he landmark Surgeon General’s Report that first linked smoking with disease was released in 1964, more than 45 years ago. Within six years, Congress had passed a law to prevent cigarette manufacturers from advertising on radio and television. Since that time, scientific research and aggressive health education efforts have created almost universal awareness among the public of tobacco’s harms.
The landscape around tobacco use in America continues to change. Recent examples of progress include the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) being granted authority to regulate tobacco in 2009—the most comprehensive tobacco law to date—and more than half of U.S. states passing strong statewide laws protecting people from secondhand smoke and helping motivate smokers to quit. Over the last decade, the federal government and the vast majority of states have also increased excise taxes on tobacco products. (Research has shown that raising cigarette prices is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking.) During the same period, cigarette manufacturers also incurred new expenses in the form of large legal settlements. For more than a decade, the tobacco industry has faced lawsuit after lawsuit, brought by states and individuals looking for accountability from companies that produce deadly, addictive products and market them to kids. Over and over, the industry has paid settlements running into the billions.
I found very similar results when I used the same econometric model to estimate the
impact of display bans on smoking prevalence of 15 to 79 year olds.
Average estimated impact of tobacco control measures on
smoking prevalence for this wider age group. This model also performs very well
explaining more than 90% of the variation in smoking rates between 1987 and 2007.
I again found that display bans were not an effective tobacco control measure in Iceland.
The estimated impact is negative but very small (less than one percentage point) and not
statistically significant. In contrast, these results support the
effectiveness of the introduction of 30/40 health warning labels. As
mentioned previously, the estimated coefficient of the 30/40 health warning is likely to be
also capturing the impact on smoking prevalence of the introduction of health warning in
the mid 1970’s and early 1980’s in Norway and Iceland and in 1993 in Sweden.33
According to my estimates, tobacco price increases have a negative and statistically
significant relationship with smoking prevalence. In particular, I find
that increases in the relative price of tobacco had a negative and significant impact on
smoking rates. I estimate that a 10 percentage point increase in the relative price of
tobacco decreased average smoking rates by 1.7 percentage points. That is, assuming a
smoking rate of 20%, an increase in the relative tobacco price index from 110 to 120 is
estimated to reduce smoking rates to 18.3%In summary, the empirical evidence indicates that display bans did not reduce smoking
prevalence of 15-24 year olds in Iceland. The same is true for 15-79 year olds.
Be prepared for the possibility of extremely vivid dreams as tobacco odors released by healing mouth tissues, or being swept up bronchial tubes by rapidly healing cilia, come in contact with healing and enhanced senses of smell and taste. See it as the wonderful sign of healing it reflects and nothing more. It has no profound meaning beyond healing.
See Marketing as Bait - Your recovery means thousands upon thousands in lost profits to the nicotine addiction industry. They do not want to lose you. See all nicotine product advertising and the hundreds of neatly aligned packs and cartons in stores for what they truly reflect – bait! Hidden within the pretty colored boxes, tins and pouches, and coated by more than 600 flavor additives, is the chemical most dependency experts consider earth’s most captivating.
It's Never Too Late - Regardless of how long we have been hooked, how old we are, or how badly we have damaged our body, it is never too late to arrest our dependency, become its master, and commence the most intense period of healing our body has ever known. Delivering at least 1/3 more cancer causing chemicals than oral tobacco, and hundreds of toxic gases, there is no debate but that the cigarette is by far the dirtiest and most deadly nicotine delivery device of all. But the harms inflicted by even the cleanest nicotine delivery device should not be taken lightly. Not only does nicotine break down into one of the most potent cancer causing agents of all, NNK, it is a super toxin that, drop for drop, is more deadly than diamondback rattlesnake venom, arsenic, strychnine or cyanide. Just 2-3 drops of pure nicotine on the skin (40 to 60mg) is sufficient to kill a 160-pound human. The average smoker introduces 1mg of nicotine into the bloodstream with each cigarette, an amount sufficient to kill a one-pound rat. Is it any wonder that each nicotine fix eats away more of the brain’s gray matter, or that nicotine is capable of damaging or destroying a developing fetus?
As it relates to nicotine, classical or Pavlovian conditioning is conditioning in which, through repetition, a person, place, thing, activity, time or emotion (a conditioned stimulus or use cue) becomes so paired with using nicotine, until encountering the conditioned use cue alone becomes sufficient to trigger urges and cravings for nicotine. Subconsciously triggered anxieties are the mind's means of commanding that we once again bring nicotine into our body. Like Pavlov's dogs, which he conditioned to expect food and begin salivating upon the ringing of a bell, we each conditioned our subconscious to expect arrival of a new supply of nicotine in specific situations. Researchers have successfully used sight, smell and hearing to establish new conditioned use cues in smokers.
