Americans give electronic cigarettes mixed reviews

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Should electronic cigarettes be a new option for smokers trying to kick the habit? Reactions from Americans are mixed.
More than half of people questioned in a poll think electronic cigarettes should be regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but 47 percent believe the devices should be available to smokers who want to quit.
"In the hunt for a safer cigarette, electronic cigarettes, often referred to as ecigarettes, are becoming a popular option among those either trying to quit or who are looking to replace standard tobacco smoke with an alternative that manufacturers claim to be safer," Zogby International, which conducted the poll, said in a statement.
About half of the 4,611 adults who took part in the poll had heard about ecigarettes, which are battery-powered, or rechargeable devices that vaporize a liquid nicotine solution. They do not produce smoke but an odorless water vapor.
Sold mostly on the Internet, ecigarettes were first made in China. Last year the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against using electronic cigarettes, saying there was no evidence to prove they were safe or helped smokers break the habit.
The WHO said people who puff on ecigarettes inhale a fine mist of nicotine in the lungs.
Nearly a third of people questioned in the poll think that e-cigarettes, because they don't produce smoke, should be allowed in places where smoking is forbidden, but 46 percent disagreed.
Men who were aware of the availability of ecigarettes were more likely than women to say they should be an option available to smokers who want to quit.
Young people, aged 18-29, and singles were the groups most open to trying electronic cigarettes.
Tobacco is the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide, according to the WHO.

Luci E Cigarettes Now Part of the E Cigarettes National Elite Lineup

Not just any electronic cigarette line can grace the pages of E CigarettesNational’s website. The company prides itself on only offering what it considers the highest of quality e cigarette kits to the public and has added the Luci brand to its premier lineup.
They claim to offer only the top electronic cigarettes on the market based on several criteria that they claim makes the selection that the offer the best on the market. They look at companystability, quality of products and availability inside the U.S., among other important factors.
The company has now announced that the Luci Brand will now grace the pages of E Cigarettes National because of the attention to detail, product reliability, product quality, and sound financial history of the founders of the company.
“We can not just sell any products that may or may not work, and even further, we can not sell products that are not readily available to us so that we can provide top quality customer serviceand product replacements if there is an issue with one of the kits or products,” states Tiffany Ellis, Marketing Director of E Cigarettes National. “It would be devastating to our company if there were some problems and we could not get the replacement parts in a timely manner to support our clients. We make decisions on carrying products based on the best interest of our customers.”
The company claims that the reason for their success is the ability to talk to a human being 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for help with ordering or to start any customer service issue. Customer service problems are handled within 12 to 24 hours after receiving the contacts.
“Only satisfied customers will do for us and we go the extra mile to make sure that happens with all of them and we believe that Luci will stand the test of time in an ongoing relationship with E Cigarettes National and our great and loyal clients,” says Tiffany.

$100G in cigarettes with fake tax stamps seized in Linden; were headed to Hudson: cops

More than $100,000 worth of smokes and nearly $280,000 in cash was seized in a crackdown on a ring that forged the stamp on cigarette packs to avoid paying taxes, officials said.
Based on the scale of the enterprise, it is thought the state may have lost more than $1 million in tax revenue, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.
This type of operation "generates a tremendous profit for the defendants and, of course, is taking money from the citizens of New Jersey," said DeFazio, whose office conducted the investigation with the New Jersey departments of Homeland Security and Treasury. "This money would have gone into the treasury of the state and it is diverted instead to the pockets of these defendants."
Investigators believe the group regularly bought large quantities of untaxed cigarettes in other states at significantly lower prices than in New Jersey and transport them to a storage facility in Linden, DeFazio said.
They opened each carton and affixed a forged New Jersey or New York tax stamp to each pack before reloading the cartons and selling them at bargain prices to stores in Northern New Jersey and New York, DeFazio said.
During searches last week investigators also seized thousands of counterfeit tax stamps, DeFazio said, adding that a clothing iron was apparently used to affix the stamps to packs of cigarettes.
On Thursday investigators arrested Elizabeth residents Rajae Awad, 39; Anwar Ghani, 46; and Jamal Abbadi aka Jamal Alyazjeen, 40; as well as Ahmad Aldabesheh, 48, of Mohegan Lake, N.Y., DeFazio said.
They were charged with theft by deception, forgery and conspiracy and face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, DeFazio said
Those arrested are all natives of Jordan, DeFazio said, adding: "There is evidence that at least some of the money generated was forwarded to Jordan, but there is no reason to think it went to any sort of terrorist activity."
The Jordanian connection is the reason the NJ Department of Homeland Security joined the probe.
The investigation began months ago when officials got a tip that cigarettes with counterfeit tax stamps were being sold in Jersey City stores, DeFazio said. Surveillance in Jersey City led to the Linden storage facility, and to surveillance at other locations, DeFazio said.
Investigators believe a large portion of the cigarettes were purchased in North Carolina and detectives traveled there this weekend and recovered records at a storage facility believed to have been a staging site for the ring, DeFazio said. The prosecutor said vans were used to transport the cigarettes to New Jersey.

