Kerala Govt Imposes Complete Ban On Tobacco-Based Products

India, Kerala: Kerala government on Friday announced a complete ban on the manufacturing and sale of gutka products in the state and has become the second state to impose the ban after Madhya Pradesh.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, in a press conference on Friday, said the state government has imposed the ban on both manufacturing and sale of gutka/pan masala under the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act, 2011.

"We are banning these products for the improvement of public health. Even though our state has a lot of advanced health centres and experts for cancer care, the use of gutka has brought a lot of suffering to the people of the state. The number of patients ailing from oral cancer has increased and this compelled us to act," Chandy said.

The government was forced to take such actions because of the increasing incidence of gutka-induced diseases like oral cancer. Chandy said that the health department took the banning step immediately and the Commissioner of Food Safety issued the notification, banning gutka/pan masala in Kerala on May 22.

The government would strictly impose the ban all over the state and will take strong action against people who are found violating it. "Violators of the law can be imprisoned for up to six years and a fine of Rs.500,000 (5 lakh rupees) will be imposed on them," Chandy said.

The ban forbids the production, storage, supply and the sale of products that contain tobacco and nicotine in whatever name it is obtainable in the market.

"A special official has been designated in each district who would be assisted by a team to see that the ban is enforced in the right manner," he said.

Chandy also said in the press conference that he has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking for a total ban on these products in the country.

PM urged to ban sale of tobacco products

Seventeen regional cancer centres in India have urged the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to ban the sale of tobacco products like gutka and pan masala in the country.

“India has the highest number of oral cancer cases in the world with 75,000 to 80,000 new cases being reported every year and chewing of tobacco and gutka contribute to 90 per cent of oral cancer in the country,” Mr Jaydip Biswas, Director, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI), said here.

He said the 17 regional cancer centres, including CNCI, had decided to join hands to fight the menace and urged the Prime Minister in this regard.

In a communication to the Prime Minister, the regional cancer centre directors said that easy availability of the mixture of toxic substances, which contain areca nut (supari), slaked lime and certain food additives, in small affordable pouches in every nook and corner of the country, has become a serious health hazard.

According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2010, nearly one-third of Indian population is addicted to smokeless tobacco.

“A large number of children and youth in India are addicted to smokeless tobacco, which contains nicotine, which is highly addictive. There are 3,095 chemical components in tobacco, among them 28 are proven carcinogen,” Mr Biswas said.

The major and most abundant group of carcinogens is the tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines and N-nitrosoamino acid.

According to the GATS, 34.6 per cent adults consume some form of tobacco in India, 25.9 per cent adults use smokeless tobacco and 14.1 per cent of youth in India between 13-15 years of age currently use any form of tobacco products.

The survey said that about two in three adults notice advertisements on promotions of tobacco products. Three in five current tobacco users (61.1 per cent) notice the health warning on tobacco product packages and one in three current tobacco users (31.5 per cent) thought of quitting because of the warning label.

The CNCI director said the magnitude of tobacco-related cancer, on an average, was on an upward trend in eastern and north-eastern India.

“This is largely due to high prevalence of tobacco consumption,” he said, adding that there was not much control on production and sale of gutka which is sold everywhere.

The director said that to combat such a dreadful situation, a strong campaign was required to be launched to regulate production, sale and use of gutka and pan masala in greater public interest.

US trade opposes total FDI ban in India's tobacco sector

Five American trade bodies, including USIBC, have joined hands to oppose efforts of the Indian government to further restrict participation of foreign companies in India's tobacco market.

According to reports, the India's Commerce Ministry, on the request of Health Ministry, has proposed to put a complete FDI ban in the sector.

Currently, foreign direct investment (FDI) is completely prohibited in manufacturing of tobacco and its substitutes, while such investments are allowed up to 100 per cent in wholesale trading of cigarettes through the approval route.

In a letter to the Indian Ambassador to the US, Nirupama Rao, the US industry organisations said: "Some proponents of further restrictions have apparently cited public health as a justification, but since there is absolutely no difference in the health effects from consuming Indian or foreign tobacco products, that argument cannot be taken seriously".

Noting that the Indian market is dominated by domestic companies, it is hard to understand any concern about the ability of Indian industry to compete.

It said that 99.6 per cent of the market is held by domestic Indian companies and one large Indian company controls 80 per cent of the market.