Encountering the new cue triggered use expectations and an urge to smoke, with an increase in pulse rate. Researchers found it easier to establish new cues among light smokers, who obviously had fewer existing cues than heavy smokers. If crave episodes feel real and physical in nature there’s good reason. Although nicotine-feeding cues are psychological in origin, they trigger physiological responses within the body and mind. Not only does using nicotine increase pupil size, researchers found that encountering a visual nicotine use cue will increase pupil size, an autonomic response.
Using brain scans, researchers discovered increased blood flow during cue-induced cravings in the brain’s ventral striatum, amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, hippocampus, medial thalamus, and left insula,361 regions associated with “aaah” rewards and anxiety. They also found that the amount of blood flow (perfusion) positively correlated with the intensity of the cue induced cigarette cravings in both the prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate, regions known to control attention, motivation and expectancy.
Anger apparently peaks for the average quitter at about 48 hours (day 2) and within 72 hours is beginning to return to near pre-cessation levels. Although adrenaline was a non-addictive element of our nicotine high, whether the rational mind uses anger to invoke the body’s fight or flight response, or cessation anger simply reflects the boiling point of anxiety driven fears, the good news is that it only takes a couple of days of recovery patience to begin seeing improvement.
Find ways to vent frustrations that won't cause needless hurt to family, loved ones, friends or co-workers. Walk, run, vent into a pillow, find a punching bag, bend a piece of steel, or bite your lip if need be. Share your feelings with family, friends or other support network.
Store tobacco marketing becomes sadly laughable to the trained eye. Extremely effective, it’s a multi-purpose facade through which educated eyes can easily see. The growth portion of its aim is to tease, entice and invite youth experimentation.
The pacifying part is to provide justification to dependency-ignorant users as to why they’ve returned to purchase more. And then there are those seeking freedom. It not only proclaims why they shouldn’t, it all but wraps itself around them while trying to purchase fuel, food or medicine. Its aim is to penetrate, stir, inflame and contribute to relapse.
Flavor, pleasure, to be true, cool, our gateway to friendship, for adventure, rebellion or unbelievable prices, it shouts that we stand at that counter for every reason except the truth, which is because we must, because mounting nicotine depletion anxieties begin to hurt when we don’t. Think like a tobacco company. Look closely. What subliminal message does each ad or display attempt to pound into the subconscious mind? Where does the “responsible” nicotine merchant provide notice that this chemical may be more addictive and harder to beat than heroin or cocaine, or that it may only take smoking nicotine once or twice to hook us for life? Feel the industry’s economic muscle. It is not only flexed here but making significant campaign contributions inside our legislature.
Why would society and its laws allow the nicotine addiction industry to suggest all these reasons for using, yet not require equally prominent display of the truth? What tobacco company won the bidding war at this location? Look at row after row of the same packs or cartons. The winner’s products are usually the ones on top and most visible. Look closely. When are our conscious and subconscious minds first assaulted by use invitations? Are there roadside signs, signs on top of gas pumps, tied to lamp posts, window signs, exterior building wall signs, door signs, signs hanging above candy racks, signs surrounding us as we make our purchase, or on the door as we exit?
Smokers not only suffer from nicotine addiction but the ravaging effects of thousands of inhaled chemicals upon their respiratory system and body. What was it like to run like the wind, to engage in an extended period of brisk physical activity without becoming seriously winded? What was it like to climb flight after flight of stairs, to play full-court basketball, or chase a child or the family pet without ending up gasping for air?
Every now and then I meet a smoker who lets me know that they enjoy running. What they don’t seem to appreciate is the tremendous strain they subject their heart and body to when doing so. It’s a matter of availability of sufficient oxygen to keep vigorously working muscle well fueled and alive. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless toxic gas produced when any carbon-based material is burned, including tobacco.
When smoking, the amount of carbon monoxide entering the bloodstream varies greatly (up to 25mg per cigarette) depending upon such factors as how intensely the smoker smokes, whether or not they cover the filter ventilation holes with their lips, and the particular brand smoked.
The reverse is often seen in smokers transferring their dependency to oral tobacco or NRT products, where around-the-clock use becomes possible. “I started out with about 6 pieces a day and now chew about 15 pieces of 2mg per day. Probably more nicotine than when I smoked,” asserts a 48 year-old, three-year female gum user. "There is one in my mouth 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ... yes for real,” claims a 32 year-old, three-year male gum user who chews 40-50 pieces a day and thinks he may "chew more than anyone in the world."
Regardless of method of delivery or level of nicotine tolerance, the millions of extra nicotinic-type acetylcholine receptors grown by the addicted brain de-sensitized it to its natural sense of neuro-chemical normal. We were rewired to function with a precise amount of nicotine in our blood stream and lived the reality of “nicotine normal” that we created. Any attempt to stop using it brought potential for a brief emotional train wreck, as we found ourselves not only de-sensitized to nicotine but to life as well.
