Joe Camel, the most vilified cartoon character in history

Joe Camel was the brilliantly successful advertising campaign used to market Camel Cigarettes manufactured by RJ Reynolds. The Campaign began in 1987 and was unfortunately stopped in 1997.

For the first time this cigarette mascot was introduced by a British artist Nicholas Price in 1974 that was used by a French magazine. Maybe, if there weren't Camel cigarettes, this mascot disappeared in near time.

In 1987, at 75th anniversary of Camel tobacco “Old Joe's” and this year was year of appearance of legendary Joe Camel. It was an illustrious event. After a few years Joe Camel developed into most recognizable character. It was a real rival of such veteran characters as Mickey Mouse, Fred Flintstone, Barbie or Bugs Bunny. This confirmation was stated as result of survey done by Journal of the American Medical Association.

Who was looked Joe Camel? It was born as a cartoon mascot. As his name suggests, Joe was a camel that was represent with human-looking appearance that used to smoke Camel cigarette, and he was cool in style and often with sunglasses. Often meted representation were playing billiards, or a saxophone, or on the beach, in a nightclub, or just hanging out while looking cool.

Creator of Joe Camel once said in an interview, “I was just trying to make this stupid head have some kind of expression I could change from ad to ad, and I remembered how Sean Connery as James Bond could move his eyebrows so expressively. So I ripped off his eyes and eyebrows and Don Johnson's hair... how I personally feel about being known for this piece of crap that people think is great advertising. It's a pretty shitty piece of art.”

With such characteristics mascot of Camel cigarettes was represented in many different sceneries and places, but one thing was common: he was nifty, attractive, stylish and handsome. Examining advertisement illustrated on bills, posters and placards of those times it can be easily observed all this distinctiveness that assured its world eminence.

Are Mobile Phones The New Cigarettes?

There has been a raging debate for some time as to whether mobile phones or more specifically the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) that they emit, increase the phone users cancer risk.

The report says that "although the evidence remains controversial…a number of countries, including France, Germany and India, have already issued such warnings to their citizens".

Herberman also outlined 10 ways to reduce exposure including "reducing mobile phone use, use a hands-free earpiece, switch ears while chatting to limit radiation concentration in one spot, and avoid using mobile phones in public places to limit second-hand radiation".

In particular, he indicates that "kids should only be allowed to use these devices in cases of emergency, as their developing brains are more likely to be susceptible to possible side effects.

He said recent studies indicate that" "living tissue is vulnerable to electromagnetic fields within the frequency bands used by cell phones."

Recently, similar warnings have been issued by Australian scientists, although it seems, locally at least, the potential dangers of mobile phone-based EMR are not taken as seriously as they are in Europe.

I Smoke Anything

Some guys brag that they only smoke weed. Powerful people often only smoke Cuban cigars. A lot of cigarette smokers are proud of their brand loyalty. Some smoke only herbal cigarettes. Others smoke only Indian beedies. Why's everyone so picky? I don't understand. Me? I'll smoke anything!

I have a test to decide whether I'm willing to smoke something. It goes like this: Will this potential thing to be smoked put me in a pipe and smoke me? No? Then I'm smoking it! Because you have to smoke them before they smoke you! That's what I've learned! That's what I practice!

As a kid, I smoked twigs. Why not? The authorities today are all up in arms about kids smoking trees because they think wood is a "gateway smoke" that will lead children to smoking other, more serious things. Damn right it's a gateway! That's why it should be encouraged! It's a gateway to clarity! A gateway to self-reliance! A gateway to smokin'!

Sure, I bought candy cigarettes as a kid. And you know what? I smoked those things! I bought gum cigarettes. And I smoked those! They didn't influence me to smoke regular cigarettes: Candy items are perfectly smokable on their own! Everything is!

The smart people I know all love "the classics." "The Iliad is such a great story," they say. "Did you ever read Dickens?" No, but I smoked him!

I used to feel like I wasn't familiar enough with the great works of civilization. So I got all the great books they would let me check out from the local library; tore them up; put the pieces into brown paper grocery bags; and rolled those bags into seven monster cigars. And I smoked them! They had a sweet and ambitious flavor! I smoked the history of the world in a week! That was great!

"Did you see Blade Runner?" they ask me. Jesus, of course not! You don't appreciate something by watching it. You appreciate something by smoking it! I rent videotapes, crunch them up, put them in a big pipe, and smoke myself sensible! I've smoked more movies than most people have ever seen! That shocks people. "You shouldn't smoke videotapes," they say. "Plastic fumes are poisonous and will do weird things to you." Weird things? Not unless the satisfaction of having enjoyed a great smoke is a "weird thing."

People ask me if I want to go to the beach. Hey, been there, smoked that. I love smoking sand and dried-up fish. Those are some of the best smokes I've ever had!

I'm not so odd. I love it when my mother cooks up her special manicotti meal. Because I smoke it. And I like falling in love, because I like having a sweetheart who buys me flowers and jewelry. Because that's the kind of stuff I can smoke! I'm a smoker. I hate people who say they're smokers when they only smoke cigarettes. That's lying. They should say, "I'm a smoker in the weakest, most narrow definition of the word." Or, "I smoke only those things that are socially acceptable to smoke." That would make me much happier.