Tobacco laws to change in October

On June 22, President Barack Obama signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, or the FSPTCA. This law grants the FDA permission to control and regulate all tobacco products. According to the FDA’s Web site, the FDA plans to, by October, prohibit cigarettes from having “candy, fruit or spice flavors as their characterizing flavors.” The FDA is expected to set in more regulations as time passes. Such regulations may include:
By January 2010, tobacco manufacturers and importers are expected to have to submit product information to the FDA.y April 2010, the FDA plans to reissue a 1996 regulation aimed at reducing tobacco use among minors.
By July of 2010, it is expected that tobacco manufacturers will no longer be able to use the terms “light,” “low” or “mild” without a special order from the FDA. The FDA also plans to revise warning labels on smokeless tobacco products
By October 2012, the FDA plans to strengthen the warning labels on cigarette packs.
In St. Cloud, some businesses rely on the sale of flavored tobacco products.
The Smoke Shop, located on Division Street, is one such shop
The manager of the Smoke Shop, Alex Dodin, said that Djarum cigarettes and Dream cigarettes were going to be banned along with flavored cigarillos as of Sept. 22.
He said he was not sure what else would be taken off the market and said these news laws against flavored tobacco would strongly affect his business.
“What else are they going to smoke after this?” Didon added.Ezekial Butler, SCSU junior and CA for Stearns Hall, had some opinions on the proposed ban. He said that he occasionally enjoyed the Dream cigarettes and will stock up before the ban takes hold.
“They [The FDA] have a decent reason to ban flavored cigarettes, but it’s unfair to those who are of age that enjoy them,” Butler said. “Even though I plan on quitting, this new ban is not going to stop me from smoking.”The new laws that are planned to be put into affect are aimed at decreasing smoking among adolescents, but it may also have consequences for those who sell and those who enjoy smoking tobacco legally.

Men with knives raid city shop

Two men armed with knives have robbed a shop in west Belfast.
Police received a report at about 1800 BST on Saturday that the men had entered the premises on the Stewartstown Road and threatened staff.
The robbers took a quantity of cash and cigarettes before making off in a small black vehicle.
A female member of staff sustained bruising to her shoulder during the incident after being struck with the handle of one of the knives.

The Many Problems Associated With Smoking Cigarettes

What cigarettes can do and how bad the damages can become is very well known these days. All cigarettes have chemicals and toxins in them which are very bad for your health and sometimes even those around you. There are over 4,000 chemicals in every cigarette and you are putting them in your body every time you smoke one. Cigarettes are very addictive and they are hard to quit for a lot of people, some worse than others. It can cause problems with your body like the way it functions and eventually even the way you live because it can change the things you are able to do the longer you smoke.

Smoking can hurt you in many ways, like from cancer, damaged organs, and much more. Your body become weaker by the day and over time you will see it. Your will feel the damages start to take their toll and you can become very sick. You can have breathing trouble and it can get so bad that you could end up having to stay on oxygen just to survive. It can ruin your lungs by turning them black and it can make it hard and eventually impossible for them to work. Having to carry around an oxygen tank with you everywhere you go will not be a very pleasant way to spend your retirement years, if you even make it that long.

Smoking can make it hard to do many things if the lungs are damaged because an inadequate amount of oxygen is getting into your blood stream. It can cause your body to age making your feel not as strong and make you look older than your real age. It can cause wrinkles, dark lines under the eyes, and bags as well. Your teeth will start to turn unappealing colors because the cigarettes will stain them and can damage the gum. Even the skin on your fingers can turn yellow from tobacco smoke stain.

It can affect your mind by damaging your brain and the cells. It could cause you to not think clearly. This is not good for you, you do not want this to happen at all. You need to stop smoking before too much damages is done to your body and your mind. It may not do anything to you for a few years, but it will happen sooner or later. For a woman who is pregnant and smokes, it can cause problems for the child she is carrying, low birth weight is very common among other things.