Health warnings are the focus of Article 11 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first health treaty. More than 160 countries inhabited by over 80% of the world’s population are parties to the FCTC and are required to implement ‘effective’ policies on health warnings. This report is designed to present policymakers with research evidence from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Project, the world’s most extensive research dedicated to evaluating the impact of policies of the FCTC. ITC research findings provide an evidence base that defines the components of effective warning labels and strongly supports the implementation of vivid, pictorial warnings. In short, the ITC Project offers evidence-based answers to the question: “What is effective and what is not effective for policies on health warnings?”
Health warnings on cigarette packages are among the most prominent sources of information about the harms of smoking and tobacco use. More smokers report getting information about the risks of smoking from packages than any other source except television.
1 Health warnings are an extremely cost-effective public health intervention compared to other tobacco prevention efforts such as paid mass media advertising, given their tremendous reach and frequency of exposure. Smokers who smoke 20 cigarettes per day, for example, are potentially exposed to the warnings at least 7300 times per year. Non-smokers, including children and youth, also report high exposure and awareness of health warnings on packages.
2 Research conducted by the ITC Project has proven that warning labels are an effective risk communication tool for:
1. Educating/informing smokers and non-smokers about the many negative health consequences of smoking.
2. Motivating and encouraging smokers to quit and non-smokers not to start smoking.
3. Providing information to enhance efficacy for quitting.
There is another important reason for implementing strong health warnings on tobacco packages. Tobacco packaging is used by the tobacco industry to reinforce brand imagery, to minimize perceptions of risk, and to suggest incorrectly that some types of cigarettes are less harmful than others (e.g. use of “mild” and lighter colour packages to suggest less harm). Effective warning labels can counteract misleading messages and convey the health risks of smoking and exposure to second hand smoke.i
Tobacco and tobacco products have long been taxed, primarily because the relatively inelastic demand for these products make them an easy source of revenue. In recent decades, however, taxation has been applied to cigarettes and other tobacco products in order to promote health as well as raising revenue. Cigarettes and other tobacco products are taxed in a variety of ways.
The most commonly used methods of taxation include specific taxes, value added and other ad valorem taxes, and import duties. Specific taxes (or excise taxes) add a fixed amount to the price of cigarettes while ad valorem taxes are a percentage of the base prices. Cigarette taxes in some countries such as the United States have been imposed by various levels of government, national, state and local level. Governments in nearly every country impose taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The levels of taxes imposed on cigarettes vary from county to county. In the high income countries, tax amounts to two-thirds or more of the retail price of a pack of cigarettes. In the lower-income countries, taxes generally amount to not more than half of the retail prices of cigarettes.
Until recently, Zimbabwe had experienced steady economic growth. GDP at 1990 constant price during 1996–1998 was 38 percent higher than that during 1985–1987. Due to variable weather conditions, agricultural production fluctuated year by year but its contribution to GDP remained around 17 percent for 1985–1998. In other word, agriculture has grown at a rate similar to that of the national economy.
Zimbabwe is one of the major tobacco exporters in the world. In 1996–1998, average annual exports of tobacco were 127 000 tonnes, of which Virginia accounted for more than 95 percent. Total exports of tobacco increased by 40 percent between 1981–1983 and 1996–1998. The average export revenue during the same period was US$7 875 million, and tobacco has been the largest single export crop in recent decades. Although the share of tobacco in total agricultural exports has declined from its peak of 78 percent in 1992, it still accounted for more than 55 percent of total agricultural exports during 1996–1998.
Among other export crops, cotton and maize experienced significant growth in export revenue. Export earnings from cotton increased nearly 22-fold between 1981–1983 and 1996–1998, while maize increased by nearly 16 times during the same period, and sugar also saw its share in revenue increase sharply. Increases in both planting areas and yields have contributed to a significant increase in output of tobacco over the past decades.
Comparing the three-year average 1980–82 with 1998–2000, total output increased by 137 percent, from 95 817 tonnes to 226 970 tonnes. During the same period, planting areas increased from 50 150 ha to 92 685 ha, a rise of 85 percent, while yield increased by about 29 percent, from 1 900 kg/ha to 2 510 kg/ha
First Amendment protects against government infringement
The First Amendment protects against government infringement on “the right to speak freely and the right to refrain from speaking at all.”
In limited circumstances, however, courts have upheld the government’s ability to dictate the content of mandatory speech. This largely occurs in the commercial context. Under the commercial speech doctrine, the government’s “power to regulate commercial transactions justifies its concomitant power to regulate commercial speech that is ‘linked inextricably’ to those transactions.”