I keep having this dream where I'm at an auction of Nazi memorabilia. Hitler's mustache is on the block, and I bid $18 million and get it, beating out all these museum people and fascists. Then I go home, put some Bach on low, and roll those little mustache hairs into a tight little E-Z Wider joint. Then know what I do? I smoke the shit out of it.

Firms fined in tobacco probe

Six retailers and tobacco firms have agreed to pay a maximum of £173.3m in combined fines after admitting unlawful tobacco pricing practices.

The news comes after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in April accused a number of retailers and tobacco companies of anti-competitive retail pricing.

Asda, Somerfield, First Quench, TM Retail, One Stop Stores and tobacco firm Gallaher have agreed to the fines.

The OFT is continuing its investigation into a further six firms.

They are Imperial Tobacco, Tesco, Shell, the Co-operative Group, Morrisons and Safeway.

Leniency

The OFT said that some of the fined companies had applied for leniency and if discounts for leniency and quick resolution were given, the total penalty amount would be £132.3m.

It said Sainsbury's was the first to apply for leniency and would thus escape any fine if the supermarket continued to co-operate.

"The early co-operation of these parties has enabled the swift resolution of some of this case," said John Fingleton, OFT chief executive.

"The OFT's objective is to make markets work for consumers and the economy alike," he added.

The OFT alleged that the retailers and tobacco groups arranged to swap information on future pricing.

A separate allegation is that there was an understanding that the price of some brands would be linked to rival brands.

Imperial Tobacco owns brands such as Embassy, John Player Special and Lambert & Butler while Gallaher's best-selling products include Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut.

The OFT said in April understandings between cigarette companies and retailers between 2000 and 2003 limited the retailers' ability "to determine its selling price independently"

Tobacco price-fixing: British watchdog

LONDON — Six retailers and tobacco firms have agreed to pay combined fines of more than 130 million pounds after admitting "unlawful practices" relating to retail tobacco prices, the Office of Fair Trading said.

Retailers Asda, Somerfield, First Quench, One Stop Stores (formerly T and S Stores) and TM Retail plus manufacturer Gallaher agreed to pay 132.3 million pounds (165 million euros, 263 million dollars).

The fines come after the competition watchdog accused 12 firms of price-fixing, by either co-ordinating to link the price of some brands to rival products or exchanging proposed future retail prices between competitors.

An investigation into the six other firms named by the OFT three months ago -- the Co-operative Group, Imperial Tobacco, Morrisons, Safeway, Shell and Tesco -- is continuing.

OFT chief executive John Fingleton said in a statement Friday evening that companies should set their prices independently, to ensure the markets work well for consumers and the economy.

"The OFT is very pleased that the early co-operation of these parties has enabled the swift resolution of some of this case, which will significantly reduce the costs of pursuing the investigation for the OFT and the businesses concerned," he added.

The OFT investigation covered the period 2000-3. The companies which came to "early resolution agreements" led to a reduction in their fines, the watchdog said.

Even so, the Financial Times said Saturday the sum was still the biggest collective penalty the OFT had handed down.

Difference in prices of cigarettes in Estonia and Russia

From June 1 the excise tax on tobacco products increased in Estonia by 43%, which will raise the price difference of cheap cigarettes with those sold in Russia to nearly six times.
Last year, according to Japan Tobacco International, the price difference of cheap cigarettes sold in Estonia and in Russia was more than four times. A cheaper category pack of cigarettes could be bought at the price of 4.22 kroons in Russia in the beginning of the year while in Estonia one had to pay 18.92 kroons, writes EPL Online/ LETA.
Estonia was the first among the Baltic States to raise the excise tax on tobacco to the minimum level required by the European Union and the State will earn 20 kroons of excise tax on a pack of cigarettes. Thus far consumers paid the State 14.2 kroons per pack of cigarettes and this means that the price surge will be nearly 41%. In Russia, however, the excise tax is equivalent to 1.53 Estonian kroons per pack.
According to a survey carried out by British American Tobacco, the proportion of illegal cigarettes in Estonia forms 19% of the total market volume. The problems are the greatest in the Viru region where the proportion of illegal cigarettes is 41% of the total market volume and also in Southern Estonia where the proportion of illegal cigarettes is 27%. Illegal business forms 9% in Western Estonia and in Tallinn and in the Harju, Rapla and Järva counties the share is 8%.
According to the director of corporate communications of Japan Tobacco International Ramunas Macius, 9% share of illegal business is "normal, because illegal activities cannot be entirely prevented." He noted that the State should do more in order to control the blooming illegal cigarettes business which will presumably bloom even more due to the surge in the excise tax rate. Macius stated that in Lithuania the customs authorities are able to confiscate 10% of illegal cigarettes, in Latvia the share is four% and Estonian Tax and Customs Board only manages to confiscate one% of all illegal tobacco products circulated on this market.

India says bidi jalai le as cigarettes become costlier

While the government is trying various methods, including a hefty tax levy, to make smokers kick the habit, tobacco-lovers are turning to cheaper options to “puff away their blues”.

