FDA, in first tobacco action, bans flavors

[demoleft]

Source: reuters/yahoo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration took its first steps to rein in the tobacco industry on Tuesday, implementing a ban on candy, clove and other flavored cigarettes.

The move, required by a law passed earlier this year giving the FDA greater power over tobacco products, aims to help prevent children and teenagers from smoking.

"Candy and fruit flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular tobacco users," Dr. Lawrence Deyton, head of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, told reporters in a conference call.

In June, President Barack Obama signed legislation allowing the FDA to oversee the manufacturing and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products, including regulating ingredients and limiting advertising. The agency must also approve any new tobacco products.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090922/ts_nm/us_tobacco_fd...

[onehandle]

1. Good. Now label it a drug. nt

[Zoeisright]

2. +1

[lysosome]

3. I'm old enough to remember when the tobacco exes testified under oath that ...

tobacco wasn't addictive and didn't cause cancer. Ahh, the good old days. None of the exes were later prosecuted because they had the good form to die from use of their products. They smoked - a lot! They killed thousands a year, but gotta hand it to them for caring for their product.

[jmowreader]

4. Forget the "many will be reluctant" line

Millions of children and teens started smoking every year BEFORE they had candy-flavored cigarettes, and they'll start smoking after they're banned. If the coolest kids in school all smoke, the cigarettes could be Cat Shit flavored--as opposed to the regular shit that cigarettes taste like anyway--and children would smoke them.

[frylock]

11. exactly

[TheCoxwain]

5. what is point of banning flavors - when they are not responsible for the ills.

How about banning nicotine instead.

[WriteDown]

6. Man... I used to love clove cigarettes on occassion...

Figures.

[harmonicon]

7. how stupid

I used to smoke cloves a bit, and still do sometimes, but now I won't ever be able to when I'm in the US - way to go, assholes.

[sam sarrha]

8. it is because candying tobacco is targeting Children to start smoking.

Tobacco kills at least 1200 people a day,

1080 of them were addicted as addicted as children,

540 of those were addicted when they were 12 yrs old or younger,

the industry must addict children to replace the 1/2 of their customers they kill with their product. why children.. because their brains are not developed enough to make adequate evaluations of the consequences of their actions. by the time someone is 18-up their money is already allocated to getting, basically car/rent/food/sex

Tobacco stays a legal product, tho it is a heinous murderous product many times more addictive than Heroin, thru institutional child abuse and campaign contribution bribes to politicians.

[WriteDown]

9. Hmm....We'll do an experiment...

We'll have to find someone who has not done any drugs or smoked in their lives. Then we'll have them smoke a cigarette and have them shoot up with heroin to see which is more addictive. I'm betting on heroin.

[sam sarrha]

12. it isnt that simple.. there are neurological differences in each drugs addiction, >>Links

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/29/magazine/nicotine-har...
"snip...Interdisciplinary research in pharmacology, psychology, physiology and neurobiology is just beginning to shed light on the incredible hold that tobacco has on people. Scientists have found, for instance, that nicotine is as addictive as heroin, cocaine or amphetamines, and for most people more addictive than alcohol. Its hooks go deep, involving complex physiological and psychological mechanisms that drive and maintain smoking behavior ..snip"


http://quitclinic.tripod.com/quit1/id38.html
Why is smoking bad for my health? The answer is simple. Cigarette smoke contains over 4000 chemicals, and more than 50 of these chemicals cause cancer. These chemicals also cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, tooth loss and gum disease, gastrointestinal problems and several other preventable health problems. The chances that a smoker will die prematurely from smoking is 50%. Smokers also shorten their life by an average of 22 years. Smokers also compromise their health if they are taking prescription drugs while smoking. The effects of drugs may be altered or rendered ineffective by smoking. For instance, women who smoke while on the birth control pill have a risk of a heart attack that is ten times higher than those who don't smoke. Why is it very difficult to quit smoking? There are five reasons why it is very hard to quit smoking. Nicotine dependence - Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs in the world today. Research shows that nicotine is more addictive than heroine or cocaine.

[WriteDown]

16. Why won't the simple test work?

I'm sure they could tell us after the experiment which one they wanted more?