Thus, the government may require commercial speech to “appear in such a form, or include such additional information, warnings, and disclaimers, as are necessary to prevent its being deceptive.”
Because commercial speech receives a lower level of protection under the First Amendment, burdens imposed on it receive a lower level of scrutiny from the courts.
Although the standard for assessing burdens on commercial speech has varied
The Supreme Court’s 78 bottom line is clear: the government must affirmatively demonstrate its means are narrowly tailored” to achieve a substantial government goal.
The false statements identified by the district court would be important to a reasonable person purchasing cigarettes.
The fact that Defendants continually denied any link between smoking and cancer, see, e.g., id. at 204, suggests they themselves considered the matter material. So, too, regarding Defendants’ false statements on other topics, including statements concerning: whether smoking is addictive,
whether Defendants manipulated their cigarettes to control nicotine delivery, whether “light” cigarettes were less harmful than other cigarettes, whether secondhand smoke is hazardous to non-smokers, i and whether Defendants concealed scientific research and destroyed documents.
Each of these topics is an important consideration for a reasonable person because each concerns direct and significant consequences of smoking. When deciding whether to smoke cigarettes, tobacco consumers must resolve initial reservations (or lingering qualms) about the potential for cancer, the risk of addiction, or the hazardous effects of secondhand smoke for friends, family, and others who may be exposed. Defendants’ prevarications about each of these issues suggests full awareness of this obvious fact; reasonable purchasers of cigarettes would consider these statements important.
Defendants further argue that, because the scientific community had reached a consensus regarding the severely adverse health consequences of smoking, their statements to the contrary would not be believed.
The question, 40 however, is not whether a reasonable person would have believed Defendants’ false statements, but only whether a reasonable person would have considered the issue “of importance,” and the issues considered by the district court clearly met the materiality threshold.
Bidis, small hand-rolled cigarettes typically smoked in India and other South-East Asian countries, produce three times more carbon monoxide and nicotine and five times more tar than regular cigarettes. Bidi smokers have a three-fold higher risk of oral cancer compared with non-smokers and are also at increased risk of lung, stomach and oesophageal cancer.
Kreteks, clove and tobacco cigarettes most commonly smoked in Indonesia, place smokers at increased risk of acute lung injury. Shisha, tobacco cured with flavourings and smoked from hookahs primarily in the Eastern Mediterranean region, is linked to lung disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Smokers are not the only ones sickened and killed by tobacco.
Second-hand smoke also has serious and often fatal health consequences. In the United States, second-hand smoke causes about 3 400 lung cancer deaths and 46 000 heart disease deaths a year. Second-hand smoke is responsible in the United States for an estimated 430 cases of sudden infant death syndrome, 24 500 low-birth-weight babies, 71 900 pre-term deliveries and 200 000 episodes of childhood asthma annually.
Smokeless tobacco is also highly addictive and causes cancer of the head and neck, oesophagus and pancreas, as well as many oral diseases. There is evidence that some forms of smokeless tobacco may also increase the risk of heart disease and low-birth-weight babies
"WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR" A sophisticated adult advertising campaign that used the slogan "What You're Looking For," replaced the infamous Smooth Joe, a cartoon camel that anti-tobacco hated. Mezzina/Brown, the advertising agency responsible for the stylish new ads, put an outline of the camel icon in smoke, condensation, and several other interesting places. With no text used, not even the Camel brand name, the sometimes hidden image of the classic camel is soft-sell at its best.
As with the previous ad, this shows a girl giving the eye to another male whilst in the company of someone else, who is distracted by another woman. The consistent display of such behaviour leads one to wonder whether the typical Kool smoker see everyone as unfaithful.
The alternative is the scenario noted above. The Kool smoker thinks of himself as macho but needs his props to sustain the display. Here, in addition to the pack of Kool, he has a tattoo around his wrist. Notably, although semi-subliminally, the tattoo says SEX. The S is clear to the left of the tattoo.
The e is large but in lower case and there is an additional character in between the e and the X with part of that character running through the X. Compare this irregular pattern with the illustration on the right. It shows the regularity that could be expected with most tattoos circling the wrist or upper arm. The presentation of such imagery is an indication that the Kool smoker has never heard that smoking impairs, rather than enhances, sexual ability.
The most likely source of beliefs that sex and cigarettes 'go together' is likely to be the fallacious ideas promoted by movies and ads such as this. The Scottish Health Education Group once came up with the perfect answer for combating such nonsense and guaranteed to convince any doubting youngster. They suggested one should 'Kiss a non-smoker ..... and taste the difference.' I couldn't agree more. Saves on breath freshener and dry-cleaning bills as well.
Marlboro Lights The spirit of Marlboro in a low tar cigarette. Lighter in taste. Lower in tar. And still offers up the same quality that has made Marlboro famous.
