New York: New smokeless tobacco worries experts

Camel Snus, the latest smokeless tobacco product to hit the American market, is not your grandfather’s chaw. 

It delivers a powerful dose of nicotine: eight milligrams in each pouch, a spokesman for the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which manufacturers Snus, acknowledged. A pouch amounts to a single dose.

That’s far more nicotine per gram than is present in other popular chewing tobacco products, according to some researchers, who are concerned that Snus may turn out to be both carcinogenic and highly addictive.

Chewing tobacco regularly increases the risk of developing oral cancers; recent studies have also associated heavy use with increased odds of pancreatic cancer. The European Union banned sales of an earlier formulation of Snus in 1992 after a World Health Organization study determined the product could cause cancer. Snus is still sold in Sweden, where it originated, and in Norway.

Health officials in West Virginia analysed a version of Snus marketed earlier this year in parts of the United States and found it contained five milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco, or about two milligrams per pouch serving, said Robert Anderson, deputy director of the prevention research center at West Virginia University.

Since then, he said, the amount of tobacco and the concentration of nicotine in each pouch appear to have increased. “The nicotine in these products doesn’t happen by accident,” Mr. Anderson said.

The latest packaging does contain more tobacco, 0.6 grams per pouch instead of 0.4 grams, and therefore more nicotine, according to R.J. Reynolds spokesman David Howard.

The disclosure dismayed some public health officials.

“It’s so high in nicotine that the probability of becoming addicted to it with utilization of just one tin is going to be very high,” said Bruce W. Adkins, director of the division of tobacco prevention of the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health in Charleston, W.Va.

By providing users a nicotine fix without lighting up, Snus may tempt consumers to ignore initiatives designed to reduce tobacco use, such as indoor smoking bans, experts said.

Since Snus can be used discreetly, it may also appeal to teenagers, Mr. Anderson said. “The surreptitious aspects of it will be very obvious to them.” 

Source: The New York Times, 26 November 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6kkv59

Wales: Cancer death rates 'inequality'

The gap in cancer death rates is widening between rich and poor areas of Wales, according to the chief medical officer. 

In his annual report, Dr Tony Jewell, who advises the assembly government, said there must be a greater focus on putting an end to health inequalities.

Part of the problem is the higher number of people who smoke, drink and take drugs in deprived areas, he said.

Overall, however, he said people are getting healthier and living longer.

The report shows that deaths from heart disease and strokes are continuing to fall.

However, with cancer, the gap between the least and most deprived areas in Wales increased from 62 deaths per 100,000 people in 2001 to 78 deaths per 100,000 in 2006.

Dr Jewell said: "Overall, the health of the people of Wales is continuing to get better. A child born in Wales today can expect to live to the age of 80 or more.

"Long term trends in decreasing deaths from heart disease and improved life expectancy have also continued."

"Improvements in tackling coronary heart disease mean we are on track to meet our 2012 target of reducing deaths from the disease to 400 per 100,000 population. Improvements are also being seen in more disadvantaged communities.

"However, with regard to cancer, inequalities between different areas and social groups are not decreasing."

He said that high smoking rates were still a major cause of health inequalities.

People in the most deprived populations in Wales are twice as likely to smoke as those in the least deprived areas.

Dr Jewell will launch his report at Brynteg Comprehensive School, Bridgend, when he visits an assembly government programme that aims to persuade schoolchildren against smoking.

"Efforts are needed to reduce the levels of smoking, especially stopping young people from starting in the first place, as it is a major cause of health inequalities," he said.

"The ban on smoking in public places will also assist a decline in smoking rates and consumption."

Richardson Davidson, of Cancer Research UK said, "The fact deaths from heart disease were reducing shows that health inequalities are not inevitable and that working with communities could help reduce cancer deaths."

"International evidence suggests that the increasing gap in cancer incidence may be caused, partially, by the more rapid adoption of healthy behaviours by those at the top of the socioeconomic scale compared to those at the bottom," he said.

