Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Danger follows a camel on a small tin box
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As expected, the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday approved an ordinance banning the sale of candy cigarettes, a victory due largely to a feisty group of teen activists working with the Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota.
There's no doubt that candy cigarettes were my gateway drug to an adult addiction to Tootsie rolls and expensive Swiss chocolate. To be fair, though, these teens deserve our genuine props for tireless research, wonderful intentions and an admirable willingness to fight the law and win.
Now I'd like to draw their fire away from a product that most retailers don't even carry anymore, to something I hope is their next target: R.J. Reynolds' colorful new line of real danger.
Within the next few months, the tobacco giant will launch three smokeless -- and spit-less -- products in the Twin Cities under the Camel label. This follows its recent introduction of Snus (rhymes with goose and should be banned solely for its name), a neat little tin filled with dissolvable tobacco packets to be placed under the tongue. The launch of Camel Orbs (tiny mints in "fresh" and "mellow" flavors), Sticks (shaped like toothpicks) and Strips (that melt on the tongue) comes as cigarette smoking continues to decline among the young.
Let's get the obvious out of the way: Of course, these products carry a warning that they are not a safe alternative to cigarettes. Of course, their sale to minors is prohibited. Of course, those are the reasons they'll be extremely appealing to some kids.
Smokeless products "are definitely where the tobacco industry is going," said Aaron Doeppers, Midwest region director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The big reason? Smoke-free laws moving across the country. Doeppers, of Madison, Wis., said RJR's marketing machine touts these products as something you can take "into a fancy tapas bar or rock concert."
Or U.S. history class, where you can pop a few Orbs tablets before that mid-term. While smokeless tobacco use among Americans is small compared with cigarettes, it is highest among young people. About 3 percent of adults use smokeless tobacco products (compared with about 21 percent who smoke), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, among ages 14 to 18, about 22 percent smoke cigarettes, (an impressive drop from 36 percent a decade ago), but smokeless use is at about 8 percent and growing.
The numbers don't surprise Marc Manley, a medical director at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, which is using a chunk of its Big Tobacco lawsuit award to research tobacco addiction. "From 80 to 90 percent of smokers start before their 18th birthday," Manley said, "so it's kind of hard to disguise these as adult products. Most adults just aren't going to start using tobacco."
Why do kids start? The usual suspects: Parents who smoke, peers who smoke, sexy marketing. Those who chew instead say it's because they don't want to blow smoke at their friends. Or because they figure they won't get caught. Most, though, think it's safer than cigarettes.
In fact, smokeless tobacco contains 28 cancer-causing agents, fewer than the 60 or so carcinogens in cigarettes, but not exactly healthful.
With new smokeless options come new concerns. Doeppers said girls, who are barely on the radar of smokeless use, may now take a look since they don't have to spit. Poison-control workers worry that young users "might pop five or six Camel Orbs, which look like a Tic Tac, into their mouth at once. All these things are toxic in the long run," he said.
In the short run, too. Within five years, smokeless tobacco users already are at a heightened risk for oral cancer. Want to see pictures of what that looks like? Search the Web as I did, but not before lunch.
While the jury is still out on whether smokeless tobacco is, indeed, a precursor to smoking, Doeppers said that debate is nearly moot. Young users, he said, are moving away from choosing one nicotine fix over the other. They're choosing both, wooed by slick marketing for all products within the tobacco family.
Before they know it, they are stuck and sorry.
Corey Bye, 19, of Cokato, Minn., started smoking less than a year ago, influenced by buddies who smoked. The hockey and baseball player regretted it immediately.
"I get tired really fast after I play," said Bye, a freshman at St. Cloud Technical College.
Does he want to quit? Absolutely. Has he tried? Several times.
"It's pretty hard, actually," Bye said. "I thought it would be easy, but I just get cravings sometimes. I don't want to get lung cancer. It's the dumbest thing to do."
