Tobacco Industry News

[englishmick]

Good news for Big tobacco.


$1 billion annual boost: Big Tobacco breathing easier

Excerpts:

“The expiration of the tobacco Transition Payment Program has bolstered the bottom line of Big tobacco after years of tax increases and declines in smoking,

The annual savings equal about 2.4% of the U.S. tobacco industry’s annual revenue — or about 9.9% of its profit — based on industry figures provided by research firm IBISWorld.”

…….

“Marty Barrington, CEO of Altria Group, hinted this year that the largest U.S. tobacco manufacturer would use the cash to bolster its online strategy and improve its position in the e-cigarette market, among other things.”

 

[zoiDman]

Here is a Somewhat Interesting article about Altria and e-Cigarettes.

Will E-Cigarettes Be The Next Big Thing For Altria? -- Trefis

 

[zoiDman]

BTW - Here is an Article about what the Tobacco Transition Payment Program was if you don't know.

Thousands of farmers stopped growing tobacco after deregulation payouts

 

[englishmick]

Here is a Somewhat Interesting article about Altria and e-Cigarettes.

Will E-Cigarettes Be The Next Big Thing For Altria? -- Trefis

It looked like maybe the industry sees e-cigs as an opportunity to replace their losses from declining rates of smoking, rather than just as a threat. And based on that they also see the coming regulations as a potential threat to their move into e-cigs.

I imagine part of their strategy would be use their power and influence to manipulate the regulations to give an advantage to their own e-cig products. In Indiana they were able to arrange a blanket exemption from the regulations for their cigalikes. I don't know if they would have the same degree of influence at the federal level.

 

[zoiDman]

It looked like maybe the industry sees e-cigs as an opportunity to replace their losses from declining rates of smoking, rather than just as a threat. And based on that they also see the coming regulations as a potential threat to their move into e-cigs.

I imagine part of their strategy would be use their power and influence to manipulate the regulations to give an advantage to their own e-cig products. In Indiana they were able to arrange a blanket exemption from the regulations for their cigalikes. I don't know if they would have the same degree of influence at the federal level.

I think this is how they have Always seen e-Cigarettes.

Or at least, since it was ruled that the FDA had the Power to Regulate e-Cigarettes/e-liquids as "Tobacco Products" if they were Deemed so.

 

[zoiDman]

...

I imagine part of their strategy would be use their power and influence to manipulate the regulations to give an advantage to their own e-cig products. ...

Ya think so?

 

[RobbyRocket]

I live and have grown up in KY which is tobacco central and I can tell you that cigarette smoking is definitely less than I've ever seen it, but it's still very prolific here. I myself was a chain smoker until I began vaping a few days ago. Most people, myself included until very recently, still have very little idea what ecigs even are, let alone mods & the vaping life. Many of my 20-something and 30-something friends still have no clue what vaping is. People still equate ecigs to Blu's and the cheap throwaway gas station ones, probably because those have gotten the TV commercials and publicity.

Publicity will be key to spreading the word about vaping, just like TV was for cigarettes. They aren't entirely similar, in that by the time TV got most people to smoke, cigarettes had already gone mainstream by big tobacco. Vaping is still very much an organic, grassroots activity, which I like. But for it to sustain, & spill-over to the masses, there'll have to be some type of consolidation and standards (not saying that's necessarily a good thing). Not sure how this will occur, will there just be various brands that advertise somewhat like cigarettes did in the 50s and 60s? In the social media age, it's a lot harder for the government and FDA to regulate vaping the way they did cigarettes in the 1980s and 90s. I'm very curious to see how things evolve.

Personally I support anything that gets more people to quit cigarettes and to vape, I see nothing wrong with that. If Big Tobacco is smart, they'll see the writing on the wall, that cigarettes are basically done for in people's consciousness, so they'll put all their resources and energy into pushing ecigs. However, this is very tenuous and dicey for vapers, because once Big Tobacco is allowed to co-opt vaping, then vaping itself would become the villain. We almost need cigarettes to stick around for as long as possible so vaping can be promoted as what it is, a clean, healthier way to enjoy smoking.

