January 28th, 2012 — Current Issues, Key International Business & Market Developments, Retail Cigarette Brand Prices Around the World, Science, Snus, Snuff & Alternative Products in US Markets, tobacco, Tobacco Harm Reduction
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120127005327/en/Altria-Reports-2011-Fourth-Quarter-Full-Year-Results-Delivers
Except from article:
Altria also announced today that Michael E. Szymanczyk, 63, has decided to retire after 23 years of distinguished service to the company, including four years as Chairman and CEO of Altria and 12 years as President and CEO of Philip Morris USA (PM USA). The Board has elected Martin J. Barrington, 58, to serve as Altria’s Chairman and CEO, effective upon Mr. Szymanczyk’s retirement following the Annual Meeting of Shareholders on May 17, 2012. The Board also has elected Mr. Barrington to Altria’s Board, effective immediately.
News worthy of posting! Thoughts? Stories? Reflections?
January 28th, 2012 — Acquisitions, Current Issues, Science, Snus, Snuff & Alternative Products in US Markets, Tobacco Harm Reduction
http://www.fertin.com/News/Pages/news.aspx
New Partnership January 27, 2012
Okono A/S, an affiliate of Fertin Pharma A/S, has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of Altria Group Inc., to develop innovative, non-combustible nicotine-containing products for adult tobacco consumers. This new product initiative combines the product development and manufacturing capabilities of Okono and its affiliates with the expertise of the Altria of companies. Altria Group, Inc. is the parent company of Philip Morris USA (PM USA), U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (UST) and John Middleton.
Very interesting development worthy of posting! What are your thoughts? Another move that furthers my belief that the world of tobacco has and is and will change to meet the needs of those who enjoy nicotine satisfaction.
January 17th, 2012 — Conferences, Current Issues, Exhibitions, General, Key International Business & Market Developments, Regulations: FDA etc., Science, Snus, Snuff & Alternative Products in US Markets, tobacco, Tobacco Harm Reduction
The 2012 Show Schedule Offers More Opportunities for Tobacco Industry Professionals than Ever Before.
• Conference Sessions will deliver the latest news and trends that are driving the tobacco industry. Business insights will be delivered by professionals from within the tobacco community. Business Owners and Managers can expect to take away information and ideas that will help them work smarter and increase their revenues.
• Show Attendees will view thousands of tobacco and tobacco products in the exhibit hall – many of which will be New Product Launches.
• Buyers can take advantage of the hundreds of Show Specials offered by most exhibitors.
• The Spin & Win Prize Giveaway offers exhibitors an opportunity to donate their product as prizes that Buyers can take home with them!
• Don’t miss the Opening Night Reception on Wednesday evening 5:30 – 7:30 in Ballroom E at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel. Door Prizes, Music, Open Bar and Great Food!
• The centerpiece of the show is The Cigar Lounge. Open during show hours, it offers comfortable seating and complimentary adult beverages. This is a wonderful area to meet with industry friends to catch up on business or just sit back and rest from the day’s activities.
• The International Outreach Program continues as we expand marketing and promotion efforts to attract more buyers and suppliers from outside of the U.S. to participate.
Who’s going? Why are you going? What are the important takeaways from the show? What did you learn? What did you like? What would you change? See you there if you’re going!
January 11th, 2012 — Current Issues, General, Regulations: FDA etc., Science, Snus, Snuff & Alternative Products in US Markets, Tobacco Harm Reduction
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/09/could-a-nicotine-patch-slow-dementia/
Fascinating article found @ thechart.blogs.cnn.com. Welcome all comments!
It’s hard to escape the warnings of the dangers of smoking, but one component of cigarettes – nicotine – might actually have a therapeutic use, preliminary research suggests.
A small study, published Monday in the journal Neurology, finds that using a nicotine patch may help symptoms of mild cognitive impairment, a condition characterized by a noticeable memory problem. Many, but not all, patients with mild cognitive impairment will go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease; scientists are still working on predicting who is most at risk.
A nicotine patch releases nicotine slowly over a number of hours. It gets into the blood stream, travels to the brain and interacts with receptors on nerve cells. In particular, it seems to activate receptors on nerve cells important for a circuit involved in attention, learning and memory.
