/PRNewswire/ -- To comply with legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products will be subject to new mailing regulations effective June 29, 2010. The law, Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act, Public Law No. 111-154, was signed into law March 31.
With only a few limited exceptions, the Postal Service will no longer be allowed to accept or transport packages containing cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products. The general mailability ban will extend to cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco. The prohibition does not include cigars.
Shipments entirely within Alaska and Hawaii will continue, subject to certain labeling and acceptance requirements.
The law does permit infrequent lightweight shipments by age-verified adults to recipients who are at least the age of majority for purchase of tobacco. Shipments between businesses in the tobacco industry will also be permitted, as well as cigarettes sent to consumers age 21 and above for testing or public health purposes.
Most shipments will require photo identification and age verification consistent with the minimum age requirements in the locality of destination.
With the exception of shipments entirely within Alaska and Hawaii, shipments are permitted only via Express Mail and, with the exception of shipments from the United States to APO/FPO/DPO destinations, will be delivered using "hold for pickup" service at the destination Post Office.
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Showing posts with label tobacco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tobacco. Show all posts
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Monday, December 14, 2009
New Survey Shows Slow Decline in Youth Smoking, Troubling Increase in Smokeless Tobacco Use - Congress, States Must Step Up Tobacco Prevention Efforts
/PRNewswire/ -- Following is a statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:
The 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey released today by the National Institute of Drug Abuse shows that the nation continues to make gradual progress in reducing youth smoking, but declines have slowed significantly compared to the dramatic gains early in the decade. In especially troubling news, the survey also finds that smokeless tobacco use has increased among 10th and 12th graders in recent years, a period during which tobacco companies have introduced a slew of new smokeless tobacco products and significantly increased marketing for smokeless tobacco.
There is no question that we know how to dramatically reduce youth tobacco use. The use of proven strategies has caused smoking rates (the percentage who have smoked in the past 30 days) to decline by 69 percent among 8th graders, 57 percent among 10th graders and 45 percent among 12th graders since peaking in the mid-1990s. This is a remarkable public health success story. Before the recent increase, youth smokeless tobacco use also declined significantly from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. However, the much slower progress in recent years is a clear warning to elected officials at all levels that they must resist complacency and redouble efforts to implement proven measures - rather than cutting tobacco prevention programs, as 34 states did this year. It is unacceptable to stand still or risk backsliding in the fight against the nation's number one preventable cause of death. It is also unacceptable that one in five high school seniors still smoke (according to the survey, 20.1 percent of 12th graders, 13.1 percent of 10th graders and 6.5 percent of 8th graders reported past-month smoking in 2009).
In addition to the lack of further progress in reducing youth smoking, the increase in smokeless tobacco use among youth is very troubling. According to the survey, there have been significant increases in smokeless tobacco use among both 10th and 12th graders in recent years. The percentage of 12th graders reporting past-month smokeless tobacco use increased from 6.1 percent in 2006 to 8.4 percent in 2009 (a 38 percent increase), while the percentage of 10th graders reporting smokeless tobacco use increased from 4.9 percent in 2004 to 6.5 percent in 2009 (a 33 percent increase).
This increase coincides with the introduction of numerous new smokeless tobacco products and a big increase in smokeless tobacco marketing. In recent years, the top two U.S. cigarette manufacturers, Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, have entered the smokeless tobacco market both by purchasing existing smokeless tobacco companies and introducing new smokeless tobacco products. These new products have included Marlboro snus and Camel snus that married the names of these companies' best-selling and most youth-popular cigarette brands to spitless, pouched smokeless tobacco products called snus. In 2008, R.J. Reynolds began test-marketing new dissolvable smokeless tobacco products called Camel Sticks, Strips and Orbs that look like gum and candy and come in "fresh" and "mellow" flavors. These new products no doubt appeal to kids because they are easy to conceal, carry the names of youth-popular cigarette brands and come in candy-like forms and flavors. In addition, more traditional smokeless tobacco products continue to be marketed in a wide variety of kid-friendly candy and fruit flavors.