 

[CarolT]

I live and have grown up in KY which is tobacco central and I can tell you that cigarette smoking is definitely less than I've ever seen it, but it's still very prolific here. I myself was a chain smoker until I began vaping a few days ago. Most people, myself included until very recently, still have very little idea what ecigs even are, let alone mods & the vaping life. Many of my 20-something and 30-something friends still have no clue what vaping is. People still equate ecigs to Blu's and the cheap throwaway gas station ones, probably because those have gotten the TV commercials and publicity.

Publicity will be key to spreading the word about vaping, just like TV was for cigarettes. They aren't entirely similar, in that by the time TV got most people to smoke, cigarettes had already gone mainstream by big tobacco. Vaping is still very much an organic, grassroots activity, which I like. But for it to sustain, & spill-over to the masses, there'll have to be some type of consolidation and standards (not saying that's necessarily a good thing). Not sure how this will occur, will there just be various brands that advertise somewhat like cigarettes did in the 50s and 60s? In the social media age, it's a lot harder for the government and FDA to regulate vaping the way they did cigarettes in the 1980s and 90s. I'm very curious to see how things evolve.

Personally I support anything that gets more people to quit cigarettes and to vape, I see nothing wrong with that. If Big Tobacco is smart, they'll see the writing on the wall, that cigarettes are basically done for in people's consciousness, so they'll put all their resources and energy into pushing ecigs. However, this is very tenuous and dicey for vapers, because once Big Tobacco is allowed to co-opt vaping, then vaping itself would become the villain. We almost need cigarettes to stick around for as long as possible so vaping can be promoted as what it is, a clean, healthier way to enjoy smoking.

TV did NOT 'get most people to smoke.' TVs didn't even start showing up in most peoples' homes until the later 1950s, and there were already high rates of smoking by then.
Television in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nor did radio - remember the high rates of smoking in communist countries despite no ads of any kind there. It was all really word of mouth. And no, cigarettes are not "basically done for in people's consciousness." Remember most of the new e-cig users who have never smoked are youths, and particularly the kind of youths who are open to trying new things. Furthermore, more people would smoke if they knew how much the anti-smokers have lied about the health risks.

 

[RobbyRocket]

True. Although I should have mentioned cinema and the movies, they really got smoking cigarettes to the masses and then TV just continued from there. Word of mouth, and everyone's brother or sister and best friend, parents, etc smoking also helped propel cigarettes into the stratosphere. Personally I support freedom of choice on these matters. I still think cigarettes are probably the worst kind of smoking because of all the additives and chemicals in them, compared to pipes and cigars. I actually enjoy a nice cigar every now and then, cigars and pipes are to be savored, not deeply inhaled like cigarettes. Cigars and pipes are still probably considered "old" or awkward by most younger people. I support vaping 100% I think it's great. In a perfect world I'd like to see pipes and cigars make a big comeback, even among younger people, and I hope vaping goes mainstream.

 

[CarolT]

True. Although I should have mentioned cinema and the movies, they really got smoking cigarettes to the masses and then TV just continued from there. Word of mouth, and everyone's brother or sister and best friend, parents, etc smoking also helped propel cigarettes into the stratosphere. Personally I support freedom of choice on these matters. I still think cigarettes are probably the worst kind of smoking because of all the additives and chemicals in them, compared to pipes and cigars. I actually enjoy a nice cigar every now and then, cigars and pipes are to be savored, not deeply inhaled like cigarettes. Cigars and pipes are still probably considered "old" or awkward by most younger people. I support vaping 100% I think it's great. In a perfect world I'd like to see pipes and cigars make a big comeback, even among younger people, and I hope vaping goes mainstream.

Cigarettes aren't full of "additives and chemicals". That's a slander invented by the chemicalphobics, who are too dimwitted to realize that there are over 100,000 chemicals in ordinary food. Except for menthol, they're overwhelmingly just different mixes of tobacco. Pipe, cigar, snuff and chewing tobacco often have flavorings added, after all it's mostly held in the mouth. And e-cigs are all flavorings and no tobacco.

