This is an important topic, and I posted this in the campaigning section:
I am about to throw in the towel. Idiots abound -- and they're tilting my world. Consider:
Boston, MAA tobacco companys new, dissolvable nicotine pellet--which is being sold as a tobacco product, but which in some cases resembles popular candies--could lead to accidental nicotine poisoning in children
No, these are not nicotine pellets. They are tobacco processed to contain extremely low levels of carcinogenic nitrosamines and pressed into small pieces that in no way resemble any popular candy -- unless you have 20/80 vision and are colorblind.
The study says Orbs, pellets made of finely ground tobacco with mint or cinnamon flavoring, are packed with nicotine and can poison children and lure young people to start using tobacco.
I wish they were "packed with nicotine". Far from it. Each Camel Orb has between 0.84mg and 1mg of nicotine. There are 15 Orbs in a childproof package that will frustrate even a competent adult. They dispense exactly ONE at a time -- and the pack fails to deliver about three out of four attempts to obtain an Orb. Even a small child, swallowing the entire pack contents, would not be poisoned because these are designed for oral absorption, not digestion via the stomach and small intestine. I would hope the stupid kid pukes. But the child won't die. Charge the parents with neglect and leave the product alone.
Theyre tobacco candy, Senator Merkley said Friday. Everything about them is designed for kids.
If I were Senator Merkley, I'd file suit against this news outlet for putting words that stupid in my mouth. Er, you aren't that stupid, are you, senator? I mean .. really. That is one stupid statement. I'll be looking for your lawsuit claiming you were misquoted.
Small, teabag-like "snus" -- pouches filled with tobacco that are placed between the upper lip and gum -- are also a potential hazard, according to the study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics.
Now they've gone too far. There's only a 200-year history of use to study in Sweden. No headlines scream babies dropping dead from eating snus all the time. Look at Sweden and you'll see the lowest lung cancer rates in the EU, thanks to snus. You'll see a population healthier than any other thanks to decreased cigarette smoking and increased snus usage. You won't even find oral problems that sometimes occur with chew tobacco, but not with snus.
Listen, every NRT product from Big Pharma is a hazard to children. Does anyone hear shouts of remove them "for the children"? No. It's tobacco being demonized. It's a slanderous campaign of lies. And the sad truth is so many people who should be above these lies now spout them -- for money, for conformity.
For shame!