Tobacco Rules Challenged in U.S. Free-Speech Lawsuit

Tobacco legislation signed by President Barack Obama in June violates the First Amendment protections for free speech, according to a lawsuit joined by Reynolds American Inc.’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
The legislation “imposes unprecedented restrictions” on companies by “limiting their ability to disseminate truthful information about tobacco products to adult consumers,” according to the lawsuit, filed today in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Reynolds, the second-largest U.S. cigarette maker, and third-biggest Lorillard Tobacco Co. sued after opposing the legislation that gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversight over tobacco products. The law goes beyond discouraging youth smoking and limits the use of colors and logos in most advertising and packaging so severely that the producers have “virtually no means” to communicate with adult tobacco users, the suit said.
Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA, which makes half of the cigarettes sold in the U.S., supported FDA regulation and endorsed the law. The Richmond, Virginia-based maker of Marlboro cigarettes hasn’t reviewed the litigation and had no immediate comment, said David Sylvia, an Altria spokesman.
The FDA doesn’t comment on pending litigation, Kathleen Quinn, an agency spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
The top half of cigarette packaging would carry a U.S. government “anti-tobacco message including shocking, color graphic images,” leaving manufacturers a small area at the bottom of the packages for marketing, according to the suit.
“The obvious purpose of this is to force plaintiffs to stigmatize their own products through their own packaging,” the suit said. Reynolds, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, makes Winston and Camel cigarettes.
Lorillard Tobacco, a unit of Greensboro, North Carolina- based Lorillard Inc., makes Newport menthol cigarettes. Other plaintiffs in the suit include cigarette maker Commonwealth Brands Inc. and Discount Tobacco City & Lottery Inc., a retailer.

Man gets 18 months over cigarettes

A 27-Year-old man of chief Kaingu’s chiefdom in Itezhi-tezhi district has been slapped with an 18 month jail sentence for failing to pay for 12 cigarettes that he obtained from a makeshift shop.

Before Namwala Magistrates Munalula Mubita was Prosper Munyumbwe who was charged with the offence of obtaining pecuniary advantage by false pretences, contrary to Cap 301 Section One of the Laws of Zambia.

Facts of the matter were that on August 11, 2009 the complainant, a Mr Moboola, sent his 11-year-old nephew to sell his cigarettes in a makeshift shop but when he went to check on him, the nephew told him that Munyumbwe had taken 12 sticks of consulate cigarettes on pretense that he had no change and that he would pay later.

The court also heard that Munyumbwe was later found stealing 12 packets of consulate cigarettes at the same make shift shop prompting the owner to apprehend and take him to police where he was arrested and detained.

Munyumbwe pleaded guilty.

Australia May Raise Tobacco Tax by A$2 Billion, Australian Says

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Australia may raise cigarette taxes by A$2 billion ($1.7 billion) if it adopts the recommendations of a panel of advisers, the Australian newspaper reported.

The National Preventative Health Taskforce recommended a price rise of 17.5 Australian cents a cigarette, raising the price of a packet to A$20, and an increase to alcohol pricing, the newspaper said, citing Taskforce Chairman Rob Moodie.

More than 800,000 people might be saved from early deaths if the strategy reduces smoking and drinking rates and obesity levels stabilize, the newspaper said.

How Smoking Cigarettes Can Change Your Looks

Have you looked in the mirror lately only to be surprised by the person looking back at you? You might wonder what happened to make you look so much older. You might be really surprised to find out that the cigarettes you smoke are making you not only feel older, they are making you look older too. These cigarettes put out that awful smoke and this settles on the skin of your body clogging up the pores that your skin gets its air supply through. It not only clogs up the pores on the outside, but on the inside as well.

This is why you might start losing your hair or your teeth at a early age. Your skin will start looking like the skin of a much older person. It will also become dry and rough to the touch and all of that flaking is your dead skin. On the inside of your body everything in there is starting to slow down or just quit doing its job. When this happens you will most likely end up in the hospital one day with some kind of smoking related illness or disease. The bad thing about this is that once the damage to your body is really bad, it usually does not much better even if you quit because some damages are irreversible.

When somethings stops working you can usually get it fixed or replace it with a new one, but that is not always so with parts of the human body. When these parts get sick and die ,you can not always have them replaced. You could have yourself or a member of your family put on a organ donor list, but it might be quite some time before one is found. Even if a matching donor is found, a body might not accept it and you will have to be placed back on the list if a transplant is a viable option and sometimes it is not. Some people never get one in time.

Try to imagine yourself older and what shape you could get in if you continue to smoke. Your body might be trying to tell you that you should stop smoking before it is too late. If you are a woman and find that you are having to use more make-up, then the damage has started. If you stop right then your body might be able to start cleaning itself up. You might be able to notice the changes in some of these things right away and then again you might not, but quitting smoking is always a better choice than continuing to do so.

3 million cigarettes seized in Carlow

Customs officers yesterday seized more than three million contraband cigarettes worth an estimated €1.2 million in Co Carlow.
The cigarettes arrived in Dublin from China on Friday in a 40-foot container supposedly carrying toys.
Customs officers, backed by members of the gardaí, kept the container under surveillance and when the cigarettes were being offloaded they moved in.
Three people from the Carlow area have been arrested in connection with the seizure and are being held at Carlow Garda station.