 

[RobbyRocket]

I actually am of the school of thought that old-school cigarettes, the unfiltered ones, while they have more tar than filtered cigarettes (and taste better in my opinion) have fewer additives than the filtered ones, there's a definite difference in taste. Filtered cigarettes have a more chemical taste compared to a nonfiltered cig. In the 1950s when people started scaring everyone about tar, they put filters on them, but I'd argue that made people inhale deeper. Personally although I'm getting into vaping, I always found that I enjoyed a nonfiltered cigarette either inhaling it or not, because it's like a mini-mini cigar. Not for everyone though. Nowadays though, I am preferring vaping and good mini cigars/cigarillos.

 

[Shirtbloke]

Well here's a list of 599 additives that are found in cigarettes - note that's additives not chemicals, an additive may contain many chemicals - as reported by the tobacco companies in 1994.......
List of additives in cigarettes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[nicnik]

Well here's a list of 599 additives that are found in cigarettes - note that's additives not chemicals, an additive may contain many chemicals - as reported by the tobacco companies in 1994.......
List of additives in cigarettes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Are there on average, about three of those additives per brand, or more like three hundred, or? Are only a fraction of them used today, with the recipes changing over the years, accounting for the long list? Any mention of all these chemicals I've seen, seem to want to leave much to your imagination.

This was interesting to see:

One significant issue is that while all these chemical compounds have been approved as additives to food, they were not tested by burning.

Nor were they tested for inhaling, I would guess. Nor for inhaling the byproducts of burning them.

 

[Shirtbloke]

I think it's probably unlikely that any brand contains all those, but as to how many are in any particular brand it's a crapshoot. The recipe for any particular brand is probably a closely guarded secret.

 

[zoiDman]

Are there on average, about three of those additives per brand, or more like three hundred, or? Are only a fraction of them used today, with the recipes changing over the years, accounting for the long list? Any mention of all these chemicals I've seen, seem to want to leave much to your imagination.

This was interesting to see:


Nor were they tested for inhaling, I would guess. Nor for inhaling the byproducts of burning them.

Here is a List of Chemicals in Altria Cigarettes...

http://www.altria.com/our-companies...nts/PM USA Tobacco and Flavor Ingredients.pdf

Our Products & Ingredients - Philip Morris USA

 

[zoiDman]

I think it's probably unlikely that any brand contains all those, but as to how many are in any particular brand it's a crapshoot. The recipe for any particular brand is probably a closely guarded secret.

I believe that the Wiki List shows EVERY Chemical that Cigarette Companies has Ever Registered with the FDA.

I also believe that Menthol Cigarettes Contain/have Contained the Lion's Share of all of these Chemicals.

 

[Shirtbloke]

I found this from here

"The tobacco industry used few additives in US cigarettes before 1970.18 However, current US-style cigarettes generally contain about a 10% level of additives according to weight, mostly in the form of sugars, humectants, ammonia compounds, cocoa, and licorice.19,20 Most other additives are used in small amounts, less than 0.01% of total weight. There is evidence that the percentage of additives by weight may have increased in the 1990s, especially the use of sweeteners (which many researchers believe were added to entice younger people to smoke).18 Those increases roughly coincided with the controversial Joe Camel cigarette advertising campaign initiated by RJ Reynolds in 1985."

 

[stevegmu]

The ingredients in Czech cigarettes look a lot like what's in an e-cig, except for the carbon dioxide and tobacco-

by brand lists of tobacco ingredients cigarettes

 

[Shirtbloke]

Here is a List of Chemicals in Altria Cigarettes...

http://www.altria.com/our-companies/philipmorrisusa/our-products-and-ingredients/Documents/PM USA Tobacco and Flavor Ingredients.pdf

Our Products & Ingredients - Philip Morris USA

Interesting that their tobacco contains 2.8% propylene glycol (PG) and a similar amount of glycerol (VG)

 

[nicnik]

Here is a List of Chemicals in Altria Cigarettes...

http://www.altria.com/our-companies/philipmorrisusa/our-products-and-ingredients/Documents/PM USA Tobacco and Flavor Ingredients.pdf

Our Products & Ingredients - Philip Morris USA

That 2nd link shows that there are only a few additives per brand of theirs.