There has also been a big increase in smokeless tobacco marketing. According to the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission, smokeless tobacco marketing expenditures totaled $354.1 million in 2006, an increase of 53 percent since 2004 and 143 percent since 1998. Smokeless tobacco marketing rose even as cigarette marketing fell slightly from 2003 to 2006. While most cigarette brands have stopped advertising in magazines with large youth readerships such as Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone, many smokeless tobacco brands continue to advertise in these publications, most notably R.J. Reynolds' Camel snus. Also, more than 60 percent of smokeless marketing is spent on price discounts (including coupons) that make smokeless tobacco products more affordable and appealing to price-sensitive youth customers.
The Monitoring the Future survey also found a decrease in recent years in the percentage of 10th and 12th graders who perceive regular smokeless tobacco use as a great risk to health. This decline in risk perception comes as some smokeless tobacco companies have sought to portray their products as a less hazardous alternative to cigarettes. Rather than reducing the harm caused by tobacco use, today's survey indicates that the main consequence of current smokeless tobacco products and marketing is to increase the number of youth who use smokeless tobacco. That is bad news for health because smokeless tobacco is far from harmless. Smokeless tobacco, as traditionally sold in the U.S., has been found to increase risk of oral cancer, gum disease and cardiovascular disease. Constant exposure to tobacco juice has also been linked to cancer of the esophagus, pharynx, larynx, stomach and pancreas.
The Monitoring the Future survey underscores the need for elected officials at all levels to step up the fight against all forms of tobacco use. Congress and President Obama have taken major strides this year by approving a 62-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax and enacting the new law granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products and marketing. The survey results do not reflect the full impact of the cigarette tax increase, which took effect April 1, in the middle of the survey period. There is evidence that the cigarette tax increase has had a significant impact. Manufacturers reported a 10 percent decline in cigarette sales in the third quarter of this year. The new FDA law took effect June 22 and will be implemented over several years.
There are many additional steps Congress and the states must take:
-- The pending health care reform legislation presents Congress with an
immediate opportunity for action. It is vital that health care reform
include robust funding for community-based disease prevention
initiatives, including tobacco prevention and cessation. Congress
should also require coverage for smoking cessation therapies in
Medicaid and other health insurance programs.
-- States must invigorate their efforts to implement three proven
strategies: higher tobacco taxes, smoke-free workplace laws and
well-funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Unfortunately,
as a report released last week by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
and our partners showed, the states have cut funding for tobacco
prevention programs by 15.4 percent this year and are spending barely
two percent of their $25.1 billion in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco
use. Instead, states should hike tobacco taxes to help fill budget
gaps and use some of the revenue to fund tobacco prevention programs.
As the new survey underscores, states should increase tax rates on
smokeless and other tobacco products to match those on cigarettes so
that differential rates do not encourage kids to use cheaper-priced
tobacco products.
Tobacco use causes more than 400,000 preventable deaths and costs the nation nearly $200 billion in health expenditures and lost productivity each year. We know what works to reduce tobacco use among both youths and adults. What's needed is the political will to implement these solutions as aggressively as the tobacco industry promotes its deadly products.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
The 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey released today by the National Institute of Drug Abuse shows that the nation continues to make gradual progress in reducing youth smoking, but declines have slowed significantly compared to the dramatic gains early in the decade. In especially troubling news, the survey also finds that smokeless tobacco use has increased among 10th and 12th graders in recent years, a period during which tobacco companies have introduced a slew of new smokeless tobacco products and significantly increased marketing for smokeless tobacco.
There is no question that we know how to dramatically reduce youth tobacco use. The use of proven strategies has caused smoking rates (the percentage who have smoked in the past 30 days) to decline by 69 percent among 8th graders, 57 percent among 10th graders and 45 percent among 12th graders since peaking in the mid-1990s. This is a remarkable public health success story. Before the recent increase, youth smokeless tobacco use also declined significantly from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. However, the much slower progress in recent years is a clear warning to elected officials at all levels that they must resist complacency and redouble efforts to implement proven measures - rather than cutting tobacco prevention programs, as 34 states did this year. It is unacceptable to stand still or risk backsliding in the fight against the nation's number one preventable cause of death. It is also unacceptable that one in five high school seniors still smoke (according to the survey, 20.1 percent of 12th graders, 13.1 percent of 10th graders and 6.5 percent of 8th graders reported past-month smoking in 2009).