Dr. Paul Newhouse of the University of Vermont Medical School and colleagues studied 74 people and saw improvement in measures of attention, memory and mental processing among those who received the nicotine patch treatment over six months. But it’s hard to say whether these patients recovered fully because they were not tested before developing memory problems.
“I think nicotine could be one of the answers we end up with” for memory decline, Newhouse said. Multiple strategies will be needed to combat Alzheimer’s disease; nicotine “may not be the only answer, but could be one of the answers,” he said.
But Bill Thies, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of the Alzheimer’s Association, urges caution. Certain drugs that are approved for Alzheimer’s disease, called anticholinesterase drugs (such as Aricept), slow the breakdown of the brain chemical acetylcholine. Acetylecholine in memory circuits works on nicotinic receptors. So it’s not surprising to Thies that nicotine would show similar benefits.
“The course of the disease eventually overwhelms the effect of the medications, so they work for a few months and then they start to drop off,” he said. It’s possible that the same decline in effectiveness would also occur with nicotine after a matter of months.
The study did not address what impact nicotine would have in combination with these anticholinesterase drugs, he said.
And nicotine is not entirely innocuous. Studies have shown that smoking is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s. Researchers do not recommend smoking to get the benefits of nicotine described in this study, nor do they advocate using nicotine patches for the purposes of cognitive benefits.
Also, if a person uses a nicotine patch for years at a time, there may be side effects including in cardiovascular disease, although this is not proven, Thies said.
All 74 participants in this study were nonsmokers. The only consistent side effect observed was a small amount of weight loss, which isn’t surprising since nicotine is an appetite suppressant.
Nicotine patches retail about $2.30 to $2.85 per patch on Amazon.com, depending on which company and quantity per box you choose. For the purpose of smoking cessation, nicotine patch regimens usually involve using one patch per day for eight to 10 weeks (although they may help more with withdrawal then staying away from cigarettes, a new study shows).
Memory loss isn’t the only area where nicotine is being considered, such as Tourette syndrome. Newhouse presented a pilot study on Parkinson’s diseaseback in 2000. There has been pharmaceutical interest in using nicotine-like drugs for pain control and bowl disease
Delivering nicotine by way of a patch is more efficient than through a pill, since the patch doesn’t affect the liver or stomach, which would suffer side effects, Newhouse said.
Newhouse’s group is going to propose a larger trial for a longer period of time. The scientists want to get at the issue of whether this improvement effect would last – specifically, how much longer than the six months reported in this initial study.
Nicotine patches are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for this purpose of treating patients with mild cognitive impairment. For that matter, there is no FDA-sanctioned treatment for mild cognitive impairment at all.
There is the potential for nicotine to protect against further deterioration, but so far nothing has been found to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. Experts agree that whatever intervention works will probably have to be given as early as possible in the course of the disease.
If people or their families are noticing memory problems, they should seek an evaluation from a doctor, Newhouse said.
January 10th, 2012 — Current Issues, Preventing Youth Consumption, Regulations: FDA etc., Science, Snus, Snuff & Alternative Products in US Markets, Tobacco Harm Reduction
http://news.yahoo.com/nicotine-therapy-doesnt-help-smokers-quit-study-173046252.html
Nicotine therapy doesn’t help smokers quit: study
By Kerry Sheridan | AFP – Mon, Jan 9, 2012
Gums, patches and nasal sprays that supply smokers with nicotine do not help people quit cigarettes over the long term any better than going it alone, a US study said on Monday.
The research by the Harvard University School of Public Healthfollowed 787 adults in the state of Massachusetts who had recently quit smoking, and found that over time just as many relapsed afternicotine replacement therapy (NRT) as without — about a third. Continue reading →
December 28th, 2011 — Current Issues, Making Tobacco Products Unpleasant, Preventing Youth Consumption, Regulations: FDA etc., Retail Cigarette Brand Prices Around the World, Science, Snus, Snuff & Alternative Products in US Markets, tobacco, Tobacco Harm Reduction
By Arlene Paredes | December 20, 2011 8:06 PM EST – www.ibtimes.com
Virtually nicotine-free cigarettes could help heavy smokers to quit the habit, according to an Auckland research.
An Auckland University study has found it is possible to smoke your way to quitting by using virtually nicotine-free cigarettes, the New Zealand Herald reported.
While almost one in five (18 per cent) current smokers say they decided to quit smoking in response to advertising campaigns, 33 per cent say they actually light up in response to anti-smoking advertising and 29 per cent of smokers look the other way.