Trends indicate smokers hit by the rising prices have shifted to so-called down-market options such as bidis and gutkhas.

“The increased tax on cigarettes is forcing consumers to shift to cheaper and alternative tobacco products. As a result, the overall consumption is on the up, as prices of other tobacco products are very less,” director of Tobacco Institute of India Udayan Lal says.

According to a health ministry report, India is home to 100 million bidi smokers and around 8 lakh people in the country die due to tobacco consumption annually with 6 lakh deaths caused by bidis alone.

“It’s not that the government is unaware of the growing bidi industry. The highly labour-intensive nature of the industry, which provides large-scale employment, gives it a powerful voice and that could be one of the reasons the taxes are so low,” says Lal.

“Also, the system of manufacturing and distributing bidis is highly decentralised. There are thousands of bidi factories and no reliable data on their production or consumption is available,” Lal adds.

Health ministry stats reveal about 15% of tobacco consumption in India is in the form of cigarettes, while bidis make for 53%.

“Unlike the rest of the world, where, on an average, cigarettes account for as much as 90% of the total tobacco consumed, in India cigarettes represent only 15% of total tobacco consumption. The remaining 85% of tobacco consumption is in the form of traditional products such as bidis, khaini, gutkha, etc,” Lal says.

Cigarettes contribute 85% to the total excise revenue collected from the tobacco industry, amounting to Rs8,500 crore, according to Tobacco Institute of India.

Pointing out that bidi consumption was very high in north India, particularly in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, with the ratio of bidis to cigarettes sometimes being as high as 24:1, Lal says, “Bidis are more harmful than cigarettes because they are filled with small amounts of low-grade tobacco.”

Chinese Couple Walk Free

Yesterday a Chinese couple walked free from charges of possessing uncustomed goods. On November 18, 2007, Jianneng Mai and Bijin Zhong, were busted with $63,000 of un-customed goods – including Winston cigarettes, Wall Street cigarettes and Benson and Hedges cigarettes in a building at 89 Vernon Street. They were charged with recklessly acquiring possession of uncustomed goods but yesterday Revenue Magistrate Ed Usher threw out the charges because the warrant wasn’t signed by a Supreme Court judge or a Magistrate.

But more importantly it wasn’t read properly. It was Mai who read it to her common law husband. He doesn’t speak English well so she translated it for him. But according to the law, the Customs Department should have found a third party who spoke Chinese to translate it and read it to Zhong. The reason is that Mai – was a defendant – and a defendant cannot read a warrant to a co-defendant.

Despite the technicality though, the couple had maintained the goods weren’t theirs. If convicted, the couple would have been charged 3 times the value of the uncustomed goods – that’s roughly $189,000.

Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette

New York State imposed an additional $1.25 per pack excise tax on cigarettes a couple of weeks ago. Now, a pack of smokes costs between $6 and $10, depending on where you buy them. To make the tax a bit more palatable, some government officials maintain that the reason for the increase is to discourage teen smoking by making the habit so expensive that young people would be disinclined to purchase cigarettes. That feel-good explanation is a tad disingenuous, given the state of the economy and the budget deficit. It's kind of like saying, "It's all about the kids." Don't kid yourself, its all about the money and how to channel more tax money into state coffers.

Hand in hand with the excise tax increase, is a report from Congressman and Department of Homeland Security committee member Peter King, linking the sales of tobacco products at Indian reservations to national security issues and global terrorism. At the heart of this issue is the concept of forbearance, whereupon the local, state and federal governments, in effect, look the other way when it comes to the sales tax and excise tax exemptions enjoyed by Native American merchants.
Indians do not have to pay sales and excise taxes on products sold on reservations by Native Americans to Native Americans. Since before we can remember, these exemptions also have been applied to sales made on reservations to non-Native Americans, which is a violation of the law. In the name of forbearance, lawmakers and law enforcers alike have simply ignored the infractions. As a consequence, there is heap big money exchanging hands at the Indian tobacco shops, where cigarettes are often sold for less than half the price for the same product sold at the neighborhood convenience store or gas station.
And, there is the rub.
Certain unscrupulous entrepreneurs take advantage of the cheap, tax-free cigarettes, buying them in bulk (sometimes by the tractor-trailer load) at the reservations, slapping counterfeit tax stamps on them, and peddling them to otherwise legitimate retailers at wholesale prices. The illegal markup is about $14 or $15 per carton, so go figure: a trailer load of cigarettes could contain thousands of cartons, or tens of thousands of dollars.
Congressman King fears that a great deal of that ill-begotten money is channeled to terrorist cells both local and abroad, in essence funding a national security threat. King wants it stopped.
This alleged threat to our security may or may not be legitimate; the crackdown on reservation tobacco sales may or may not be disingenuous; but, like the excise tax increase, it has been made palatable because it sounds good, and it calls upon our sense of patriotism. Could it be that there is another agenda to be filled?
Just about everyone from state legislators to the county executive to the county sheriff has jumped on the bandwagon as they look upon a gold mine of uncollected tax revenue. That is because the majority of reservation tobacco sales is to non-Native Americans, but, by virtue of forbearance, has been tax-free. Now, everyone in state and local government wants to forget forbearance and tighten up the enforcement of our tax laws. They want to dodge the budget deficit bullet.
All of this noise and rhetoric is about the noxious weed and a few, unscrupulous bootleggers. The Indians, who copped a break in the name of forbearance, will be the ones who are forced to bear the burden of increased tax liability. At least this time around, our tax-giddy leaders have targeted illegal sales of a highly addictive, non-essential commodity. (Perhaps, in the name of reconciliation, the government will offer to smoke the proverbial peace pipe with the Native Americans. But, then again, there is no tax on that kind of weed, so don't hold your breath ... or inhale!)
As much as we hate taxes and as much as we hate to say it, the time has come for the government to crack down on illegal cigarette sales and collect the taxes.
We will applaud the effort. We ask only one thing: Just don't increase our taxes again in order to do it.
And Why Not?