In addition to the lack of further progress in reducing youth smoking, the increase in smokeless tobacco use among youth is very troubling. According to the survey, there have been significant increases in smokeless tobacco use among both 10th and 12th graders in recent years. The percentage of 12th graders reporting past-month smokeless tobacco use increased from 6.1 percent in 2006 to 8.4 percent in 2009 (a 38 percent increase), while the percentage of 10th graders reporting smokeless tobacco use increased from 4.9 percent in 2004 to 6.5 percent in 2009 (a 33 percent increase).
This increase coincides with the introduction of numerous new smokeless tobacco products and a big increase in smokeless tobacco marketing. In recent years, the top two U.S. cigarette manufacturers, Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, have entered the smokeless tobacco market both by purchasing existing smokeless tobacco companies and introducing new smokeless tobacco products. These new products have included Marlboro snus and Camel snus that married the names of these companies' best-selling and most youth-popular cigarette brands to spitless, pouched smokeless tobacco products called snus. In 2008, R.J. Reynolds began test-marketing new dissolvable smokeless tobacco products called Camel Sticks, Strips and Orbs that look like gum and candy and come in "fresh" and "mellow" flavors. These new products no doubt appeal to kids because they are easy to conceal, carry the names of youth-popular cigarette brands and come in candy-like forms and flavors. In addition, more traditional smokeless tobacco products continue to be marketed in a wide variety of kid-friendly candy and fruit flavors.
There has also been a big increase in smokeless tobacco marketing. According to the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission, smokeless tobacco marketing expenditures totaled $354.1 million in 2006, an increase of 53 percent since 2004 and 143 percent since 1998. Smokeless tobacco marketing rose even as cigarette marketing fell slightly from 2003 to 2006. While most cigarette brands have stopped advertising in magazines with large youth readerships such as Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone, many smokeless tobacco brands continue to advertise in these publications, most notably R.J. Reynolds' Camel snus. Also, more than 60 percent of smokeless marketing is spent on price discounts (including coupons) that make smokeless tobacco products more affordable and appealing to price-sensitive youth customers.
The Monitoring the Future survey also found a decrease in recent years in the percentage of 10th and 12th graders who perceive regular smokeless tobacco use as a great risk to health. This decline in risk perception comes as some smokeless tobacco companies have sought to portray their products as a less hazardous alternative to cigarettes. Rather than reducing the harm caused by tobacco use, today's survey indicates that the main consequence of current smokeless tobacco products and marketing is to increase the number of youth who use smokeless tobacco. That is bad news for health because smokeless tobacco is far from harmless. Smokeless tobacco, as traditionally sold in the U.S., has been found to increase risk of oral cancer, gum disease and cardiovascular disease. Constant exposure to tobacco juice has also been linked to cancer of the esophagus, pharynx, larynx, stomach and pancreas.
The Monitoring the Future survey underscores the need for elected officials at all levels to step up the fight against all forms of tobacco use. Congress and President Obama have taken major strides this year by approving a 62-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax and enacting the new law granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products and marketing. The survey results do not reflect the full impact of the cigarette tax increase, which took effect April 1, in the middle of the survey period. There is evidence that the cigarette tax increase has had a significant impact. Manufacturers reported a 10 percent decline in cigarette sales in the third quarter of this year. The new FDA law took effect June 22 and will be implemented over several years.
There are many additional steps Congress and the states must take:
-- The pending health care reform legislation presents Congress with an
immediate opportunity for action. It is vital that health care reform
include robust funding for community-based disease prevention
initiatives, including tobacco prevention and cessation. Congress
should also require coverage for smoking cessation therapies in
Medicaid and other health insurance programs.
-- States must invigorate their efforts to implement three proven
strategies: higher tobacco taxes, smoke-free workplace laws and
well-funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Unfortunately,
as a report released last week by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
and our partners showed, the states have cut funding for tobacco
prevention programs by 15.4 percent this year and are spending barely
two percent of their $25.1 billion in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco
use. Instead, states should hike tobacco taxes to help fill budget
gaps and use some of the revenue to fund tobacco prevention programs.