[sam sarrha]

23. Heroin is a Physical dependency, Nicotine goes way way deeper than that, cant compare the 2. Link>>

the way you are.. i don't think you want to understand.

[WriteDown]

29. I've known heroin addicts, crack addicts, and cocaine addicts...

I've never met a smoker who would rob his own girlfriend for his next pack of cigarettes. I've got to say that next they need to outlaw coffee and soda. Terribly addictive. I'm down to 3 cups a day luckily.

[rayofreason]

33. I am not sure that...

...you understand the nature of drug addition given your statement.

"Heroin is a Physical dependency, Nicotine goes way way deeper than that.."

Drug additions result in morphological changes to neural pathways. This is true for nicotine as well as opiates.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-th...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_addiction

[sam sarrha]

37. your examples are generic.... in general addiction i am talking about a specific difference.. you

arent even on the same page.. i took a collage class in multiple addictions by Dr David Smith, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_E._Smith .. do you read the links.??

[WriteDown]

39. You took a college class?!?!?!?

Oh my goodness. We had no idea.

[rayofreason]

42. "collage class"???

I assume that you were not pasting ideas together.

I did read the links. As I stated in my previous post, one was a newspaper article from 1987, and there has been a huge explosion in neuroscience and cognitive science research in the past 20 years. So of course I don't trust anything that old. And I certainly don't cite cognitive science research that old. The second was promotional material from a company that sells you their treatment. A dubious source of information without independent corroboration.

If you would like less generic material on addiction, here is a nice article

http://dionysus.psych.wisc.edu/Lit/Articles/EverittB200...

note on the first page the section that begins-

"Many drugs of abuse, including amphetamine, cocaine, heroin, nicotine, cannabis and alcohol, while having very different primary molecular targets, all have the common action of increasing dopamine (DA) transmission in the nucleus accumbens (NAcb), perhaps especially in its shell subregion <5,22,77,112>. This commonality of action has led to the widely held view that the mesolimbic DA system has a general role in the reinforcing effects of drugs."

It goes on to say that neuroadaptations (that is to say neurophysiological changes in response to the chemical stimulation of the addicting substance) are at the heart of addictive behavior. Thai is what I was trying to communicate. Your statement about nicotine being "way way deeper" than "physical dependency" does not make sense given that addiction is a physical dependency rooted in neuroplasticity.

[rayofreason]

41. moved to proper place n/t

[rayofreason]

32. Hmmm....

A newspaper article from 1987 (forefront science!) and a webpage from a group that you pay to quit smoking!

Not the best support for a scientific argument about nicotine addiction relative to other drugs.

[sam sarrha]

38. they are reprinting research found elsewhere, it was in a more understandable and concise form,

just because they are a professional service service people in need doesn't mean they are fabricating data... my computer has been hijacked by MSN, they are worthless for finding any specific detailed info.. you are obviously not interested in the subject, just argument. i was a research biologist most of my life.. i have experienced multiple addictions for 1/3 my 61 years.. i also have a lot of personal experience.. i am thru wasting my time here, you are on your own

[rayofreason]

51. Hmmm....

...multiple addictions, 61 years - that explains a lot.

You say you were a "research biologist" for most of those 61 years...so you took your "collage class" some 30-40 years ago. No wonder you used a 1987 news article as "evidence" for your claims about the nature of nicotine addiction. Some "research biologist"! I might expect a lab tech to make such an argument, to appeal to an undergrad(!) class and ancient material, but no real scientist would be that silly. I am a scientist, and I do not suffer fools gladly who pontificate on scientific matters with little to back them up. And perhaps it was that puncturing of your balloon that made you get so nasty...

...or maybe it was the multiple addictions.

Don't worry. I don't take personal attacks seriously.

[pitohui]

14. really i'm betting on tobacco!!! everyone's had an opiate in their lives

you know everybody, well almost everyone has had an opiate at some point, for surgery or whatever, and if it was that addictive, we'd be in an even worse mess than we are, because we'd have the entire older population on a rampage to get their "fix"

i'm sorry for people who get addicted to heroin or other opiates but if they were all sterilized to remove the gene from society forever, then we wouldn't have any trouble repopulating the world because they are let's face it a very unlucky minority

tobacco? that's a horse of another color, there's something about it that is HIGHLY addictive to almost every living human being who smokes more than a few

i can't even imagine what an addiction to an opiate like heroin would feel like, all i want to do when i have to take an opiate is get off it as soon as possible so i can have a nice normal crap and not feel like vomiting...

tobacco, well not the first cigarette but very soon thereafter, it actually helps you focus and makes you crave it unfortunately

[WriteDown]

17. The fact that you don't differentiate between types of opiates...

and their dosages is worrisome.