1941 Camel Ad-IRWIN CHASE PT Boat Designer ELCO
THERE'S JUST NO CIGARETTE THAT TASTES SO GOOD AS A CAMEL
What Other Cigarette Has All 5? A Quality Blend of choice mild-smoking imported and domestic tobaccos. Firmly Rolled to better filter the smoke. Vacuum-Cleaned to remove small tobacco particles. Rolled in expensive Champagne Paper. Modern Price, your savings will buy a new camera, radio or other luxuries you’ve wanted. DOMINO CIGARETTE “AMERICA’S BEST CIGARETTE BUY”
Happiness, in fact, seem to separate tightening - when it is near, it does not feel it, and when zatyagivaeshsya full smiling mouth, then try to enjoy them fully, but in the end, did have to produce smoke, and then he and the same color weekdays, envelops you. But after each skurennoy cigarettes begin to appreciate those delays that we have had, those tiny moments of happiness that have left and not returned. You can certainly try to get a new cigarette, but sediment from the old still remain.
The man, in fact, it is smouldering coal cigarettes. Marlborough - Maxim. Parliament - Pasha. Red & White Cigarettes - Rex, Adam. Davidoff, LM, Kazbek ... and where I am, I am happy desirable?
Introduced in 1853, LUCKY STRIKE is rich in heritage and one of the worlds best-known brands. It was first manufactured cigarette. The modern pack design was designed by Raymond Loewy, creator of Campbells Soup label, Shell Oil logo and many other brand icons. Starting out as a chewing tobacco product, Lucky Strike eventually evolved into a filter-less cigarette.
The brand was introduced by R.A. Patterson of Richmond, Virginia in 1871 as a cut-plug chewing tobacco and later a cigarette. In 1905, the company was acquired by the American Tobacco Company (ATC), Lucky Strike would later prove to be its answer to R.J. Reynolds' Camel, and the popularity of the cigarette began to grow.
In 1917, the brand started using the slogan "It's Toasted", meant to inform consumers about the manufacturing method in which the tobacco is toasted rather than sun-dried. Because of a different manufacturing process, Lucky Strike cigarettes have a unique and distinctive flavour. The message "L.S.M.F.T." ("Lucky Strike means fine tobacco") was introduced on the package in the same year.
New "L&M Cigarettes" design package, will expand the range of options for the taste of this brand, and will complement the existing line of the five versions of the classical format."
"Style X-Slims inspired by urban culture and the trend characteristic of large cities, and that is why we have decided to issue two new proposals in the 25 largest cities of Russia," - said Jan Billinghem, advertising manager for the average price of stamps segment Philip Morris Seylz end Marketing".
Running L&M X-Slims will be supported in the traditional media, including advertising in the press, in the retail business and dialog marketing, as well as club activities aimed to adult smokers learned of the launch and are interested in them.
Chesterfield is best for YOU!
“Chesterfield Cigarettes is the only cigarette I can speak for, because it’s the only one I smoke. I’ve smoke Chesterfield Cigarettes for 22 years and I recommend you try’em – they Satisfy – and how!” Ed Sullivan --And First to Present this Scientific Evidence on Effects of Smoking A MEDICAL SPECIALIST is making regular monthly examinations of a group of people from various walks of life. 45 percent of this group has smoked Chesterfield Cigarettes for an average of over ten years. After eight months, the medical specialist reports that he observed… No adverse effects on the nose, throat and sinuses of the group from smoking Chesterfield Cigarettes. CHESTERFIELD – FIRST and only premium quality cigarette available in both regular and king-size.
According to the company's managing director Gareth Davis, Davidoff Cigarettes is a strategic premium brand company and an important factor in the growth of its business. According to the analysts' investment bank Lehman Brothers David and Richard Hayesa Strouda, such a move tobacco companies can be considered as preparation for a more "aggressive policy of expansion into new markets." Experts once again stressed the importance of well-known brands Davidoff Cigarettes, the image which will play no role in the latest conquest of new markets.
Davidoff Cigarettes considered to be one of the fastest growing brands company: under this brand cigarettes sold in 70 countries.
It is expected that the Davidoff Cigarettes sales should grow by 7, 7%, and make 14 billion cigarettes at the end of 2006. Last year was 13 billion cigarettes sold under this brand. Earlier this month, Davis stated intention company to expand its presence in the market of the United States. This is including that in Germany and Britain hardened taxes on tobacco products.
CAMEL EVERY INCH A REAL SMOKE!
There’s no cigarette like a Camel. Its taste is distinctive. Alert. All there. You’ll find Camel’s got swagger – yet it’s smooth. Get the clean-cut taste of rich tobaccos. Get with Camel. Every inch a real smoke…comfortably smooth too! The best tobacco makes the best smoke
In subsequent years, Vogue Cigarettes advertising campaigns were no longer only in the two largest megacities, but also in 9 other Russian cities. Now, the company stated that Vogue - a cigarette, which help women to fluctuate, because you can choose from three varieties of stamps. And in 2003 this choice even increased - there Vogue Ultra Light (the low-tar and nicotine).
