Entries from May 2009 ↓

Congress is working through the FDA bill which will ultimately regulate the Tobacco Industry. It’s likey to pass this year but even if it doesn’t most view it as only a matter of time – although we’ve been saying this for over ten years now.

What’s not encouraging is how little the bill has changed in this time. The bill has become a piece of history apparently frozen in time.

According to reports Congressamn Waxman had to ask what MSA stood for – which certainly conveys the impression he’s not entirely in the loop.

As written the bill favors the status quo. That’s great if you’re PM USA, but things change and there are other stake holders.

No word is included about tobacco harm reduction – in fact for cigarettes the bill almost precludes it by setting the bar so high as to be unattainable.

There’s no language differentiating or explaining relative risk for tobaco products. All will carry similar health warnings. The general public will not be informed and will not know that smokeless tobacco products can be greater than 90% less harmful than combustible products.

The bill needs serious amendment. Whether that will happen at this late stage is debatable.

Contact your congressman and ask him to amend the bill to include language on relative risk and at least the possibility to enable development of a lower risk cigarette at sometime in the future. Smokers deserve nothing less.

This e-mail arrived unsolicited in one of our partners e-mail  in-box – he doesn’t even work in the Industry.

Nice to know others are taking care of our well-being!

“Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we could all just “say no” to
tobacco? That’s what World No Tobacco Day on Sunday, May 31st is all
about.

According to the World Health Organization, by 2030, if current trends
continue, smoking will kill one in every six people around the world,
not to mention the financial toll that it takes.

In the United States alone, smoking cost $193 billion in 2004,
including $97 billion in lost productivity and $96 billion in direct
health care expenditures.

So please, take a moment to show your support of World No Tobacco Day by:

Going without tobacco for the day. Just one day will make a difference.
Isn’t it time to quit? Join our Freedom from Smoking®Online Program or
recommend it to a loved one who smokes. Our proven program can help
you end your addiction to tobacco and nicotine. The online program is
available at www.ffsonline.org
Become a Facebook® fan! And while you’re there, please donate your
status to the cause. On Sunday, simply change your status to: Today is
World No Tobacco Day — for tips on quitting, go to www.LungUSA.org
Follow us on Twitter! It’s a great place to find encouragement and support.
Make a donation. Your gift can truly save lives.

Thanks so much for all your help… and for supporting World No Tobacco
Day on Sunday.

Stephen J. Nolan
National Volunteer Chair

Copyright © 2009 American Lung Association

TMA held its annual conference and meeting again at the Kingsmill resort in Williamsburg Virginia – May 18 – 19 2009.

The theme was pending FDA industry regulation and its potential impact. There was lots to discuss and a lively debate ensued on several diversely related topics.

Clearly FDA regulation will have a profound impact on the industry – when it eventually happens. Clearly there’s much work to do.

The World Tobacco Asia – 2009, exhibition and congress was held again in Bali Indonesia at the Westin Nusa Dua – April 22 – 24 2009.

The resort is gorgeous and a great location for the exhibition as the center is within the resort complex. It was well organized and exhibitor participation reasonable – although many said it was small. Another plus is Indonesia’s relaxed smoking policy and regulations: There aren’t any!

Visitor traffic was the usual mixture of suppliers and vendors. Missing were lots of new local faces and contacts as well as any significant showing from the multi-nationals (PMI, JTI and BAT.)

The WT staff did a great job with organization and were rewarded on their UK return with the news the magazine was closing to concentrate on Events only which will be promoted by TJI.

Victim of a declining tobacco market or contracting print media market – or both?

We wish those let go from WT all the best and thank them for their good work and dedication to the Industry.

The e-cigarette was almost unknown a little over a year ago – not so today. It is the hottest and most controversial product to hit the tobacco industry in recent history – and it’s kicking up a storm!

It is a game changer on several front and sits squarely in the front line (read firing line) of tobacco harm reduction.

Congress wants to ban it. FDA may do so – on the basis it is a drug-delivery device (nicotine) not a tobacco product.

The traditional tobacco industry sees competition as does big pharma which sees it as a threat to its highly profitable  NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy) products – which are considerably more expensive.