[sam sarrha]

20. he is in Denial... it's a bitch

[sam sarrha]

18. X-junkies have told me that its physical, 3 bad days, a week with flu like symptoms, >Link>>

http://www.rimrock.org/resources/nicotine2.shtml nicotine cravings last to to 5 months.. only about 7% ever quit, those that do quit have usually smoked about 20 years

[laughingliberal]

43. Ah, but you would bet wrong

Nicotine is considered to have an addiction factor 100 times greater than heroin. I have the dubious distinction of becoming addicted to both around the same time. Heroin free with no problems for 37 years. Still smoking and have lost count of the number of failed attempts to quit. Not in favor of banning but I am not in favor of most prohibitions.

[rayofreason]

31. 1080+540=1620, which is > 1200.

Your post does not add up.

Care to clarify?

[sam sarrha]

40. 540 is 1/2 of 1080 the % addicted as children, half 12yrs old or younger,..1080 is 90% of 1200...

that die every day from tobacco.. that is a Conservative estimate.

[rayofreason]

44. Still makes no sense.

Numbers out of this air?

90% of what? Why?

Between this and your other posts on this subject, I suspect that these numbers are just another part of the collage.

There are about 6647 deaths in the US/day. 1/5 are smoking related? Maybe. I'll have to check and get back to you.

[sam sarrha]

45. According to the American Cancer Society, 90 percent of new smokers are children and teenagers>Link>

http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site1618/mainpageS1...

"snip...Diseases caused by smoking kill more than 437,900 people in the United States each year. Even with anti-smoking campaigns and medical disclaimers in place, many people continue to smoke or start smoking every year. According to the American Cancer Society, 90 percent of new smokers are children and teenagers, in many cases, replacing the smokers who quit or died prematurely from a smoking-related disease...snip"

Soooooo....437,900 dead smoker people, divide by 365 days, ='s... 1,199.726 dead people, round off.. 1,200 dead smokers, 90% were children when adducted, that's 1200 X 0.90=1080 of the daily dead smokers addicted as children, 1/2 of the 1080 were 12 yrs old or younger=540.. mean age of child addiction is 13 years old.. that means 1/2 were addicted at 12 years old or younger.. thus 540

what part of the Tobacco industry is dependant on targeting and addicting children to stay in business don't you understand.?
is that not PURE EVIL..??

[rayofreason]

46. Don't smoke, don't drink, eat right,...

die anyway.

Sorry, but I don't have a problem with people making their own choices, even bad ones. Alcohol damages many people year in year out (I've seen quite a number of drink-related deaths within my circle), but I still think prohibition was a bad idea. And I support the decriminalization of marijuana - which is smoked (mostly)!

[sam sarrha]

47. hey.. you proved i'm psychic.. i knew you'd make some dumbass comment, wake up...

[sam sarrha]

48. you really didn't have to turn this into a Freeper Piss Fight.. then you take your ball and go home

when you think you lose a conversation.. perhaps learning some social skills would help, meditation would be great for you, help you focus and dissociate all that fucking anger.

don't bother replying i don't really give a shit.. i just hope you work thru your problems, and get happy. deliberately pissing people off wont make you happy, it is too transitory.. people quit inviting you to party's. if you have a drinking problem, AA is a good first step. Google your city get a list...30 meetings in 30 days, meditation helped me quit drinking..no cravings..

you come across like you have a problem with alcohol. click on the blue link in my signature.

[backscatter712]

10. Coming to your store shelves... Candy-flavored cigars!

Cigars and other non-cigarette products are exempt from the flavoring ban.

There's always a loophole...

[name not needed]

24. They have those already.

Of course, I've never actually seen anybody smoke one as sold. Usually people just take the tobacco out and roll their weed up with it.

[OneAngryDemocrat]

13. Goth Chicks Everywhere are in Tears...

Goth Chicks Everywhere are in now in Tears...