It was in that period BAT for the branding became partying in the capital's clubs. For example, the Vogue Kino Atelier was devoted to shooting the film "Three Colors ease" and in Vogue Foto Atelier invited guests participated in a photo shoot. "Through the involvement of" opinion leaders "- in this case, celebrities, which, a priori, and the characters are secular legislators in a secular fashion crowd, illustrates mark translated into his life philosophy - Catherine believes Sundukova, director of new business event-marketing agency BrandNew Momentum (works with the Japan Tobacco International). - Using "lawyers stamp" makes the premium image of a strong, backed by the events of real life people to "glossy" lifestyle of consumers who want to pursue. "
"In the five years between 1999 and 2003, sales volume rose in Vogue 4.5 times" - the so-evaluates the effect of investments in the promotion of BAT brands Maria Bezhanova, refusing to name brand market share in absolute terms.
* Weak pound, if continues, to have positive effect * Shares down 0.7 percent
Britain's Imperial Tobacco, the world's fourth-biggest cigarettes maker, said it had made a pleasing start to its financial year, and while it was not immune to the economic situation it was resilient. Imperial, with brands including Lambert & Butler, West and Gauloises, said on Tuesday that should current foreign exchange rates, such as the pound's weakness, continue they would have a positive effect on its 2009 results.
"Overall, this has been a pleasing start to the year. While we will not be immune from the current economic situation, we will be resilient," Chief Executive Gareth Davis said ahead of the company's annual shareholder meeting.
Imperial said trading from October to December was in line with management's expectations for the year to end-September.
Morgan Stanley analyst Eileen Khoo described the update as positive and showing much more than foreign exchange gains.
"Imperial's trading statement highlights ongoing resilience, particularly in cigarettes, driven by stable consumer trends, share gains, pricing and continued emerging market growth."
Imperial shares were down 0.7 percent at 1,838 pence at 0812 GMT in a flat London stock market.
In Britain, Imperial said the 2008 duty-paid cigarette market declined by 4 percent to 45 billion cigarettes, and its market share slipped slightly to 45.7 percent in the 12 months to end-December from 45.9 percent in the year to September 2008.
In Germany, market volumes declined by 2 percent to 87 billion cigarettes in 2008 with the group's market share largely steady at 27.5 percent, while in a Spanish market which grew by 1 percent to 90 billion cigarettes in 2008 the group's market share was again largely steady at 37 percent.
Last year, Imperial acquired the Franco-Spanish Altadis in late January for 12.6 billion euros to add brands like Gauloises and Fortuna. It then launched a 4.9 billion pound rights issue in May to help part-fund the deal, with the rest covered by debt. (Reporting by David Jones; Editing by Dan Lalor)
Indonesia's top Islamic body has been debating an issue which could restrict tobacco and cigarettes sales
use in the country.
Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population.
About 700 Muslim clerics and officials have been gathering in West Sumatra for a meeting which could issue edicts on a range of issues affecting Muslims in the officially secular country.
The economic importance of the tobacco industry in Indonesia has also played a role in the talks.
The tobacco industry is a big employer in the country, where smoking is a popular pastime.
Cigarettes may be harder to quit than the standard variety, particularly for lower-income smokers, a new study suggests.
The findings add to evidence that mentholated cigarettes may be especially addictive, but highlight a role for socioeconomics as well, researchers say.
They found that black and Hispanic smokers who favored menthol cigarettes had lower long-term quit rates than their counterparts who smoked standard cigarettes. There was no such difference among white smokers overall, but there was a pattern among unemployed whites: those who smoked menthol cigarettes had lower quit rates at one month.
Previous research has found that menthol-cigarette smokers tend to have higher blood levels of nicotine than other smokers do.
"This study suggests that people who smoke mentholated cigarettes -- particularly those with a low disposable income -- may inhale more nicotine and toxins per cigarette," lead researcher Kunal K. Gandhi told Reuters Health.
This, in turn, may spur a stronger addiction, explained Gandhi, a researcher at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Income may enter the picture, Gandhi and his colleagues say, by altering the way in which people smoke. Low-income smokers may try to get more out of each smoke break by taking more puffs per cigarette or inhaling more deeply.
Menthol makes this an easier task because its cooling effect helps mask the harshness of nicotine and other tobacco toxins.
NEW DELHI: Indian tobacco major GTC Industries Ltd has changed its name to Golden Tobacco Ltd, the company said Monday.
Upon approval by the Registrar of Companies, Maharashtra, a fresh certificate of incorporation has been issued, the company said in a regulatory statement.
