Page 26 - TOB Magazine March/April 2013

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TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
MARCH/APRIL 2013
sign that e-cigs are here to stay.
From the public health arena, Dr.
Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist who is a
medical news reporter for Fox News,
recently recommended electronic
cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool
for smokers who have failed to quit
using other methods.
In his blog (tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.
com) in February, Prof. Michael Siegel
of Boston University’s School of Public
Health praised Ablow’s column for
providing an “insightful, balanced and
evidence-based perspective on the
potential role of electronic cigarettes
in tobacco control, rather than the
kind of biased, ideologically narrow
and scientifically misguided missives
against electronic cigarettes that we are
seeing so much of from anti-smoking
advocates these days.”
Prof. Siegel added that he is
perplexed as to why anti-smoking
advocates do not encourage smokers
who were unsuccessful in quitting with
other “established” methods to give up
smoking with the help of e-cigs, which
have been “so successful for literally
tens of thousands of smokers across the
country.”
In a later blog, Siegel pointed out
that in addition to abundant anecdotal
evidence on e-cigs’ efficacy, a recent
clinical trial demonstrated that among
smokers who were not motivated
to quit, 54 percent were able to quit
completely or cut down consumption by
at least half with the help of e-cigarettes.
Joel Nitzkin of the American
Association of Public Health Physicians
recently went on record to say that
e-cigarettes are safer than traditional
cigarettes as they deliver nicotine “with
only the tiniest traces of other toxic
chemicals.”
MANUFACTURING UPDATE
From the manufacturing realm,
the industry evolves with good sales
growth, new product advancements and
even management changes that indicate
retail support of the category.
For example, Chris Colon, former
category manager at c-store retailer
The Pantry Inc., recently joined
e-cigarette company Logic Technology
Development LLC as national
director of key accounts, responsible
for establishing and managing new
accounts and overseeing current ones
with retailers across the U.S. His switch
from retailer to e-cigarette executive is
a positive sign for the industry, some
believe.
Impressive sales growth in the
category “has occurred as a result of the
millions of smokers who are actively
seeking an alternative to cigarettes,”
says Craig Weiss, CEO of e-cigarette
company NJOY, which recently started
running a TV commercial for its NJOY
King brand with the tagline,“Cigarettes,
you have met your match.”
ECO-CIGS is another manufacturer
that has seen sales growth recently—it
just had its largest month at press time
in January, according to Tony Vecchie,
senior vice president of sales and
distribution. The brand prides itself on
being both eco-friendly and economical
(hence its “ECO” name).
E-Cigs Co ntin ue to E-Volve