing to stop processing payments for these illegal sales, and we hope other companies and banks involved in online tobacco sales will follow their lead."

The three states began an investigation of ECHO following a lawsuit Wasden brought against Scott Maybee, one of the highest volume Internet cigarette sellers. Maybee was ordered to pay Idaho more than $160,000 for illegal Internet sales of millions of cigarettes into Idaho.

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Kyiv restricts places where alcohol, tobacco can be sold 

Kyiv municipal council restricted retail sales of liquor beverages and tobacco goods in the capital's outlet chain. This decision was supported Friday by 117 city council deputies, far more than the minimum 61 votes required. . . .

selling of tobacco goods is banned closer than 150 meters from educations institutions, at markets, in pavilions and booths, in underground walkways and on metro stations, in stores on territory of parks and recreation zones.

Trading with liquor and tobacco is prohibited in computer clubs and Internet cafes, in places of mass public events, in museums, libraries, palaces of culture, on stadiums and playgrounds. . . .

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Main department of the Internal Affairs Ministry in Kyiv asks Kyiv city state administration to assist in prevention from sale of alcoholic drinks and tobacco goods to minors.

In October 2006, Kyiv council banned outdoor advertisements of strong and soft drinks, and tobacco goods, including on big size structures in Khreschatyk.

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Research and Markets: Japan Tobacco - IT Sales Opportunities - 2008 

Japan Tobacco Inc. is a Japanese company engaged mainly in the tobacco industry. The main business segments of the company are domestic and overseas tobacco, pharmaceutical, foods, and others. The tobacco segment manufactures and sells cigarette products in domestic and overseas market. The pharmaceutical segment is engaged in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of drugs and medicines. The food segment manufactures and sells processed food, beverages, seasonings, chilled foods, and other products. The others segment is engaged in the leasing and operation of real estate, as well as the provision of other services. The Company has 299 consolidated subsidiaries and 25 associated companies.

Industry trends and drivers have a direct or indirect affect on IT spending of all companies operating within an industry. For example - increase in sourcing from low cost countries might influence Japan Tobacco Inc. to relook at their supply chains, resulting in selling opportunities for SCM solutions, collaboration tools etc. Thus, we can conclude that industry spending on any particular IT product or service is an important indicator of the criticality of that product or service for the industry. Based on the IT spend information available in 'TechNavio', we have computed a 'criticality score' for various IT products and services, for Japan Tobacco Inc.

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Walgreens in Golden Valley gets provisional tobacco license 

After failing two tobacco compliance checks in 2008 and one in 2007, Walgreens in Golden Valley now has a provisional tobacco license.

The action followed a special Golden Valley City Council administrative hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

According to a memo to the council from Police Chief Stacy Altonen, a Golden Valley Police detective conducted a tobacco license compliance check with a 17-year-old checker in June 2007 at Walgreens, 5695 Duluth St.

The clerk working the checkout lane checked the ID of the underage checker, but sold cigarettes to the checker anyway, the memo stated.

In July this year, another tobacco license compliance check was conducted at Walgreens, with a 16-year-old checker.

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A plan to get all U.S. smokers to quit by 2020  

All smokers should have access to tobacco cessation treatment by 2020, according to a plan released this week by business and health heavyweights.

Most tobacco users want to quit but need help through medication, counseling and telephone hotlines, said the plan's backers, a coalition of nearly two dozen including two former U.S. surgeons general and three former secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Advocates say it's a no-brainer for your lungs: boost access to treatment and Americans will lay down their lighters.

"The lowest of the low-hanging fruit is smoking and tobacco cessation," said Ron Finch of the National Business Group on Health, a health policy nonprofit.

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Portion of statewide sales tax is ours, retailers say  

A little-known fact of business in Virginia is that merchants get to keep a small percentage of the sales tax they collect.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine wants that money back, and retailers across the state are fighting to keep it.

The "dealer discount" was part of landmark legislation in 1966 that established the Virginia sales tax. The idea was to compensate merchants for the newly imposed hassle of accounting for sales tax collections and sending monthly checks to the state.

But times have changed, and Kaine says it's no longer time-consuming for retailers to keep track of the sales tax. Computerized cash registers keep records and remit payments to the state at almost the touch of a button.