The shareholders had approved the company's proposal to change the name through a special resolution passed at the annual general meeting held July 14.
Then the company made an application to the central government's ministry of corporate affairs under Section 21 of the Companies Act, 1956 for change of its name, the statement said.
This application has now been approved by the registrar of companies, Maharashtra, and the company received the approval Monday, the statement said.
The move comes in the wake of the company's shareholders approving February this year a plan to demerge the company's tobacco business from its real estate business to create two separate entities. Both entities are to be listed on the stock exchanges where the shares of the company are currently listed.
The change of name will now pave the way for the demerger.
The Rs.1.65 billion tobacco major and flagship of the Dalmia Group was earlier known as Golden Tobacco Company. It changed the name to GTC Ind after the promoter group merged some of its non-tobacco businesses with Golden Tobacco. Now, with the tobacco business slated to be demerged again, the company has gone in for another name change.
BRUSSELS - The European Commission has suggested that the EU's current minimum excise duties on cigarettes and tobacco should be increased to reflect inflation, in a move aimed at helping to cut consumption as well as narrow price differences across the bloc's 27 member states.
"Substantial differences in tax and price levels of tobacco products lead to considerable cross-border shopping and intra-community smuggling," EU tax commissioner Laszlo Kovacs told journalists as he was introducing the proposal on Wednesday.
Brussels says the EU's tax rules on cigarettes need a brush up as they are over 30 years old and do not reflect current reality (Photo: European Commission)
"These differences undermined the budgetary and health objectives of the Member States and resulted in a distortion of the functioning of the Internal Market," he added.
According to the current rules dating back to 1970s, the EU's excise duties levied on cigarettes must account for at least 57 percent of the price, and must be at least €64 per 1000 cigarettes of the "most popular price category" - the prevailing brand in a country.
Under the commission's blueprint, the duties would be 63 percent of the weighted average price for the rate of €90 by 2014 and applying to all cigarettes, as the concept of most popular brand has proved outdated with much more dynamic markets now than in the past.
The EU executive predicts that the proposed tax rise would contribute to a 10 percent decrease in tobacco consumption in most member states within the next five years, quoting the World Bank's studies which argue that "price increases in tobacco products are the most effective single intervention in preventing smoking."
"In countries like Denmark or Finland, the price increase will be around 6 percent, and in countries like Poland it will be 46 percent. There is a huge difference," pointed out commissioner Kovacs, admitting that Brussels' move will mainly create a "problem" for the member states that joined the EU most recently.
While the "old" EU countries in Western Europe would mostly be affected by the increased proportional element of the excise duty, the "new" member states in central Europe would be more affected by the increased monetary minimum of the excise duty.
"What the commission offers in this proposal is an extended time frame for these [new] countries that have difficulties. Let's say one or two year's extension of the deadline which will go up not to 2014 but to 2015 or even 2016," Mr Kovacs suggested.
Apart from cigarettes, Brussels also wants higher duties on roll-your-own tobacco to bring them in line with tax on cigarettes, stressing that they are "equally harmful for health".
The EU's top regulator points out that in some countries hand-rolled cigarettes are taxed 30 percent less than ordinary cigarettes, adding that while consumption of cigarettes decreased by over 10 percent between 2002 and 2006 in the EU (excluding Romania and Bulgaria), use of fine-cut tobacco rose by around 10 percent.
It is expected that the proposal will be subject to heated debate among member states, and to see the light of the day, it will have to be approved unanimously.
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.
TOKYO -- Japan, long known for its smoker-friendly policies, is debating a substantial tax increase that could bring Tokyo in line with the U.S. and Europe.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's annual tax commission is expected to review a proposal by key lawmakers that could more than triple the retail price of a pack of cigarettes to about $10.
The backers of the higher tax are looking at the additional revenue as a way to cut Japan's ballooning budget deficit without taking the deeply unpopular move of raising its consumption tax.
Japan Tobacco Inc., which has a virtual monopoly on cigarettes here and is 50% owned by the government, argues that more-expensive cigarettes would depress sales and lead to lower tax revenue. The company, the world's third-largest tobacco maker by volume after Altria Group Inc. and British American Tobacco PLC, on Tuesday sent executives to lobby the LDP against an increase.
"The government can't hope for increased tax revenue, because such a big raise in the tax would mean consumption plummets," JT Deputy President Ryoichi Yamada said afterwards. "It's unfair that smokers should have to bear the burden" of poor government finances.
Japan needs to boost government revenue to pay for pensions for its rapidly aging population. Government debt was 849 trillion yen ($8 trillion) at the end of March, equal to more than 160% of the country's gross domestic product. One measure put forward to meet the shortfall is raising the 5% consumption tax. But consumers are sure to oppose that, and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, already suffering from low approval ratings, has been reluctant to push the idea.
