World No Tobacco Day ’06 Addresses Big Tobacco’s Latest Tools for Luring New Users

As communities across Louisiana and the nation continue to gain momentum in the fight for smoke-free laws, tobacco manufacturers are responding with a new smokeless product. The nation’s two largest tobacco manufacturers, Philip Morris and Reynolds American, recently announced the test marketing of smokeless products aimed at smokers who want to quit. Unlike spit or chewing tobacco, the new products, named Taboka and Camel Snus, are designed to be spitless, making it easy for users (especially children) to conceal its use. On World No Tobacco Day 2006, May 31st, Louisiana parents and children are urged to educate themselves about Big Tobaccos deceptive tools and tactics designed to get youth hooked.

Tobacco companies are desperate to find products with reduced health risks, says Dr. Charles Brown, Chairman of the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living (TFL) Steering Committee, however, smokeless tobacco only poses different health risks. Its not a safe or healthier alternative by any means. Brown adds, A smoker may lower their risk for lung cancer by using smokeless tobacco, but the risk of oral cancer, a cancer that is rarely caught in time, increases 11 fold.

New smokeless tobacco products join a growing roster of products marketed and disguised under benign names that tout candy and fruit flavors with an illusion of safety in an attempt to lure youth and attract occasional smokers to a better tasting product. Marketing efforts for candy and fruit flavored tobacco products such as Kauai Kolada, Twista Lime, Winter Mocha Mint and Mardi Gras Berry Blend, intensified after the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement prohibiting tobacco companies from using cartoon characters to sell cigarettes. In Louisiana alone, the tobacco industry spends an estimated $284.9 million on marketing its products to youth.
Today, tobacco products remain virtually unregulated while young smokers become daily smokers and face a lifetime of tobacco-related illnesses. As a result, more than 9,000 kids under the age of 18 become established daily smokers in Louisiana each year. Ultimately, more than 107,000 Louisiana children will die prematurely from smoking and smoking-related diseases.

Cigarettes, even in assorted candy or fruit flavors, cause disease and death, says Kesia Walker, New Orleans Area Regional Coordinator for TFL. Its critical for consumers, especially parents, to understand that the tobacco industry disguises its deadly products in many forms. From candy cigarettes and bubble gum chew that encourage kids to emulate adult tobacco use, to fancy flavors and targeted marketing that glamorize smoking, when it comes to Big Tobacco, apparently deadly tricks are for kids.