Public Health officials cite untested and unproven technology and efficacy. True; in the strictest sense, while completely ignoring the greater issue of protecting public health in self-protecting its own fiefdom. Even the most preliminary research shows it is likely to be considerably safer than cigarette smoking.

Most importantly comsumers want it.

Now you can have your say. Use this forum to make your case.

Use the link to particapte in this survey. Help at least keep the arena competitive, lively and provide consumers with choice.

http://www.ecigarettedirect.co.uk/research/survey.html 

Good luck and have fun.

In a letter to ECigarette Direct, Brad Radu, a professor of medicine and holder of an endowed chair in tobacco harm reduction research at the University of Louisville, criticizes Tobacco Free Kids for opposing safe alternatives to smoking and for supporting the Kennedy tobacco bill due to enter the senate next week.

According to the Professor, the stance taken by the organization was not a rational position but a moralistic one:

“There is no public health justification for denying smokers information about and access to safer sources of tobacco and nicotine. But the war against tobacco, conducted by Tobacco Free Kids and their allies, is not about public health. It has become the latest in a long line of misguided American moral crusades.”

The letter was itself a comment upon an open letter to Tobacco Free Kids, which the Professor predicted there would be no reply to. He was also gloomy on the prospects of the Kennedy tobacco bill being defeated, remarking:

“The American legislative process is closed to all but a few powerful interests, who will soon be gloating over their “success” in passing FDA regulation of tobacco.”

Ultimately, the professor thought, the actions of groups like Tobacco Free Kids and similar groups would costs lives.

“I am convinced that these anti-tobacco extremists will eventually be held partially responsible for the deaths of millions of uninformed smokers.”

We forwarded both the open letter and Brad Radu’s reply to Tobacco Free Kids, but have yet to receive a comment.

What do you think? Is the position of the bodies like Tobacco Free Kids a blind crusade against tobacco, or a practical stance taken to protect the young against the dangers of nicotine addiction?

Confused by the Markets?
Wished You Had a Better Understanding about Mutual Fund Investments?

Do you know there is a Mutual Fund that specifically invests in Tobacco, Alcohol, Gaming and Aerospace/Defense Companies?

USA Mutuals Vice Fund (VICEX) was recently featured in the Smart Money article, Stocks for Sinners and recently received a 5-star overall Morningstar Rating-the highest rating possible- based on risk adjusted returns among 1,723 Large Blend Funds for the period ending 3.31.2009.

The Overall Morningstar Rating™ for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics, which are based on risk-adjusted performance. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The fund has experienced recent negative total returns. For current performance, please visit USAMutuals.com or call 1-866-264-8783.

To learn more about USA Mutuals Vice Fund as well as our insights of the Tobacco Industry, please visit booth 639 or attend our discussion at the Presentation Theater on Thursday at 12:00 noon (please email us at info@usamutuals.com to reserve your spot).

At USA Mutuals, we firmly believe investors should have the ability to leverage and invest their knowledge, insights and experiences into simple to understand, logical and professionally managed investment vehicles. We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans.

For up to date information on any of the USA Mutuals’ family of funds or to learn how you can Invest Your Knowledge, please contact USA Mutuals shareholder service representatives at 866.264.8783, visit www.USAMutuals.com or contact your financial adviser.

____________________________________

The Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the investment company, and it may be obtained by contacting 866.264.8783 or go to www.USAMutuals.com, or contact your financial adviser. Read it carefully before investing.

Mutual fund investing involves risk; principal loss is possible. The Vice Fund is non diversified, meaning it may concentrate its assets in fewer individual holdings than a diversified fund. Therefore, the Fund is more exposed to individual stock volatility than a diversified fund. The Fund invests in foreign securities which involve greater volatility and political, economic and currency risks and differences in accounting methods. The Fund invests in smaller companies, which involve additional risks such as limited liquidity and greater volatility.</b

The USA MUTUALS Funds are distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC. (4.09)

Morningstar Disclosure
For each fund with at least a three –year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating TM (based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund’s monthly performance, including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next  22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. Vice Fund was rated against the following numbers of U.S. domiciled Large Blend funds over the following time periods: 1723 funds in the overall period, 1723 funds in the last three years and 1371 funds in the last five years. With respect to these Large Blend funds, Vice Fund received a Morningstar Rating of 5 stars, 4 stars, and 5 stars for the overall, three and five year periods, respectively, as of 3/31/09.