Many in Japan's ruling party see higher tobacco tax as a promising alternative. In mid-June, about 45 lawmakers formed a bipartisan league to argue the case for higher taxes. One of its main advocates is LDP heavyweight Hidenao Nakagawa, former chief cabinet secretary and an opponent of raising the consumption tax.
The price of a cigarette pack in Japan is among the lowest in the industrialized world. On average, a pack costs about 300 yen, of which roughly 60% is tax. That is less than half of what a pack costs in New York and less than a third of what it costs in the United Kingdom.
These lawmakers argue that raising the cigarette tax would boost Japan's tax revenue from the product, which was around 2.2 trillion yen for the year ended March 2008. If cigarette consumption remains unchanged, charging 1,000 yen a pack would increase cigarette-tax revenue by 8.5 trillion yen a year, according to Barclays Capital. But surveys show that as many as three-quarters of smokers say they would try to quit if cigarettes cost 1,000 yen a pack, though it's unclear how many would succeed.
Health proponents, including the country's physicians and Health Ministry, say an increase in cigarette taxes would cut down on health-care costs. Japan has one of the highest smoking rates in the industrialized world, at around 40% for men and 10% for women. Lung cancer is a leading killer among men.
The specifics on Christensen's proposal are not yet clear, but it is clear that the tobacco industry plans to fight it. Tobacco company lobbyists are already fighting against the regulation, said Christensen. She said the only company in favor of the menthol ban is Phillip Morris. But Lorillard, the cigarettes company that produces Newport cigarettes, is mounting what the Times called a "counteroffensive," sending out an email message to customers recently urging them to call their Congressional representatives.
"Urgent! Urgent!...Congress wants to make it illegal to smoke Newports and other menthol cigarettes. Call your member of Congress now and tell them to oppose any amendment to ban menthol cigarettes," the email said. Newport is the number one selling menthol cigarette in the U.S.
Located in Greensboro, North Carolina, Lorillard is the nation's oldest and third largest tobacco company. It was started in 1760 by Pierre Lorillard and now manufactures a wide range of brands, including Kent, True, Old Gold, Maverick, Satin and Max.
Television ads from decades ago depict menthol cigarettes as harmless additives that enhanced the flavor of cigarettes. "Newport is smoother," according to the jingle of one popular television commercial (shown below), "than any other menthol cigarette." All the people depicted in the ads are, of course, white.
But as times changed, Newport's demographics seem to have changed too, and now African Americans are among the biggest consumers of the menthol cigarettes sold by the company that produces Newport. Blacks have also been the target of the industry's advertising efforts, as seen by the two print ads in this article.
Perhaps as a result of the marketing efforts, Newport cigarettes have become popular in the black community. Just walk down 125th Street in Harlem or some other black inner city neighborhoods, and you might hear a familiar refrain: "Newport, Newport!" That's the call of unlicensed cigarette dealers selling the cigarettes by the pack. With the cost of Newports at $8 in New York City, sometimes the cigarettes are even sold individually as "loosies" on the black market.
The combination of high cigarette prices and high demand have also fueled the black market. In Kansas City over the weekend, a robber broke into a convenience store and stole thousands of dollars of cigarettes, mostly Marlboros and Newports. In another incident a few weeks ago, a robber broke into a store and stole Newport and Kool cigarettes. And in Florida last month, a gas station was robbed and a thief again stole Newport cigarettes.
The debate over menthol cigarettes, like the debate over malt liquor -- a beer with a high alcohol content -- has been going on for years. Both are popular in the African American community, and many health advocates are concerned about the racial health disparities that may be caused by the use of these controversial products.
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.”
Cigarette vending machines and packets of 10 could be outlawed under government plans aimed at preventing children and young people smoking.
The plans, which include banning branding and logos, apply to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Similar plans have been unveiled in Scotland.
Smokers' lobby group Forest said there was "no evidence" to show the plans would to cut smoking in young people.
Meanwhile, a new TV advert campaign is targeting parents who smoke.
The adverts warn that children of smokers are three times more likely to take up the habit than those of non-smokers.
Under current pricing, a packet of 10 cigarettes cost about £3, compared to nearly £6 for 20.
Last week the Scottish Government announced a range of proposals to restrict tobacco sales in Scotland - including a ban in shops from displaying cigarettes in "pride of place" on their shelves.
On the latest consultation document, Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said it was vital to take away temptation from children.
"Protecting children from smoking is a government priority and taking away temptation is one way to do this," she said.
"If banning brightly coloured packets, removing cigarettes from display and removing the cheap option of a pack of 10 helps save lives, then that is what we should do, but we want to hear everyone's views first."
1977 Marlboro Lights Horses Ad
