22
TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
TMA Reports ...
TMA REPORT
By FARRELL DELMAN
Farrell Delman,
President, TMA
…
Clarence, New York-based 22nd Century Group,
developer of “technology for tobacco harm reduction
and smoking cessation products,” announced on July
31
that the company has delivered to the National Insti-
tute on Drug Abuse an additional 2.7 million Spectrum
research cigarettes. Spectrum cigarettes are made from
genetically modified tobacco plants
and feature 24
styles that contain a fixed tar yield, but eight different
levels of nicotine, taking the total number delivered thus
far to around 12 million pieces.
…
Reynolds American
is introducing in limited “lead
markets” an e-cigarette called Vuse and new smokeless
pouches and pellets under the Viceroy brand name, ac-
cording to Pat Shehan, owner of the Tarheel Tobacco re-
tail chain. RAI spokesman David Howard said the com-
pany “is not in a position to comment on specific brand
names or retail locations at this time as things are still a
work in progress.”
…
Bill Godshall of Smokefree Pennsylvania said
the American Legacy Foundation’s recent survey on
e-
cigarettes
contains “lots of false and misleading anti
e-cigarette propaganda,” such as describing e-cigs as
“
drug-delivery devices” although they have been le-
gally classified as tobacco products, contending that
they “are used to avoid smoke-free indoor air laws;”
and claiming that dual use of e-cigs and cigarettes is
more harmful than exclusive cigarette use. Prof. Mi-
chael Siegel of Boston University’s School of Public
Health questioned why the ALF, which, he noted, ac-
cepted funding from Pfizer in 2009 and again in 2011,
does not disclose this conflict of interest on its web
page where it recommends that the FDA “prohibit the
marketing and sale of e-cigarettes unless and until
the FDA is satisfied that they are safe and
effective.”
…
Commenting on the recent assertion by Dr. El-
len Hahn of the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy
that the e-cigarette “is not really a quit aid” and there is
no scientific evidence to support the device, Dr. Gilbert
Ross of the
American Council on Science and Health
said Dr. Hahn is “being disingenuous at best and bla-
tantly false at worst” given the “millions of testimonies
from current users who praise the benefits and efficacy
of e-cigarettes.”
…
The South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Fi-
nance on July 31 announced a proposal to amend the
Tobacco Business Act
to
redefine cigarettes
as prod-
ucts made entirely or partly of leaf tobacco intended to
be “smoked, sucked, chewed, snuffed or inhaled,” in a
move aimed at subjecting e-cigarettes to the same regu-
lations as conventional cigarettes.
…
Swisher International said it will introduce in Au-
gust 2012 the
e-Swisher electronic cigarette
,
available
in “Natural Smooth” and “Cool Menthol” flavors, and the
e-Swisher electronic cigar, in “a unique Swisher Sweets
taste.”
…
Star Scientific announced on July 10 that its Rock
Creek Pharmaceuticals subsidiary received from the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office a Notice of Allowance for
Star’s patent application titled “Nutritional Product Con-
taining Anatabine and Yerba Mate,” concerning products
that assist in
tobacco use reduction
and weight loss.
On HARM REDUCTION …