© 2009 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

Sen.Ted Kennedy has introduced his FDA tobacco bill (S. 982) and scheduled a Senate HELP Committee mark-up session on the bill beginning Tuesday, May 12. It’s very interesting to me that the following article was written for publication this month for C-Store Decisions. I urge you if you believe that Harm Reduction should be advanced in this legislation that you call, fax or email the members of the committee and let them know that the Voice of Reason needs to be included. I’m sure you may sense a bit of sarcasm in this writing but I do believe that the Voice of Reason needs to be heard! What are your thoughts? Do you think the the Committee will make the changes? What are your concerns? Or will they just not listen?

Harm Reduction: The Voice of Reason

My passion for the reduction of harm of tobacco products over the past few years has greatly increased. I have met many folks that have the same passion to develop products that provide great promise to those who choose to use tobacco but with less harm than the traditional cigarette. Great strides have been made within the last year to introduce many new products that would, from my perspective, reduce harm. I must say though I would have never thought that the quest for harm reduction would be besieged with so much controversy and ignorance.

A year ago I wrote an article about the possibility of “tobacco actually being safer one day”. Isn’t it possible that things change or are many sticking to old, outdated paradigms when it comes to the mere reference of the word tobacco? In response to this referenced article, I have had the opportunity to experience many new exciting products. The first would be a smokeless cigarette called, “Aeros”. I must say that when I received this package from its inventor Richard Horian I was absolutely amazed at its ability to deliver satisfaction. In my mind, the absence of smoke and all of the “nasty’s” would seem to imply a reduction in harm.

In my quest over the last year to help retailers properly market to consumers that are looking for options when they either can’t light up or are looking for an alternative I also found a product called, Smoke Scents. I have had many late night conversations with a now good friend, Maurice Goulet, about the marvels of aroma therapy. Another new friend is Stuart Garrett who interestingly enough has reintroduced Nicotine Water (homeopathic). From all of my research smokers tell me it taste just like water and satisfies.

I’m sure you’ve all been called on by David Dean or one of his team from Star Tobacco regarding a new segment in the tobacco offering called dissolvable, featuring Arriva & Stonewall that make the evil nitrosamines disappear. And last year at the NACS conference Reynolds introduced the Camel dissolvable tobacco line. And in case you haven’t noticed the little pouch called Snus is quickly becoming a household name through the efforts of many but specifically Reynolds. I have even seen a Snus that is made out of apple rinds and I’m told it tastes good!

There are many like Brad Rodu, Carl Phillips & Bill Godshall that champion moist smokeless tobacco as a leading product in the relative harm reduction offer. There are those in the industry that advocate that moist smokeless tobacco is 99% safer than lighting up. But yet, we are lead to believe by the labeling on the can that there is no difference. Oh and by the way, there are those that say nicotine is just like caffeine, but we never hear that on the news. And now we have a senator from NJ that seemingly is more interested in protecting nicotine delivery through traditional cigarettes or through nicotine products made by his financially supporting pharmaceutical buddies.

From my perspective, the debate over electronic cigarettes is an interesting one. The debate centers on old school thinking versus new school thinking as the anti-tobacco folks just don’t have the ability to think rationally. If this product or any other product shows promise in the quest to reduce harm, would it not be in the best interest of those who use tobacco products to allow for advancement. Or must we live in a world where folks are not rational and act like the “kid who decides to go home with the football because things aren’t going his way?”

Unfortunately, the voice of reason is being muffled by folks who are being misled by a group with an agenda. Whether that agenda is driven by politics, Big Tobacco, Big Pharma or by irrational “zero tolerance” zealots, people deserve to know the truth. There are many entrepreneurs, small companies and large companies that are either developing or supporting these new innovations that are the voice of reason! Can you imagine, that “our elected officials” through their support of the Waxman FDA tobacco regulation have doomed smokers by not listening to those that are the voice of reason? Pretty disturbing wouldn’t you say?