Smoking electronically : miracle steam or pipe dream?

Friday, April 10, 2009
by Evan French
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Posted by: Cigs BY Mail.com

I’ve been a smoker for almost 10 years. It was a silly decision I made, when I was much younger… and now years later I’m trying to think healthy.

You can’t escape the reality of the habit. The label on each pack tells you a different way its contents are trying to get rid of you – and those around you. I think at this point most smokers realize that cigarettes – and indeed all tobacco products – are very bad for our health and yet a big chunk of the population is still puckering up to cotton-filters in an endless pursuit of a nicotine rush.

It’s because it’s an addiction. The American Heart Association calls it as addictive as cocaine or heroine. We smokers feel nicotine is relaxing and, heaven help us, we like it. It provides punctuation throughout the day; times when we can escape outside for a breath of – dare I say it – fresh air. Perhaps no amount of pollution, or cancerous growths, will ever be enough to blot out nicotine addiction entirely, which is why I was intrigued when I heard about the Smoke Stik.

It resembles a cigarette and basically uses a lithium ion battery to vaporize a little nicotine-laced package hidden in a plastic filter. The designers claim it’s a miracle product – which gives users their dosage of nicotine without the added chemicals and tar which come hand-in-hand with tobacco products. The main contents, apart from nicotine, are water and glycerin, and the fumes produced aren’t smoke at all – it’s a mist.

WHO tells governments that images of ’sickness and suffering’ should be on cigarette packs

May 29, 6:23 AM EDT
By Bradley S. Klapper
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Posted by: Cigs BY Mail.com

Cigarette packages should include images of sickness and suffering caused by tobacco, along with written warnings, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The U.N. agency urged governments to make people more aware of the health consequences of smoking. It said most countries still do not warn consumers of the risks on packages of cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco.

“Health warnings on tobacco packages are a simple, cheap and effective strategy that can vastly reduce tobacco use and save lives,” said Dr. Ala Alwan, a senior WHO official. “Warnings that include images of the harm that tobacco causes are particularly effective at communicating risk and motivating behavioral changes, such as quitting or reducing tobacco consumption.”

Cigarette Butts May be Declared Hazardous Waste

Jump to full article: Cigarette Butts May be Declared Hazardous Waste Based on Local Research

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Chemicals in cigarette butts can leach into the environment and harm marine life, according to research released Friday by San Diego State University. Gersberg tested both smoked and un-smoked cigarette butts with similar fish kill results, according to the university.

“The most important finding in this research is that it seems to be the filter, or rather what’s in the leftover filter, that is most dangerous to our water,” Gersberg said.

New Mediator Of Smoking Recruits

Jump to full article: New Mediator Of Smoking Recruits
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Nearly one billion people worldwide smoke tobacco products. Long-term exposure to compounds found in smoke can lead to both cardiovascular and lung disease. Although lung exposure to cigarette smoke leads to immune cell recruitment and tissue fibrosis, how cigarette smoke causes these changes is largely unknown.

To determine if osteopontin, a molecule that attracts immune cells, mediates cell recruitment in smokers, Prasse et al. compared osteopontin levels from smokers with different types of lung diseases, healthy smokers, and healthy non-smokers. They found high levels of osteopontin expression in patients with interstitial lung disease, whereas healthy smokers had lower levels, and healthy non-smokers produced no osteopontin. Osteopontin expression could be stimulated directly by nicotine treatment.

Basin smokers refuse to quit

Jump to full article: Basin Smokers Refusing to Quit
Author: Kathleen Thurber

Posted By: Cigs By Mail.com

Although calls to the American Cancer Society’s Quitline went up more than 800 percent in Texas during the weeks surrounding the tax increase on cigarettes, local smokers and area business managers say the cost is causing more anger among smokers than it is creating a significant dent in Tall City tobacco use rates.

“As long as they’ve got the money they’ll keep buying ‘em,” said Kevin Pool, owner of Basin Candy and Tobacco.

Pool, who is also on the board of the Texas Grocery and Convenience Association, said some have switched to generic brands of cigarettes, but overall the orders he’s receiving from West Texas retailers have remained consistent despite the price increase.

Since the federal tax increase on cigarettes went into place about a month ago, the average price for a package of cigarettes in Texas is nearly $6, according to area retailers, with the price for a carton running around $50.

House votes on FDA authority for tobacco

Jump to full article: AP, 2009-04-03
Posted By: Cigs By Mail.com

Intro:

The 298-112 roll call Thursday by which the House approved a bill that would for the first time give the government powers to regulate tobacco products.

A “yes” vote is a vote to pass the bill. Voting “yes” were 228 Democrats and 70 Republicans. Voting “no” were 8 Democrats and 104 Republicans. X denotes those not voting. There are 3 vacancies in the 435-member House.

Tobacco farmers troubled by taxes on their cash crop

Jump to full article: AP, 2009-04-05
Author: Emery P. Dalesio Associated Press
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Intro:

But last week, the federal tax on a pack of smokes more than doubled. Pender Sharp says cigarette makers had already cut back orders in anticipation, leaving him to wonder if Sharp Farms and thousands of fellow growers across the South will be forced to hire fewer seasonal workers or lay off full-time employees.

Senate bill would ease smoking restrictions

Jump to full article: Las Vegas Review-Journal, 2009-04-05
Author: ED VOGEL LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
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Intro:

Bar and restaurant representatives told legislators Friday their customer base and profits have declined dramatically and they’ve been forced to lay off workers because of a smoking ban approved by voters in 2006.

The ban has also cost the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority $41 million in business, Senior Vice President Terry Jicinsky testified.

LETTER: Tell Florida House members your thoughts on tobacco bill

Jump to full article: St. Petersburg (FL) Times, 2009-04-06
Author: Ann Mau, Brooksville
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Intro:

So our delegation was asked to vote to increase Florida’s pitiful 34-cent tobacco tax by $1. They heard the facts and the cry “Pass the Buck” from hundreds of American Cancer Society volunteers. They heard that the tobacco companies spend more of their marketing dollars in Florida than any other state and thereby sell more here than any other state!

 

Gov. Kaine signs smoking ban bill in Virginia Beach

Jump to full article: Norfolk (VA) Virginian-Pilot, 2009-03-10
Author: Lon Wagner The Virginian-Pilot
Posted By: Cigs By Mail .com – The Discount Cigarette Store

Intro:

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed legislation this afternoon that bans smoking in most bars and restaurants. Kaine signed the law at Croc’s 19th Street Bistro, whose owner made the restaurant smoke-free two years ago.

“We’re not here by accident,” Kaine told scores of supporters who filled the restaurant. “We’re signing this bill here at Croc’s because of the Virginia Beach restaurants’ leadership in this effort.”

Restaurants, which in Virginia means any place that serves food, must be smoke-free by Dec. 1, according to the bill. The only exceptions are private clubs and restaurants that have a walled-off smoking area that ventilates to the outside.

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