"We fail to see the problem with companies investing in a manner that is consistent with Indian law.

"In short, the arguments of the proponents of additional restrictions do not contain a valid rationale, unless one considers valid the parochial political notion that India should be rid of even the minuscule foreign company competition that currently exists," the letter said.

The US organisations said that this issue raises serious concerns about India's willingness to stand by its proclamation to welcome foreign investors per current policy and calls into question India's adherence to its international obligations.

"With respect to the argument that the lawful wholesale business model enables foreign companies to invest in India in wholesaling and somehow this is viewed as problematic, we presume the Indian government intended to structure the law to enable foreign companies to invest in a wholesale business, while we recognise India's government has precluded investment in manufacturing," it added.

Further it said, India is a leading exporter of tobacco, and its manufacturing industry also sells tobacco products internationally, including in the US.

"In addition to the reported consideration of further restrictions on FDI in the tobacco wholesale business which on their face raise international obligation issues, we understand restrictions are also being considered in regard to the importation of tobacco products, including a possible import ban," it said.

Tobacco Companies File Lawsuit Against FDA for Warning Labels

Five tobacco companies filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the federal government, claiming that government-required graphic warning labels on cigarette packages are unconstitutional and that they violate their rights. 

"The primary complaint is that we think it violates the First Amendment for the government to require people who produce a lawful product to essentially urge prospective purchasers not to buy it," First Amendment case expert Floyd Abrams said.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard, Commonwealth, Liggett, and Santa Fee Natural Tobacco are suing the Food and Drug Administration, FDA chief Margaret Hamburg, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The FDA, to the companies' despair, revealed nine new warning labels in June.  The warning labels include a phone number for those who wish to quit, 1-800-QUIT-NOW. 

The FDA said that cigarette packages will display one of those new labels on half of each package September 2012.

Abrams says the tobacco companies don't have a problem with the written wording required by the latest FDA ruling.

Abrams said that "The government has lot of power to require warnings, but it doesn't require half of a cigarette pack to scream out, 'Don't buy this product!," CNN reported. "What is at issue is putting photographs of diseased people on every cigarette pack, include a phone number, and ask people to stop smoking. It's the direct advocacy to not buy the product, as opposed to a straightforward warning," he added. 

Tobacco use, the leading cause of both premature and preventable death in the United States, kills almost half a million people each year, the FDA said on its Web site.

Should the FDA Regulate Tobacco? Health Freedom Advocate Says Criminalizing Cigarettes is a Mistake

(NaturalNews) The U.S. Congress has just voted to categorize tobacco as a drug, handing the FDA regulatory authority to control the advertising, marketing and sales of cigarettes. This hilarious move, if approved by the Senate and signed by the President, would put the FDA in the position of approving the sale of a "drug" that the entire medical community openly admits kills millions of people. According to the CDC, tobacco kills 438,000 people each year in the United States alone (1). Now, thanks to the U.S. Congress, the FDA could soon be the government office responsible for allowing these 438,000 deaths each year!
Think about it: Right now, FDA-approved drugs kill around 100,000 Americans a year, and that's if you believe the conservative figures from the American Medical Association (the real numbers are at least double that). Add tobacco deaths to that list, and you come to the startling realization that if tobacco is considered an FDA-approved "drug," then FDA-approved drugs will kill well over half a million Americans each year! (538,000 fatalities a year due to FDA-approved drugs, using government statistics.)