As the new survey underscores, states should increase tax rates on
smokeless and other tobacco products to match those on cigarettes so
that differential rates do not encourage kids to use cheaper-priced
tobacco products.
Tobacco use causes more than 400,000 preventable deaths and costs the nation nearly $200 billion in health expenditures and lost productivity each year. We know what works to reduce tobacco use among both youths and adults. What's needed is the political will to implement these solutions as aggressively as the tobacco industry promotes its deadly products.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Candy and Fruit Flavored Cigarettes Now Illegal in United States; Step is First Under New Tobacco Law
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today a ban on cigarettes with flavors characterizing fruit, candy, or clove. The ban, authorized by the new Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, is part of a national effort by the FDA to reduce smoking in America. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in America.
The FDA's ban on candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes, effective today, highlights the importance of reducing the number of children who start to smoke, and who become addicted to dangerous tobacco products. The FDA is also examining options for regulating both menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes.
"Almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers. These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers," said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. "The FDA will utilize regulatory authority to reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco products to enhance our Nation's public health."
Flavors make cigarettes and other tobacco products more appealing to youth. Studies have shown that 17 year old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25.1
"Flavored cigarettes attract and allure kids into lifetime addiction," said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H. "FDA's ban on these cigarettes will break that cycle for the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily."
The FDA is taking several steps to enforce the ban. A letter recently sent to the tobacco industry provided information about the law, and explained that any company who continues to make, ship or sell such products may be subject to FDA enforcement actions.
The FDA has also made available today an advisory to parents on the risks associated with flavored tobacco products.
"Youth are twice as likely to report seeing advertising for these flavored products as adults are," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a pediatrician and the FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner. "Marketing campaigns for products with sweet candy and fruit flavors can mislead young people into thinking that these products are less addictive and less harmful."
The FDA encourages consumers to report continuing sales of flavored cigarettes through a special tobacco hotline (1-877-CTP-1373) and Web site (www.fda.gov/flavoredtobacco).
Parents and consumers can learn more about the risks of flavored tobacco products at www.fda.gov/ .
Footnote:
1 Klein SM, Giovino GA, Barker DC, Tworek C, Cummings KM, O'Connor RJ. Use of flavored cigarettes among older adolescent and adult smokers: United States, 2004-2005. Nicotine Tob Res. 2008;10(7):1209-14.
-----
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The FDA's ban on candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes, effective today, highlights the importance of reducing the number of children who start to smoke, and who become addicted to dangerous tobacco products. The FDA is also examining options for regulating both menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes.
"Almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers. These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers," said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. "The FDA will utilize regulatory authority to reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco products to enhance our Nation's public health."
Flavors make cigarettes and other tobacco products more appealing to youth. Studies have shown that 17 year old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25.1
"Flavored cigarettes attract and allure kids into lifetime addiction," said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H. "FDA's ban on these cigarettes will break that cycle for the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily."
The FDA is taking several steps to enforce the ban. A letter recently sent to the tobacco industry provided information about the law, and explained that any company who continues to make, ship or sell such products may be subject to FDA enforcement actions.
The FDA has also made available today an advisory to parents on the risks associated with flavored tobacco products.
"Youth are twice as likely to report seeing advertising for these flavored products as adults are," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a pediatrician and the FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner. "Marketing campaigns for products with sweet candy and fruit flavors can mislead young people into thinking that these products are less addictive and less harmful."
The FDA encourages consumers to report continuing sales of flavored cigarettes through a special tobacco hotline (1-877-CTP-1373) and Web site (www.fda.gov/flavoredtobacco).
Parents and consumers can learn more about the risks of flavored tobacco products at www.fda.gov/ .
Footnote:
1 Klein SM, Giovino GA, Barker DC, Tworek C, Cummings KM, O'Connor RJ. Use of flavored cigarettes among older adolescent and adult smokers: United States, 2004-2005. Nicotine Tob Res. 2008;10(7):1209-14.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia
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