Rep. Pallone and NJ Health Advocates: New Generation of Tobacco Products Threatens Efforts To Reduce Tobacco Use in New Jersey

EDISON, NEW JERSEY – Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) spoke to students at James Monroe Elementary School today and explained how an insidious new generation of tobacco products is threatening efforts to reduce tobacco use in the United States.  At the event, Pallone and public health organizations issued a new report about how tobacco manufacturers take advantage of the lack of government regulation to design and market products that recruit new youth users, create and sustain addiction to nicotine, and discourage current kids from quitting. Responding to declining smoking rates, tobacco manufacturers are finding novel ways to entice new users, especially children, and discourage current users from quitting.  Representative Pallone and New Jersey public health advocates described to the students how the tobacco companies manipulate them into trying cigarettes and keep them hooked with powerful additives that increase nicotine absorption.  Legislation that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products and their marketing passed the House Health Subcommittee on March 11.  As chairman of the subcommittee, Representative Pallone was applauded for his leadership in ensuring its passage.  The House Energy and Commerce committee is tentatively scheduled to consider the bill on April 2. "The tobacco industry aims to draw children into a lifetime of addiction by using imagery that appeals to youth on their billboards and print ads, by handing out free tobacco themed merchandise and by sponsoring sporting and entertainment events," Pallone said. "Everyday approximately 4,000 kids try a cigarette for the first time and since the beginning of this year nearly 100,000 children have become tobacco addicts. We have an opportunity to save countless lives with this legislation and I am hopeful that we will succeed in the fight to keep our kids tobacco-free." In New Jersey, tobacco use causes $3.17 billion in health care bills each year and kills 11,300 residents; 15.8 percent of New Jersey high school students currently smoke. The report details key trends including: ·         Flavored products: Cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars have been introduced in an array of candy and fruit flavors. R.J. Reynolds’ Camel cigarettes, for example, have come in more than a dozen flavors, including lime, coconut and pineapple, toffee, and mint.  Flavorings mask the harshness of the products and make them more appealing to new users, especially children.·         Novel smokeless products: New and more novel smokeless tobacco products have been marketed as ways to help smokers sustain their addiction in the growing number of places where they cannot smoke.  In addition to traditional chewing and spit tobacco, smokeless tobacco now comes in teabag-like pouches and even in dissolvable, candy-like tablets.·         Targeted products and marketing: New products and marketing have been aimed at women, girls and other populations. The most recent example is R.J. Reynolds’ Camel No. 9 cigarettes, a pink-hued version that one newspaper dubbed “Barbie Camel” because of marketing that appealed to girls.·         Unproven health claims: A growing list of products have been marketed with unproven and misleading claims that they are less harmful than traditional cigarettes.  Claims have included “All of the taste… Less of the toxin” (Brown & Williamson’s Advance cigarettes) and “Reduced carcinogens. Premium taste” (Vector Tobacco’s Omni Cigarettes).·         Undisclosed Product Designs: The report also illustrates how tobacco manufacturers control nicotine delivery to maximize addiction while using flavorings and other additives to make their products taste milder, easier to inhale and more attractive to children and first time smokers.  A few aspects of product design not disclosed to consumers include the use of : 

• Ammonia to increase the speed and efficiency of nicotine absorption.
• Eugenol and Menthol to numb the throat to minimize irritation from smoke.
• Glycerin and Cocoa to enable deep lung exposure (Cocoa produces carcinogens when burned)
• Sugars and Chocolate to make smoke milder and make cigarettes more appealing, especially to children and first time smokers.
• Filter Technology and Ventilation Holes that allows deep penetration of nicotine into the lungs of the smoker and increase the addictiveness of the product.

 The report makes it clear that tobacco products are highly engineered nicotine delivery devices finely tuned to appeal to the taste, feel, smell and other sensations of new and addicted smokers. “Joe Camel might be a scheme of the past, but the tobacco industry continues to find ways to target children through product design and advertising,” said William V. Corr, Executive Director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.  “It is time to stop our kids from being treated as guinea pigs and start holding tobacco manufacturers accountable.  We thank Representative Pallone for his leadership on this life-saving legislation and for standing with New Jersey’s kids.” Bipartisan legislation pending before Congress (S. 625/H.R. 1108) would give the FDA authority to:·         Restrict tobacco advertising and promotions, especially to children.·         Ban candy-flavored cigarettes.·         Require tobacco companies to disclose the contents of tobacco products, changes to their products and research about the health effects of their products.·         Require changes in tobacco products, such as the removal or reduction of harmful ingredients.·         Prohibit health claims about so-called “reduced risk” products that are not scientifically proven or that would discourage current tobacco users from quitting or encourage new users to start.·         Require larger, more effective health warnings on tobacco products.·         Prohibit terms such as “low-tar,” “light” and “mild” that have mislead consumers into believing that certain cigarettes are safer than others. The Senate bill, sponsored by U.S. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and John Cornyn (R-TX), has 56 co-sponsors, while the House bill, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Tom Davis (R-VA), has 218 co-sponsors.   The report can be found at: www.tobaccofreekids.org/productsreport 

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