Cigarette Tax Arrives Amid Grumbling and Vows

Fear of a dreaded disease has been part of the bargain for years. Shame came slower, as smokers were cast from offices, restaurants and even bars. Now, in New York City, there is yet another scary side effect to smoking: empty pockets.

As a new $1.25 state tax took effect on Tuesday, making the combined tax in New York City the nation’s highest and pushing the price of a pack of cigarettes above $8 in most places, many smokers around the city swore they were stopping, even as they bought what they promised would be their last pack.

Barbette Gaines, 47, who started smoking when she was 12, said she was in a bad mood after paying $8.90 for Newports at a deli on the Lower East Side, and was considering calling a cessation hotline.

Violeta Mujovic, a clerk at the Always Love Discount Smoke Shop on the Upper West Side — which advertises “cigarettes sold at the lowest price in NYC” — said that about two dozen customers complained as they forked over $8.15 a pack on Tuesday morning, but two people stormed out empty-handed.

“They said they were quitting and just left,” said Ms. Mujovic, 23, who smokes a pack a day herself and said she had called the city’s 311 line to sign up for a program that provides quitters with free nicotine gum. “It is just too ridiculous.”

Cigarette prices in the city have been going up steadily in recent years, and taxes now total $4.25 a pack: $2.75 for the state and $1.50 in city taxes that began in 2002.

At a news conference to announce the new tax Tuesday, city and state health officials cited studies showing that smoking rates decrease as cigarette prices rise, and said they expected that up to 140,000 of the city’s 1 million smokers would quit because of the increased cost.

They said that the state expected to raise $265 million in new revenue from the tax, but that the revenue was dwarfed by the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses in the state, which they estimated at about $8.2 billion a year.

“At a pack a day, smoking is now a $3,000-a-year habit in New York City,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city’s health commissioner, said at the news conference at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. “Quitting now will not only improve your health, but it will save you money you can use for yourself or your family.”

The immediate reaction from smokers across the city ranged from resignation to outrage. Outside the Rosebank Tavern on Staten Island, Mike Sheehy, 49, saw the $8.75 he just paid at a nearby deli for a pack of Marlboro Lights as an affront to his liberty.

“The Revolution was backed by tobacco,” he said, cigarette in hand. “That’s where we got our dough from during the Revolutionary War. That’s the crop that built America. We’re true Americans.”

In Downtown Brooklyn, Oleg Gulchinsky, a 67-year-old immigrant from Ukraine with an open pack of Misty 100s in his breast pocket, said, “Time to stop smoke and begin drink vodka.”

“I joke,” Mr. Gulchinsky said. “But it’s too bad. I understand people say it’s no good. But for me it’s good, it’s my choice.”

In Woodside, Queens, Chris Bastianos, 47, said he could not bring himself to end his 30-year-affair with tobacco — yet. “If it went over $10 a day I’d stop,” he said.

There undoubtedly are some places where a pack already tops $10. Random sampling showed a range of prices around the city: a newsstand on the corner of Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village had Marlboro Lights for $9, while the Big J Deli in Woodside, Queens, was selling them for $6.75 (a clerk said he was not aware of when the taxes took effect). The large drug stores were in the middle of the range, with Marlboro Lights costing $8.51 at a CVS in Midtown.

Shahid Akhter, who opened the Amazing Store and Smoke Shop on Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side a month ago, said that past increases caused business to drop slightly, but that crossing the $8 threshold — especially as the cost of everything from oil to eggs continued to rise — was likely to have a bigger effect.

Hey Where Are All The Cigarettes?

Toronto - Thanks to a new law, which came into effect over the weekend, cigarettes are no longer visible to customers at stores across Ontario.

The new law requires stores to keep the packages out of view.

“This marketing tool … is a wall of temptation for smokers who have made the decision to quit,” said Joanne Di Nardo, spokeswoman for the Ontario Tobacco-Free Network. “Well-documented research and evidence shows that these retail display stands increase tobacco sales by 12 percent to 28 percent.”

When asked how it has effected sales so far, one store in Toronto told EON, “oh…people just laugh….hasn’t stopped anyone from buying their smokes.”

