I was shocked to learn about FSC cigarettes two nights ago, completely by accident (clicking on a random YouTube video about it from the list of recommended videos on the right while looking at vaping reviews). I had never heard anything on the news or otherwise about the government's plan to mess with cigarettes like this either before or after it went into effect.
Let me start by saying that my husband and I moved from TN to WI a few years ago. Since we were right on the border of WI & MN and WI has much higher taxes on cigarettes, we often went over to MN to buy them. We immediately noticed a difference that caused us to start calling the cigs from MN "out cigarettes" because they'd just go out on us all the time so we were constantly re-lighting them. After awhile, WI cigarettes were the same so the nickname didn't come up so often & we forgot about (got used to) the phenomenon. Other problems we noticed (but didn't connect) were that hot embers were frequently falling from our cigarettes & causing burns to our skin, clothing & furniture and that re-lighting the cigarettes caused them to flame up.
Healthwise, it's ironic that over the past couple of years (since FSC cigarettes, though again - not something we connected at first) both my husband, myself and my mother - all the smokers in my family - have had much more frequent severe headaches, unexplainable chest pains, shortness of breath and dizziness. I figured we were all just getting to the point that our smoking habits were catching up with us. Mom has actually been diagnosed with COPD but it's gotten really bad over the past two years with multiple ER visits and I even went to the ER for these issues a few months ago (was told my lungs & heart were fine according to the tests, so it must be heartburn - but I know it isn't because I've had GERD for many years & this feels nothing like it).
Turns out the govmt started requiring cigarette manufacturers to make their cigarettes "fire safe" starting a few years ago. 43 states have already enacted these laws & all 50 will by 2012. To make FSC (fire safe cigarettes), tobacco companies are putting "speed bumps" or rings of chemicals along the length of the cigarette that cause them to go out if not inhaled within a minute or so. This is in an attempt to reduce house fires started by unattended cigarettes. Of course, it's also the cause of all the aforementioned problems (with hot ashes falling as the speed bump is reached making them fire causing cigarettes rather than fire safe cigarettes, IMO). I've heard the chemical used is similar to carpet glue and though I'm not so sure that's true, I do believe that whatever they're using is the cause for everything I've mentioned - both with the cigarettes themselves and the health problems that coincidentally started about the same time (and are apparently, very common complaints).
I recommend everybody who has smoked analogs within the past few years & experienced any of these problems to research the issue. Is the frequency of house fires caused by unattended cigarettes so high that making such a sweeping change that negatively affects the lives of millions of smokers (as well as anyone else who might be hurt when a driving smoker drops a hot ash in their lap) justified? Where is the evidence that any testing was done on these FSC cigs to ensure that they're safe? Probly none. They'll probably just say smokers know about all the health problems they cause but do it anyway, so why should they expect anything different. I'm not naive but until now, I basically saw the govmt as working more in ignorance of repercussions than of intentional harm to the public in pursuing their financial and political agendas. I guess they figure they won't have to pay so much healthcare cost in the long run if they just kill all the smokers off now. Of course, then where will they be without all the money from big tobacco & the taxes smokers pay (rumored to go up another $3.00 a pack across the US soon)?
I'm so glad I was introduced to vaping. I'm working on every other smoker that I know to encourage them to switch.
Let me start by saying that my husband and I moved from TN to WI a few years ago. Since we were right on the border of WI & MN and WI has much higher taxes on cigarettes, we often went over to MN to buy them. We immediately noticed a difference that caused us to start calling the cigs from MN "out cigarettes" because they'd just go out on us all the time so we were constantly re-lighting them. After awhile, WI cigarettes were the same so the nickname didn't come up so often & we forgot about (got used to) the phenomenon. Other problems we noticed (but didn't connect) were that hot embers were frequently falling from our cigarettes & causing burns to our skin, clothing & furniture and that re-lighting the cigarettes caused them to flame up.
Healthwise, it's ironic that over the past couple of years (since FSC cigarettes, though again - not something we connected at first) both my husband, myself and my mother - all the smokers in my family - have had much more frequent severe headaches, unexplainable chest pains, shortness of breath and dizziness. I figured we were all just getting to the point that our smoking habits were catching up with us. Mom has actually been diagnosed with COPD but it's gotten really bad over the past two years with multiple ER visits and I even went to the ER for these issues a few months ago (was told my lungs & heart were fine according to the tests, so it must be heartburn - but I know it isn't because I've had GERD for many years & this feels nothing like it).
Turns out the govmt started requiring cigarette manufacturers to make their cigarettes "fire safe" starting a few years ago. 43 states have already enacted these laws & all 50 will by 2012. To make FSC (fire safe cigarettes), tobacco companies are putting "speed bumps" or rings of chemicals along the length of the cigarette that cause them to go out if not inhaled within a minute or so. This is in an attempt to reduce house fires started by unattended cigarettes. Of course, it's also the cause of all the aforementioned problems (with hot ashes falling as the speed bump is reached making them fire causing cigarettes rather than fire safe cigarettes, IMO). I've heard the chemical used is similar to carpet glue and though I'm not so sure that's true, I do believe that whatever they're using is the cause for everything I've mentioned - both with the cigarettes themselves and the health problems that coincidentally started about the same time (and are apparently, very common complaints).
I recommend everybody who has smoked analogs within the past few years & experienced any of these problems to research the issue. Is the frequency of house fires caused by unattended cigarettes so high that making such a sweeping change that negatively affects the lives of millions of smokers (as well as anyone else who might be hurt when a driving smoker drops a hot ash in their lap) justified? Where is the evidence that any testing was done on these FSC cigs to ensure that they're safe? Probly none. They'll probably just say smokers know about all the health problems they cause but do it anyway, so why should they expect anything different. I'm not naive but until now, I basically saw the govmt as working more in ignorance of repercussions than of intentional harm to the public in pursuing their financial and political agendas. I guess they figure they won't have to pay so much healthcare cost in the long run if they just kill all the smokers off now. Of course, then where will they be without all the money from big tobacco & the taxes smokers pay (rumored to go up another $3.00 a pack across the US soon)?
I'm so glad I was introduced to vaping. I'm working on every other smoker that I know to encourage them to switch.
in the paper heh? Way to go to alienate 30% of the UK population 