"Information and support should therefore be introduced which is tailored to the needs of lower socioeconomic groups and encourages and enables individuals to make choices such as giving up smoking and the maintenance a healthy body weight."

Source: BBC News, 27 November 2008  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5bjvh8

Help stop our children smoking

As many as one in six school children who are regular smokers usually buy their cigarettes from vending machines and the British Heart Foundation estimates that in 2006, more than 46,000 children got their cigarettes through vending machines in England and Wales. 

With the age limit for buying cigarettes having been recently raised from 16 to 18, even more underage smokers may now be accessing cigarettes from vending machines.

It remains far too easy for children to buy cigarettes from vending machines and it undermines every other measure aimed at stopping them from smoking. Most smokers start as children and smokers are twice as likely to have heart attacks as those that never start.

The BHF is campaigning for legislation in the Queen's Speech on December 3 to tackle smoking among children.

Please support this campaign, sign the online petition and help protect children from smoking.

Source: Prontefract and Castleford Express, 27 November 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6rkddc

USA: FTC rescinds guidance for cigarette ads

The Federal Trade Commission rescinded guidance it issued 42 years ago that has allowed tobacco companies to make claims about tar and nicotine levels based on testing by a machine.

The cigarette industry uses a test known as the Cambridge Filter Method to support any factual statements about tar and nicotine content in cigarette smoke. But the commission said the test method is flawed. It also said that the resulting marketing touting tar and nicotine levels could cause consumers to believe that lighter cigarettes were safer.

As a result, future advertising that lists tar levels for cigarettes won't be able to use terms such as "by FTC method."

"Our action today ensures that tobacco companies may not wrap their misleading tar and nicotine ratings in a cloak of government sponsorship," said Commissioner Jon Leibowitz. "Simply put, the FTC will not be a smoke screen for tobacco companies' shameful marketing practices."

The commission rescinded the guidance by a 4-0 vote.

Under the current system, cigarettes with a tar rate above 15 milligrams per cigarette are commonly referred to by the industry as "full flavour." Cigarettes with a tar rating of less than 15 milligrams are referred to as "low" or "light." Cigarettes with a tar rate below 6 are described as "ultra low" or "ultra light."

The National Cancer Institute found that changes in cigarette design reduced the amount of tar and nicotine measured by smoking machines using the Cambridge Filter Method. However, there was no evidence those changes reduced disease for smokers. The machine doesn't take into account the way smokers adjust their behaviour, such as taking more or deeper puffs to maintain nicotine levels.

"The most important aspect of this decision is that it says to consumers that tobacco industry claims relating to tar and nicotine are at best flawed and most likely misleading," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

The commission said it originally believed in the 1960s that giving consumers uniform, standardised information about tar and nicotine yields of cigarettes would help them make informed decisions about cigarettes. At the time, most public health officials believed that reducing the amount of tar in a cigarette could reduce a smoker's risk of lung cancer. However, that premise is no longer valid.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. introduced legislation this year that would prohibit companies from making claims based on data derived from the FTC's testing method, but the bill did not make it to the full chamber for a vote.

"Tobacco companies can no longer rely on the government to back up a flawed testing method that tricks smokers into thinking these cigarettes deliver less tar and nicotine," Lautenberg said.

One FTC commissioner, Pamela Jones Harbor, urged Congress to approve the regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration. The bill would authorise government scientists to track, analyse and regulate the components of cigarettes.

Tobacco companies have stated clearly over the years that there is no such thing as a safe cigarette. In a statement, Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest tobacco company, said it remains committed to working with the FTC and other federal authorities to identify and adopt testing that improves on the Cambridge method.

The FTC noted that all four major domestic cigarette makers told commissioners the 1966 guidance should be retained until a replacement test method was approved.

Philip Morris warned commissioners that elimination of the guidance could lead to a new "tar derby" in which cigarette makers would use different methods of measuring the yields in their cigarettes, thereby leading to greater consumer confusion.

Source: The Associated Press, 26 November 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6m5z53