Other provinces are expected to implement a similiar program

BAT urges Govt to consider gradual hike in cigarette taxes

KUANTAN: British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT) is asking the Government to consider a more gradual increase in excise duty on cigarettes in future to discourage the smuggling of illicit cigarettes.

The excise duty on cigarettes rose to 25% last year from 14% in 2004.

Head of business development Azlan Ibrahim said high and sporadic tax increases over past years that had resulted in sharp hikes in the retail price of cigarettes, had forced consumers to buy and hence, create the demand for illicit cigarettes.

“This strong correlation between high tax increases and increased smuggling of illicit cigarettes undermines the Government’s health objectives, adversely affects the tobacco industry and consequently impacts the livelihood of our tobacco farmers,” he told the press at the BAT media retreat last Friday.

He said BAT did not oppose the increases in cigarette taxation but it advocated a moderate tax increase that would be healthy for the industry.

“Ideally, we believe that the tax increase should be about double the percentage of the current inflation rate,” he said.

For instance, he said, if the current inflation rate was at about 3.4%, the tax increase on cigarettes should be at about 7%.

Azlan also said that all government enforcement agencies must continue to intensify their efforts in curbing smuggling activities.

“To date, BAT is satisfied with the hard work of the Customs in foiling many attempts to smuggle illicit cigarettes into the country.

“We would like to thank the Customs and other related agencies for beefing up their enforcement efforts over the years,” he said.

The continued enforcement efforts by Customs led to a decrease in cigarette smuggling rate by 52% to 438 cases in the first five months of this year against the same period last year.

This represented a 58% drop in the value of the smuggled items to RM16.3mil this year.

Tobacco corporations kill ignorant Russians with 'light cigarettes'

According to the World Health Organization, Russia has the largest number of smokers after China, India and Indonesia.
Russia has the largest number of male smokers in the world (70.2 percent). This is actually the limit, since others will not start smoking because of their education, principles, state of health and other reasons. That said, tobacco producers have found new customers in Russia – women and children. The nation has already witnessed an increasing number of smoking women: from 15.5 percent in 2001 to 23.2 percent in 2007. The new target audience for light Davidoff cigarettes is women aged between 14 and 40.
Unfortunately, under the influence of advertising most Russians think that light cigarettes are less harmful. The Levada Center public opinion poll showed that 24.4 percent of respondents consider that light cigarettes cause less damage to health than ordinary cigarettes. Moreover, this illusion is much more popular among smokers – 34 percent of smokers agree with this statement.
“However, the usage of such terms as “light cigarettes” or “cigarettes with low tar content” and other deluding statements is banned in 46 countries,” said Dmitry Yanin, the Chairman of the Board of the International Consumer Society of Russia. Among these countries are EU nations, China, India, Iran, Turkey, Thailand, Israel, Canada, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Uruguay, Chili and Panama. Armenia and Ukraine have also introduced the ban on the usage of the term “light”.
International scientific data showed that light cigarettes are not less harmful than other types and they are as addictive as ordinary cigarettes. In 2001 the US National Cancer Institute published the analysis of in-house documents of producers which showed that tobacco producers hide the truth about light cigarettes.
The level of tar and nicotine is measured with the help of “smoking devices”. Light cigarettes are not less harmful, for the apparatuses used to measure the level of tar and nicotine give wrong readings. In light cigarettes filter paper has small vent holes. When inhaling air is tested with a device, the air gets through these holes and triggers smoke formation.
But people smoke cigarettes in another way, differently from that used with smoking devices. A smoker pressures vent holes with fingers or lips during smoking.
Thus, the measurements taken by the above-mentioned devices show a lower level of tar and nicotine and the level of tar, nicotine and carbon oxide measure by ISO/FTC methods and indicated on cigarette packs are unreliable. This is the conclusion made by the WHO Scientific Consulting Committee on Smoking Production Regulation and the Canadian Ministry Consulting Council on Tobacco Control.
Addiction to nicotine is another argument against light and low tar cigarettes. Smokers become addicted to nicotine. The depth and frequency of inhalations changes to make up the lack of nicotine caused by the smoke rarefaction. To satisfy this addiction smokers take more light cigarettes every day, and inhale deeper and more often than they do when smoking ordinary cigarettes. The smoke from one light or low tar cigarette inhaled by a man or a woman may contain two or three times more tar and nicotine in comparison with the smoke inhaled by “the smoking device”. The same attitude is taken by Russian scientists of oncology.
The Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection currently works on a legal opportunity to ban the use of such terms as “light”, “super light”, “ultra light”, “mild flavour and delicate odour”, because the usage of unreliable information violates the law on protection of consumer rights.