Heavily addicted smokers offered nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and the cigarettes with hardly any nicotine have a higher success rate at quitting, than those given just NRT patches, gum or lozenges, the study noted.
“It’s an exciting finding,” lead researcher Dr Natalie Walker, of the university’s clinical trials research unit, told the Herald Monday night.
Participants who were undergoing intervention in the study smoked the low-nicotine Quest brand of tobacco cigarettes. They were free to smoke anytime with their six-week supply.
Dr. Walker said the smokers wound up weaning themselves off the cigarettes because Quest simply did not give the same satisfaction that regular tobacco gave the smokers. While it gave the same sensation in the sense that they were still smoking, the missing kick from regular tobacco eventually made the participants lose interest in smoking.
“Part of smoking is the behavioural component of putting something in their mouth and feeling the smoke in their mouth and feeling it come down into their chest – all that ritual around smoking. These cigarettes help deal with that component… The good thing about it is that people naturally stop using them … after six weeks, or even earlier for some people,” she said.
Dr Walker said the study was “a bit controversial, because people think, ‘How can you give people cigarettes to quit smoking, it doesn’t make sense’, but … these have such a very low level of nicotine.”
“They are equally as harmful as any other cigarette, except they are less addictive … but they are very clearly addressing that behavioural aspect,” Dr. Walker explained.
Low-nicotine cigarettes such as Quest are not commercially available to New Zealand smokers. With the results of Dr. Walker’s study out, there could be some changes in the existing policies.
The Herald reported it is part of the Government’s goal for New Zealand to be “smokefree” by 2025. To achieve this, the Health Research Council has awarded $5 million to research work which will investigate policies such as introducing low-nicotine, lower-tax cigarettes, and limiting and progressively cutting the amount of tobacco which can be sold, and any other strategies that could drive the heavy smokers away from their unhealthy habit.
Very interesting report! I find the response to advertising as something that is very interesting. I have seen other reports that have similar findings. The old adage “tell them not to do it and they will want to do it anyway”. Thoughts? Again very interesting study!
December 9th, 2011 — Current Issues, Key International Business & Market Developments, Making Tobacco Products Unpleasant, Regulations: FDA etc., Science, Snus, Snuff & Alternative Products in US Markets, tobacco, Tobacco Harm Reduction
Dagens Nyheter, Wednesday 7 December:
“Brussels. The EU commission now promises the Swedish Government that it will re-evaluate the export ban for snus after DN’s revealing that EU’s own investigation show that there is strong support for snus sales in Europe.
The Commission should apologize to 80,000 of its citizens for not listening to their views, says [Swedish] trade minister Ewa Björling.
The EU commission announced this summer that the public survey used to support its tobacco legislation, showed that a majority of the member countries want a continued ban for exporting snus from Sweden.
DN however went through all the replies [in the survey], which were made public during the autumn, and they show that a large majority of the respondents, in all different groups, want to remove the snus ban.
Trademinister Björling brought a translation of last weeks DN articles to a meeting with John Dalli, the responsible EU commissioner, this Monday.
- He promised to look at the findings from the survey, and the trend in Sweden, says Ewa Björling.
The level of smokers in Sweden is much lower than in other EU countries and so the level of lung cancer. Sweden also has tougher regulation for cigarette sales, than many other countries. – If health commissioner Dalli wants to accomplish something to improve the health within EU during his tenure as commissioner, its probably wise to draw from the experience in Sweden on how to handle the issue, rather than arriving at a full EU ban against cigarettes, which won’t be very successful.
The EU commission is expected to present its proposal on new tobacco legislation early next year.”
UPDATE 1-EU promises Sweden it will review snus ban
By Veronica Ek
434 words
7 December 2011
10:09
Reuters News
LBA
English
(c) 2011 Reuters Limited
(Adds trade minister comments)
STOCKHOLM, Dec 7 (Reuters) – The European Commission has promised Sweden it will take another look at its ban of the tobacco product snus, which is allowed in Sweden but banned elsewhere in the European Union, the Swedish trade minister said on Wednesday.
Swedish Match is Europe’s biggest producer of snus, or wet snuff, which is put under the upper lip and is mostly sold as small pouches of tobacco.
Trade minister Ewa Bjorling said she had met EU Health Commissioner John Dalli and discussed the results of a survey of EU states about current tobacco laws.
