September 22nd, 2011
PharmPro
By The American Academy of Family Physicians
The AAFP and more than 40 other organizations have signed on to a letter strongly opposing House bill H.R. 1639 (at the THOMAS Web site, type “H.R. 1639” in the search box after selecting “Bill Number”), which would exempt many cigars from regulation under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act enacted in 2009.
According to the AAFP and the other groups, the FDA should retain the authority to regulate all tobacco products, including cigars. All products containing tobacco cause death and should not be exempted from oversight by the agency, said the AAFP in the letter (2-page PDF; About PDFs), which was sent to co-sponsors of the House legislation.
September 18th, 2011
Columbus, GA (PRWEB) September 17, 2011
Forty disparate organizations ranging from the American Cancer Society to the United Methodist Church either inadvertently or deliberately misstated the facts in a letter to Congress with respect to H.R. 1639, according to the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association.
“Contrary to the claims of these organizations, H.R. 1639, also known as The Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2011, does not exempt cigarettes or any of the other machine-made tobacco products listed in their letter to Congress. Apparently, no one from these organizations actually read the bill or knows what’s in it – and that’s absurd because it is only two double-spaced pages long – or they deliberately falsified their claims,” said Bill Spann, chief executive officer of the IPCPR.
September 16th, 2011
Consumer Reports
A new study examines how electronic cigarettes—which deliver vaporized nicotine minus the smoke and tar of regular cigarettes—are most commonly used. Published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice, the study found that almost all of the individuals interviewed felt that e-cigarettes had helped them quit smoking.
Based on more than 100 interviews, the study found that the majority of interviewees had used e-cigarettes daily for at least a year. Seventy-eight percent reported not using any tobacco in the previous 30 days, although they had previously smoked an average of 25 cigarettes per day, and had tried to quit smoking an average of nine times before they started using e-cigarettes.
September 8th, 2011
Portland Insight
Peter Korn’s article, “State turns blind eye as stores break law” (Aug. 4), about Oregon’s efforts to address underage tobacco sales, includes a claim that the tobacco industry is trying to make it easy for kids to buy tobacco products.
Philip Morris USA, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. and John Middleton do not want kids to be able to buy or use any tobacco products. We support our retail partners’ efforts to educate store clerks that it’s not OK to sell tobacco products to kids. And we encourage states to enforce their laws and hold store owners and clerks accountable for selling tobacco to minors.