...but, as a long-time smoker, I realize that tobacco IS a drug, and should be regulated as such.

[sam sarrha]

21. clove cigarettes can cause bleeding of the lungs, i ground up some cloves in the electric coffee

grinder and it melted the clear plastic top.. not just a little, it was deeply softened.. it left fingerprints mushed in the plastic.

[Psephos]

25. That's because the cloves got heated from the friction.

They contain no solvents capable of melting plastic.

[sam sarrha]

27. bullshit... they are soft, took 5 seconds, it wasnt hot.. they contain some serious solvents, it

frosted the acrylic plastic.. i let it set a little while cooking.. the smell of dissolved plastic was really strong

[Psephos]

28. The essential oil of cloves is sold in plastic bottles for dental use.

It has no ability to dissolve plastic, because clove oil (technically, its essential oil eugenol) is a polar molecule of the phenylpropanoid class, and plastics are nonpolar polymers. Polar solvents cannot dissolve nonpolar solutes. Nonpolar solvents cannot dissolve polar solutes.

Take away the eugenol and the rest of the clove is a fibrous woody body with as much solvent power as sawdust.

Eugenol is a derivative of the (polar) amino acid phenylalanine. If you look at a eugenol molecular diagram you can see the lone hydroxyl group (OH) hanging off in space that makes it polar, attached to a phenol ring, opposite the short hydrocarbon chain that gives it an oily quality. Other molecules in this group include cinnaminic acids, safroles, and resveratrol. This class of biochemicals has an exotic array of uses and functions, but like all molecules of this class, they are polar and are not in the least capable of dissolving plastic.

It's not likely that the laws of chemistry are locally different in your coffee bean grinder.

[WriteDown]

30. I'm impressed.

Not to mention that cloves are eaten regularly and stomach tissue isn't so amazingly different from lung tissue as to avoid the effects of "clove bleeding."

*edited to add thought.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. Not really...they exempted menthols

Which is hugely more popular than any other "flavor"

[FreedomTrain]

34. Well of course they couldn't ban menthols

That would be racist.

[Hekate]

19. Whatever happened to Joe Camel? His ad campaign is the one that roped in my kids...

Yes indeedy, Joe Camel and his products were aimed at 12-year-olds. My daughter is still hooked at age 33.

Personally, I would not ban tobacco--Prohibition never works very well. However, I'd like to ban all drug advertising, including tobacco ads. Put all packs of cigs in plain white wrappers with black print.

Just my personal fantasy.

Hekate

[sam sarrha]

22. i should be a Huge fine for smoking in front of minors,.. ,

[naaman fletcher]

26. F**K You FDA

I love to have a Djarum once a month or so. It's none of your business. That being said, this whole thing is silly. Either ban tobacco or don't.

[RidinMyDonkey]

35. When the kids at my school started smoking, it was all about menthols

I also used to sell a lot of cigarettes at my previous job. Almost nobody, adult or (18) teen bought those gross tasting fruity cigarettes.

No, mostly the 18-25 crowd snatched up the Kools and Newports, even though they're more expensive than any other brand, flavored or not.

As someone who has quit smoking at least five times, I'm all for tobacco regulation. However, I don't see this as being very effective at all.

Lets be honest, we need to do more to tackle the "Smoking is cool" image.

Also, I think there should be tougher laws for the high school seniors who buy packs of cigarettes for the sole purpose of selling them to younger classmates for a high profit.

[Poll_Blind]

36. I love that a couple people mentioned that menthols were exempt because the...

...irony there is huge. When I was a kid a fair number of the smokers (and oh lordy, especially the girls) started with.....(wait for it)....MENTHOLS.

Not grape fucking flavored cigarettes. Not clove cigarettes (that's for college, anyway!).

Nope, it was menthols.

PB

[RobinA]

49. Boy, Am I Lost

I've smoked since the mid-'70's, never even knew there was such a thing as flavored cigarettes. Wouldn't have been caught dead with one, even if I did know. Back in the day you were a weenie if you even smoked menthols. Started with Marlboro in a box, just like almost everybody else I knew.

[w4rma]

50. Big Tobacco likes this rule. They never really got into the flavored cigarette market. (nt)