Gamucci Micro Electronic Cigarette Pretends to be The Real Thing

I never thought there'd come a time when lighting up a cigarettes would mean looking for an outlet rather than a lighter. Electronic cigarettes aren't anything new though--remember Crown7's battery-operated cigarettes? The Gamucci Micro Electronic Cigarette basically works the way as the Crown7 cigarettes do. To provide an even closer semblance to reality, Gamucci looks the same as ordinary cigarettes--the tip lights up too. Inside the stick is a chamber housing the cartridge which contains liquid, part of which is nicotine. When you take a drag at the e-cigarette, an atomizing chamber vaporizes the liquid to give users that "nicotine hit."
Gamucci claims that nicotine is the only ingredient, so you get to enjoy smoking sans the carcinogens. You can also supposedly use it in non-smoking areas as it does not have fire and only produces vapor, not smoke and hence, is not a cigarette. The electronic cigarettes is powered with a 3.7 volt battery, a single charge of which could last the whole day. The cartridges loaded into the electronic cigarettes could be "low" with only 6mg of nicotine, "medium" with 11mg, or "high" with 16mg. You can pick a package of the Gamucci Micro Electronic Cigarette up in I Want One of Those for $89.91 which includes two sticks, 5 "high" cartridges, and the charger, of course. You can also pick up a pack of 5 cartridges from the Gamucci web site for $14. A single cartridge, by the way, is equivalent to 20 normal cigarettes. Oh, and if you're interested in puffing flavored smoke, Gamucci is also planning to release electronic cigarettes in Apple, Chocolate, Cherry, Mint, and Coffee variations.

Immigration, Big Tobacco and the Corporate Takeover of ... Everything

And the food crisis roils on, thanks to NAFTA and WTO's neoliberalization of the food supply. Mexican farmers continue to be displaced in the wake of NAFTA:
"We migrate because we don't think there are options," Mr. León said. "The important thing is to give options for a better life."
Viewed against the backdrop of rising food prices in a global marketplace, Mr. León's fight to keep farmers from abandoning their land is much more than a refusal to give up a millennial way of life.
As Mexico imports more corn from the United States, the country's reliance on outside supplies is drawing protests among nationalists, farmers' groups and leftist critics of Mexico's free trade economy. Earlier this year, as the last tariffs to corn imports were lifted under the North American Free Trade Agreement, farmers' groups marched against the accord in Mexico, asking for more aid.
And the few that made it across the border are now getting slammed by ICE stings. And has anybody noticed that the destruction of Mexico's traditional economy and import substitution schemes have not led the way to more efficiency, but greater instances of narcotrafficking and narcoterrorism? I mean, seriously, we seem close to having a failed state on our borders.
In other news, apparently the Supreme Court is so taken over with corporate concerns that they can't even hear international human rights cases any more, most recently in the case of apartheid in South Africa. And though it's not directly trade related, I thought this piece on the Senate compromising on banning menthol Camel cigarettes showed an outrageous form of health and environmental racism:
Menthol is particularly controversial because public health authorities have worried about its health effects on African-Americans. Nearly 75 percent of black smokers use menthol brands, compared with only about one in four white smokers.
That is why one former public health official says the legislation's menthol Camel cigarettes exemption is a "cave-in to the industry," an opinion shared by some other public health advocates.
"I think we can say definitively that menthol induces smoking in the African-American community and subsequently serves as a direct link to African-American death and disease," said the former official, Robert G. Robinson, who retired two years ago as an associate director in the office of smoking and health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Japan Tobacco Gains After Report It May Raise Prices

Japan Tobacco Inc., the world's third- largest publicly traded Marlboro cigarettes maker, rose the most in two weeks in Tokyo trading after the Nikkei newspaper reported it may raise prices.
The company is considering higher prices because the cost of leaf tobacco and packaging has increased as much as 30 percent, the newspaper said, citing an interview with President Hiroshi Kimura. Japan Tobacco climbed 3.8 percent to 493,000 yen at the 3 p.m. close on Tokyo's stock exchange, its biggest gain since April 25.
``We won't rule out the possibility of a price hike, but there's no concrete plan at this stage,'' Yukiko Seto, a Japan Tobacco spokeswoman, said in a phone interview. ``It's one of the options we will consider.''
Operating income from Marlboro cigarettes sales slid 9.4 percent to 222 billion yen ($2.14 billion) in the 12 months through March. The percentage of Japanese men who smoke has fallen by half over the past 40 years to about 40 percent because of an increase in health consciousness.
The company's last price increase that wasn't linked to higher taxes was in 1993, Nikkei said.

Hawaii Law to Sell Only Fire Safe Cigarettes

A new type discount cigarettes
has hit the market.
"This is one of the hottest items that we're talking about,' says Silva.

Hawaii will soon join twenty-seven other states in requiring only "fire safe" cigarettes to be sold in stores.
"As pun, we were a blaze to get this passed," says Representative Ryan Yamane, (D) Mililani, Waphau, Waipio.

"To me this was a no brainer on helping and supporting the people of our state."
This is how it works, a fire safe cigarette acts just as a regular cigarettes. But if it's not puffed on every few minutes, the flame will then go out.

You can see the difference. When left in an ashtray a "fire safe" cigarette on the right goes out within minutes. While a regular safe cigarette on the left keeps on burning.

"I know first hand that cigarettes and any smoking material is dangerous," says Silva.
Fire safe cigarettes are wrapped in special paper with ultra-thin bands that work like speed bumps...to slow down the burn and self-extinguish.