“What I believe is most important is that you base your reasoning on scientific facts. That is what I try to tell Dalli, and I ask the question: Why do you still want to have a ban on Swedish wet snuff when there are other snuff products on the market in the EU, for example Pakistani snuff?,” Bjorling told Reuters.
This was the second time she raised the snus issue with Dalli.
“I think he was listening in a different way this time. The first time he dismissed it simply saying their goal is to get everything away for health reasons,” Bjorling said.
Sweden says it has a lower proportion of deaths from lung cancer than in other EU states and a lower level of smokers.
Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter has reported that its own examination of the answers to the Commission’s survey showed that a majority of people in member states wanted to end the snus ban, even if most members states supported keeping it.
The Commission is expected to propose a new tobacco products law during the spring next year and released the results of a survey in July of attitudes to the current law, including the ban on snus.
The survey, which is on the Commission’s website, was carried out by asking questions to EU citizens, industry representatives, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government representatives.
Most answers came from Italy and Poland, and the Commission noted that Italian tobacconists had organised a campaign to encourage submissions to the survey.
The survey showed that EU citizens and industry representatives were in favour of lifting the snus ban, while most EU states and NGOs wanted it maintained.
The main markets for Swedish Match’s snus products are Sweden, Norway and the United States.
Swedish Match shares rose 1.6 percent to 224 Swedish crowns on Wednesday.
MORE PROGRESS! WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS MATTER?
December 7th, 2011 — Current Issues, Regulations: FDA etc., Science, Snus, Snuff & Alternative Products in US Markets, tobacco, Tobacco Harm Reduction
WINSTOM-SALEM, N.C. — Since starting a second round of testing, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s dissolvable tobacco products are proving popular among women.
The product line — Camel Sticks, Camel Strips and Camel Orbs –do not require spitting, which could be a deciding factor among female tobacco users. According to a report in the Winston-Salem Journal, females represented 45 percent of all adult smokers who bought Camel Sticks, Camel Strips and Camel Orbs during September and October. Of all adult tobacco users, 31 percent were women.
By comparison, the news outlet reported that adult males make up 85 percent of moist snuff and Camel Snus users.
R.J. Reynolds’ dissolvable line is currently being sold in Denver and Charlotte, N.C. The first round of testing took place in Columbus, Ohio Indianapolis and Portland, Ore.
“We have seen a noticeable appeal and interest of the dissolvable products with adult female tobacco consumers,” Reynolds spokesman David Howard told the newspaper.
Stephen Pope, an industry analyst and managing partner of Spotlight Ideas in England, said Reynolds may have discovered a niche with adult female tobacco users. “Clearly the figures for the dissolvable products make for fascinating reading and actually show that here could be a product that, if handled correctly, could well offer an opportunity for a special female-targeted product that could be as significant as Virginia Slims was for Philip Morris,” he said.
The dissolvable products “could prove to be the first viable smokeless tobacco products for females,” stated Bonnie Herzog, an analyst with Wells Fargo Securities LLC.
Reynolds has not said when a national rollout of the products will occur.
As the popularity of dissolvable tobacco grows, tobacco companies are sure to draw the attention of advocacy groups. Jeff Middleswart, portfolio manager for the Vice Fund of USA Mutuals, said having the Camel and Marlboro brands in dissolvable products is likely to intensify the debate among advocacy groups. One set says that smokeless tobacco products serve as gateways for teenagers to cigarettes; the other set sees the products as a way to reduce the risk of tobacco use compared with cigarettes.
“Anything tobacco will create criticism — it’s just the way of the world,” Middleswart said. “A new product that has the potential to gain market share is going to be a target.”
John Spangler, a professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said he found it “disturbing that any smokeless tobacco product is now becoming popular among women.” His concern is that the dissolvable products may encourage women to use smokeless tobacco for the first time.
Dissolvable tobacco products have caught the eye of the Food and Drug Administration. The agency gained the authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of tobacco products under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) took up the issue at its July meeting, the first step toward issuing regulations.
Colorado state officials have also put dissolvable tobacco products under the microscope. Just a few weeks after the TPSAC members began to take a closer look, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment held a hearing to begin their investigation into the products and their possible dangers, as CSNews Online previously reported.
Interesting information! What are your thoughts on this type of offering?