Gail Rosenblum • 612-673-7350 • gail.rosenblum@startribune.com
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Danger follows a camel on a small tin box
Featured comment
As expected, the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday approved an ordinance banning the sale of candy cigarettes, a victory due largely to a feisty group of teen activists working with the Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota.
There's no doubt that candy cigarettes were my gateway drug to an adult addiction to Tootsie rolls and expensive Swiss chocolate. To be fair, though, these teens deserve our genuine props for tireless research, wonderful intentions and an admirable willingness to fight the law and win.
Now I'd like to draw their fire away from a product that most retailers don't even carry anymore, to something I hope is their next target: R.J. Reynolds' colorful new line of real danger.
Within the next few months, the tobacco giant will launch three smokeless -- and spit-less -- products in the Twin Cities under the Camel label. This follows its recent introduction of Snus (rhymes with goose and should be banned solely for its name), a neat little tin filled with dissolvable tobacco packets to be placed under the tongue. The launch of Camel Orbs (tiny mints in "fresh" and "mellow" flavors), Sticks (shaped like toothpicks) and Strips (that melt on the tongue) comes as cigarette smoking continues to decline among the young.
Let's get the obvious out of the way: Of course, these products carry a warning that they are not a safe alternative to cigarettes. Of course, their sale to minors is prohibited. Of course, those are the reasons they'll be extremely appealing to some kids.
Smokeless products "are definitely where the tobacco industry is going," said Aaron Doeppers, Midwest region director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The big reason? Smoke-free laws moving across the country. Doeppers, of Madison, Wis., said RJR's marketing machine touts these products as something you can take "into a fancy tapas bar or rock concert."
Or U.S. history class, where you can pop a few Orbs tablets before that mid-term. While smokeless tobacco use among Americans is small compared with cigarettes, it is highest among young people. About 3 percent of adults use smokeless tobacco products (compared with about 21 percent who smoke), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, among ages 14 to 18, about 22 percent smoke cigarettes, (an impressive drop from 36 percent a decade ago), but smokeless use is at about 8 percent and growing.
The numbers don't surprise Marc Manley, a medical director at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, which is using a chunk of its Big Tobacco lawsuit award to research tobacco addiction. "From 80 to 90 percent of smokers start before their 18th birthday," Manley said, "so it's kind of hard to disguise these as adult products. Most adults just aren't going to start using tobacco."
Why do kids start? The usual suspects: Parents who smoke, peers who smoke, sexy marketing. Those who chew instead say it's because they don't want to blow smoke at their friends. Or because they figure they won't get caught. Most, though, think it's safer than cigarettes.
In fact, smokeless tobacco contains 28 cancer-causing agents, fewer than the 60 or so carcinogens in cigarettes, but not exactly healthful.
With new smokeless options come new concerns. Doeppers said girls, who are barely on the radar of smokeless use, may now take a look since they don't have to spit. Poison-control workers worry that young users "might pop five or six Camel Orbs, which look like a Tic Tac, into their mouth at once. All these things are toxic in the long run," he said.
In the short run, too. Within five years, smokeless tobacco users already are at a heightened risk for oral cancer. Want to see pictures of what that looks like? Search the Web as I did, but not before lunch.
While the jury is still out on whether smokeless tobacco is, indeed, a precursor to smoking, Doeppers said that debate is nearly moot. Young users, he said, are moving away from choosing one nicotine fix over the other. They're choosing both, wooed by slick marketing for all products within the tobacco family.
Before they know it, they are stuck and sorry.
Corey Bye, 19, of Cokato, Minn., started smoking less than a year ago, influenced by buddies who smoked. The hockey and baseball player regretted it immediately.
"I get tired really fast after I play," said Bye, a freshman at St. Cloud Technical College.
Does he want to quit? Absolutely. Has he tried? Several times.
"It's pretty hard, actually," Bye said. "I thought it would be easy, but I just get cravings sometimes. I don't want to get lung cancer. It's the dumbest thing to do."
Gail Rosenblum • 612-673-7350 • gail.rosenblum@startribune.com
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