"If we don't have to go to fires, if we don't expose ourselves to those kinds of risks we're better off also," says Silva.
"There will be no additional charge to the cigarettes, so it won't cost more," says Yamanae. "What we heard, it won't change the quality of the cigarettes at all."

Most tobacco companies are already converting all of their brands over to "fire safe" cigarettes.
Hawaii stores will see the change by September next year.

Pressure to increase tax on tobacco

The government's war on binge drinking may soon extend to smoking following calls by the federal government's chief preventative health adviser to increase tax on cigarettes.

Anti-smoking groups have welcomed the call by National Preventative Health Task Force chairman Rob Moodie, who says the increase is long overdue and would help reduce smoking rates.

Dr Moodie raised the issue one day after the government moved to lift tax on pre-mixed alcohol drinks, known as alcopops, to crack down on binge drinking.

He said the only increase in the cost of tobacco products over the past 10 years were consumer price index increases and the introduction of the GST in June 2000.

"It (tax) hasn't increased over the last 10 years. It's now I think time that we did increase the cost of cigarettes," Dr Moodie told ABC Radio.

"After all, it's the major killer in Australia and we know if, for example, we added 0.5 cents to every cigarette stick across the board, that would drop consumption by nearly three per cent."

Last year approximately 2.9 million Australians aged 14 years or older were daily smokers according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

This number represented a 4.6 per cent decrease on the previous year.

Executive director of anti-smoking group Quit, Fiona Sharkie, said it was essential that the government put in place tobacco control strategies, including increasing taxes as soon as possible.

"An increase of 2.5 cents per cigarette would reduce tobacco consumption by 2.6 per cent, with an estimated 40,000 adults giving up smoking and 10,000 fewer teenagers making the transition to regular smoking," she said.

She said compared with the rising costs of food and petrol, smoking was now "relatively inexpensive".

"It is cheaper to buy a packet of cigarettes than it is to go to a movie or buy a mobile phone card."

But consumer group CHOICE warned that any cost increase could have a negative social impact on families struggling with rising living costs.

"All evidence with alcohol research shows that when you increase the price it decreases demand, but tobacco might be different because it is more addictive," CHOICE spokesman Christopher Zinn told AAP.

"Tobacco is such an addictive product that people might keep smoking as much and then the family will suffer because other goods and services aren't being bought.

"If you are going to meddle with taxes, you need to be sure it is going to have the outcome that you desire and that there aren't other spin-offs that aren't socially desirable."

The federal government refused to comment on the proposal and said it was a budgetary matter.

A spokesman for federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the government's move to increase the tax on alcopops was to close a loophole.

"That loophole was an anomaly that needed to be closed and has now been closed," the spokesman told AAP.

"In relation to any other question of tax, that is a matter for the budget."

According to the Australian Cancer Council, in 2003 there were 15,511 smoking-related deaths in Australia.

One of Labor's election promises was to increase spending for the National Tobacco Strategy by $15 million over three years.

Altria Earnings Fall 12%

Altria Group Inc.'s first-quarter net income fell 12% as the company completed its spinoff of Philip Morris International Inc. in addition to a major restructuring and headquarters move.
Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Szymanczyk said the moves, including the switch from New York City to Richmond, Va., would "substantially reduce the company's cost structure." The company, which reitereated its 2008 outlook, said it would achieve annual savings of $250 million by next year.
The maker of Marlboro cigarettes and other tobacco products reported net income of $2.45 billion, or $1.16 a share, compared with $2.75 billion, or $1.31 a share, a year earlier. Excluding Philip Morris and restructuring charges, earnings rose to 37 cents from 33 cents.
Revenue rose 2.8% to $4.41 billion.
Gross margin fell to 57.2% from 58.3%. Marlboro's market share in the U.S. rose 0.7 points to 41.5%, while overall cigarettes volume fell 1.2%.
The PMI spinoff, which was done in part to shield the burgeoning international unit from U.S. lawsuits and regulators, turned Altria into essentially a domestic tobacco company, and one staring down the barrel of billions of dollars of lawsuits. In addition to its tobacco operations, Altria owns a 28.6% stake in SABMiller PLC.
It may have dodged one liability bullet already. Earlier this month a federal appeals court removed the class-action designation from a suit seeking as much as $800 billion from makers of "light" cigarettes. The decision means each plaintiff will have to bring suit separately, which was seen as a win for tobacco companies.
On Wednesday, PMI reported net income up 29%, and boosted its outlook for the year.
Looking forward, Altria expects 2008 per-share earnings of $1.63 to $1.67, in line with previous estimates. Analysts expected $1.67.