Kaine said the $64.3 million a year merchants get to keep - less than 2 percent of the total sales tax take - is money that the recession-rocked state needs. The governor proposed taking the money back in a speech Wednesday that detailed a $2.9 billion shortfall in revenue and asked legislators to cut education funding and stop new enrollments in Medicaid.

Several business interest groups say that Kaine's logic is wrong and that taking away the dealer discount at a time when sales are paltry is a kick in the gut to suffering merchants.

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• Anti-smoking law forces retailer to phase out pharmacy 

With the final phase of Alberta's Tobacco Reduction Act set to take effect on New Year's Day, Stadium Drug and Food Mart owner Jack Au had a business choice to make.

Either keep his grocery store where more than 50 per cent of sales come from tobacco products or hang on to the less lucrative pharmacy and watch his former smoking customers buy their cigarettes elsewhere.

"So I closed up the pharmacy. It made no sense to continue with that business when over 50 per cent of the business is tobacco here," Au said.

Au now uses the corner where the pharmacy once stood to rent out videos.

When Jan. 1 rolls around, he will permanently seal up the double doors leading to the pharmacy which moved next door.

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Andrew Sheldon took your questions 

"Andrew Sheldon describes it as a 'Nirvana moment': Sitting across the table from a group of investors with extremely deep pockets and seeing enthusiasm for your pitch spread across their faces," writes Joanna Pachner in Tobacco giant breathes life into medical startup.

"The CEO of Medicago, a biotechnology startup based in Quebec City, experienced this entrepreneurial bliss during an impromptu meeting with two senior executives from Philip Morris International. It happened in February of 2007 during BioPartnering North America, a conference in Vancouver that connects pharmaceutical and biotech companies with each other and with investors. The giant cigarette manufacturer had sent two of its top R&D people to seek out "adjacent technologies" for the tobacco plant -- ventures that could benefit from PMI's decades of research, while yielding a more wholesome product than a pack of Marlboros."

Earlier, Mr. Sheldon took questions on his deal with Philip Morris International.

Dave Michaels, globeandmail.com: Welcome, everyone. We've got a broad range of issues on tap here, from business to ethics to science. Let's get right to the questions:

Jonathan Krueger from Pleasanton, U.S., writes: According to Morgan Stanley, Philip Morris makes about $1 (U.S.) per pack net profit. For about every 40,000 packs of cigarettes sold, someone dies. So the $16-million that Philip Morris gave Medicago is directly connected to the death of 400 people. There is no other place Philip Morris gets the money. Mr. Sheldon, are you okay with taking blood money?

Andrew Sheldon: Jonathan, we are a biotech company focused on developing vaccines that will have an important impact on saving lives, especially in the dramatic context of a pandemic. This is a great opportunity for Phillip Morris to make a positive impact in the delivery of health care by investing in cutting edge technology.

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• Pilot Corp. Stores Offer Ruyan Smoking Alternatives in Knoxville, Tenn.-Area Convenience Stores 

Ruyan America, Inc., Minneapolis, announced that its Ruyan Vegas(R) E-cigar, an award-winning smokeless cigarette substitute, is now available in Pilot Food Mart stores in the Knoxville, Tenn. region.

The Ruyan Vegas looks and feels like a premium cigar, five and one-half inches in length with a circumference of approximately 50 ring size. The Ruyan Vegas uses a microchip, airflow sensor, ultrasonic atomizer and nicotine-infused liquid to produce a vapor that provides its user with the experience of smoking, without producing dangerous second hand smoke and without endangering the health of associates or bystanders. The Ruyan Vegas has approximately 1800 mouthfuls of vapor, nearly the equivalent vapor to the mouthfuls of smoke produced in a carton of conventional cigarettes and is meant to be disposed of after it ceases to produce vapor. Smokers who use it to replace all of their smoking activity report it lasts as long as a carton of cigarettes, while smokers who only use it in places where they cannot or would not smoke report it lasts anywhere from three to six weeks. Pilot stores expect to offer the product at a low introductory price of $29.99, a real bargain when compared to the traditional alternatives.

"We have seen the research from Ruyan America and believe that this is going to be an exciting alternative to smoking that does not emit second hand smoke," stated Dan Fleming, Pilot VP of Operations.

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