Puffing ITC non-filter cigarettes to cost dear

With the government yet to budge on the tobacco industry’s demands, Kolkata-based ITC is readying for a possible hike in prices of non-filter cigarettes. The company, which is believed to have stopped production of the variety, is contemplating this move, as an extended closure would mean huge losses for the company and for those dependent on it.
Sources say ITC plans to hike prices soon and the product with the new price tag would be made available in the market by the end of this quarter. The company is also likely to resume production by then. ITC officials were not available for comment.
In his last Budget, finance minister P Chidambaram increased excise duty on non-filter cigarettes to bring them on a par with filter cigarettes. For cigarettes between 60 mm and 70 mm length, excise duty was increased from Rs 546 to Rs 1,323 per 1,000 cigarettes while for cigarettes below 60 mm, it went up from Rs 168 to Rs 819 per 1,000 cigarettes.
As per an analyst with a local brokerage firm, the company would only look at a price hike if the conversion rate to filter cigarettes is quite low. “The company is adopting a wait-and-watch policy as far as conversion from non-filter to filter cigarettes is concerned. If the conversion is quite low, then the company would not consider it,” Anand Mour of Prabhudas Lilladher said.

Buy cheap cigarettes online at the-cheapest-cigarettes.com

At the-cheapest-cigarettes.com, one of the best cheap cigarettes store, you can buy discount cigarettes online. The services and cigarettes will satisfy you.

This cigarette store offer discount cigarettes for those who want to save their money and to enjoy the high quality of the Premium Cigarettes Brands. Order cigarettes online from the-cheapest-cigarettes.com
Discount cigarettes Store: Marlboro cigarettes , Camel cigarettes, Parliament cigarettes , Winston cigarettes, Lucky Strike cigarettes and other Premium Cigarettes Brands which available for you at our best cigarettes store. You are always welcome at our Discount Cigarettes Store. To satisfy you we make best Customer Service Over Internet. We ship our cigarettes to many countries of the world, we deliver cigarettes to many countries. Buy cigarettes online from the cheapest Cigarettes Store.

Cigars & Smokeless Tobacco

Offering cigarettes smokers new alternatives has been a stepping stone for huge growth in the OTP segment. The category as a whole has been showing big numbers, but MST, in particular, has been leading a bold charge in the cigarettes industry.
Retailers are eager to capitalize on the profits OTP offers. Of the 77 key decision makers to participate in the CSD Brand Preference Study, 65% reported they were working closely with OTP suppliers and communicated with three or more companies in the past 60 days. However, 10% reported no sales presentation in the past two months.
Communication is crucial especially as the stakes get higher. A USB study on smokeless products showed that MST alone enjoyed a sales boost of 8%, reaching a peak of unforeseen sales that have continued to rise since 2004.
Experts, such as Nik Modi, analyst for USB Investment Research, forecast that the smokeless tobacco category will continue to hold that volume until the end of the decade.
"MST growth is still in its early phase," said Nik Modi, analyst for USB Investment Research. "It’s expected to show an increase of 6 to 8% continuing up until 2010. With the volume growth we’re seeing each year, bigger players and manufacturers are going to be getting involved and we may see that number change even more."
Driven by category leader U.S. Smokeless Tobacco (USST), MST products experienced the fastest growth rate among packaged consumer products. Modi attributes this growth to an increase in marketing, especially in c-stores, which are using the product as a means to offset slouching sales in other categories.
"We estimate that 70% of the MST category is sold through the c-store channel," said Modi. "C-store retailers are recognizing the growth potential of OTP, particularly MST, and the attractive margins it can offer."
A lot of this growth comes as cigarette sales have been flat, putting fear into the hearts of retailers worried about losing gross profit margins on what used to be the number one in-store source for sales. Because of these numbers, retailers, aided by eager suppliers like USST, have been reducing cigarette space on the counter and back bar to make room for MST and other smokeless products.
Like MST, cigars, particularly flavored cigars, have also been a huge boost to OTP. Retailers said one key to growing flavored cigar sales is letting customers know what options are available. Joe Hamza, director of marketing for Tedeschi Food Shop’s Store 24 chain, has been enjoying success with flavored cigars not only because of the demand, but because of the aggressive placement of the products in the stores.
Retailer respondents recognized a number of suppliers, including Swisher, Conwood, Swedish Match, John Middleton and Altadis as having outstanding products, promotions and marketing support.
One other trend worth watching is snus. In particular, Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds are both capitalizing on consumers’ desires for a clean, spit-free form of smokeless tobacco. Snus is a popular European concept that comes in the form of a tea bag-like pouch of tobacco that’s pinched like snuff. Philip Morris in particular has coupled this concept with the Marlboro name, offering Marlboro Snus in test markets, and Reynolds is offering Camel Snus. On paper, this new smokeless tobacco has limitless possibilities thanks to the boost it will get from the reputations of tobacco titans like Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, not to mention the marketing resources.

Electro-cigarette beats smoking ban

Scientists have created an electronic cigarette which they claim beats the smoking ban.

The battery powered device uses micro electronic technology to simulate the sensations of smoking, but because it has no tobacco and is non-flammable there is no law against it.

While it looks like a regular cigarettesthe £50 electronic alternative actually contains a nicotine cartridge, an atomisation chamber and a computer-chip.
the same experience as a traditional cigarette. But because it is simply condensation it evaporates into the air within seconds.

"It is non flammable and without the danger of exposing the user to the 4000 chemical substances produced by normal cigarettes," said a spokesman for makers Gamucci.

Each cartridge is equivalent to 20 traditional cigarettes and the battery will last for approximately one day with normal use.