Some nicotine facts

1. Nicotine addiction has been one of the hardest addictions to break.
2. Insignificant amounts of nicotine is also found in tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and leaves of cocoa plants other than tobacco.
3. Like caffeine, nicotine is toxic to certain insects and was used as an insecticide.
4. Nicotine burns at a temperature below it’s boiling point, which happens continuously as a cigarette is smoked.
5. It takes only 7 seconds for nicotine to hit the brain when inhaled.
6. The pleasure feeling generated by nicotine is similar to that caused by cocaine and heroin, thus causing the addiction associated with the need to sustain high dopamine levels. Smoking has been reported to make you feel relax, calm, and alert.
7. Even concentration and memory are increased, but all nicotine effects will only last from anywhere between 5 minutes to 2 hours. To sustain the pleasant effects, a smoker would have to puff an average of 20 cigarettes in 24 hours.
8. Quick puffs by smokers produces a stimulating effect, whereas deep puffs produces a relaxing effect. This is because quick puffs produce low blood nicotine levels, whereas deep puffs depresses the passage of nerve impulses, producing a mild sedative effect.
9. Nicotine reduces appetite and raises metabolism, a possibility for weight loss.
10. 50mg of nicotine is the average lethal dosage to kill a human being. Very, extremely lethal compared to common street drugs like cocaine. A cigarette contains an average of 1.5mg of nicotine.
11. Know that nicotine on its own does not promote development of cancer. However, nicotine suppresses apoptosis, an automatic process by the body to remove mutated or damaged cells that may become cancerous. This leads to encourage cancer cells to develop.
12. Nicotine exposure could cause the netopathological changes experienced by infants dying from Sudden Death Infant Syndrome.
13. 82% of schizophrenics smoke, due to the desire to self medicate, seeking the short term effects of nicotine.
14. The only medicinal use of nicotine is to treat nicotine dependent people through gums, dermal patches, lozenges or nasal sprays.
15. Many research has been carried out on the risk lowering affects of nicotine towards Parkinson’s Disease. Parkinson’s Disease happens when dopamine in the brain is less than acetylcholine. Nicotine decreases acetylcholine levels.

John Terry, England football captain, mulls legal action over image on Indian cigarette packets

LONDON: England captain John Terry is considering taking legal action over the apparent use of his image on cigarette packets in India.
The slightly blurred image of the Chelsea defender has appeared as part of anti-smoking warnings created by the Indian government.
"It's been brought to our attention that an image of our client has been used on some cigarette packaging without our consent or knowledge," Terry's management company said on Tuesday in a statement. "We've now instructed our legal team to investigate this matter."
The Gold Flake cigarette packets with Terry's apparent image were on sale in Delhi on Tuesday.
Gold Flake's manufacturer ITC and Indian government officials could not be reached for comment.
But an ITC official told the Indian Express newspaper that the company had simply used anti-smoking warnings prepared by the Indian government.

 

WHO Report on Bidi Smoking and Public Health

Bidis are small hand-rolled cigarettes 7-8 times more common in India than conventional cigarettes. When compared to conventional cigarettes, "bidis produce equal or higher levels of nicotine, tar, and other toxic chemicals." Their consumption and market penetration is spreading far beyond the national borders of India. "Bidi Smoking and Public Health" is an analysis and synthesis of the latest information from India and the United States and serves as a resource authority on this increasingly prevalent form of smoking. Among the topics discussed include: history, culture, marketing, promotion, availability, prevalence, chemistry, toxicology, pharmacology, abuse potential, laboratory studies, disease consequences, economics, public health policy strategies, policy implications, and global policy for regulating bidis and bidi smoking. The disease consequence chapter specifically discusses pulmonary tuberculosis, lung disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and oral mucosal lesions related to bidi smoking. This report is intended to be the standard reference on bidis with the goals of encouraging research and promoting policy strategies for regulating bidis.

Man's Face Burns From Exploding Electronic Cigarette

A Florida man's electronic cigarette exploded while he was using it, knocking out some front teeth and causing severe burns on his face, according to officials from North Bay Fire Department. Joseph Parker, Fire Department Chief, said he believes the device's battery blew up while he was inhaling from it. Parker said it was as if a rocket had ignited in the victim's mouth.

According to reports in local media, it appears the man, who had been using the electronic cigarette to give up tobacco smoking also lost part of his tongue.

The fire chief, who added that the device's battery seemed to be faulty, said that the victim thanked them yesterday and said he would probably be leaving a hospital in Mobile, Ala. Today.

No details have yet been released regarding the electronic cigarette brand, and what type of battery it contained. Parker believes it is a rechargeable lithium battery, because they found a recharging station.

The victim's name has not been released. However, local media point towards a Tom Holloway (57) Facebook page which has filled up with get-better messages from friends commenting on a very similar incident - both addresses match, the one in the fire report and the other in the social media page.

The electronic cigarette explosion also burned the man's carpet, chair, pictures and cushions - he was at his office at home when the incident occurred. Officials found a burnt battery care surrounded by melted carpet. Other members of his household, on hearing the explosion, came to his rescue and tried to extinguish the fire with salt.

Rapid Addiction from Early Smoking

Many teenagers and younger children inaccurately believe that experimenting with smoking or even casual
use will not lead to any serious dependency.  In fact, the latest research shows that serious symptoms of
addiction – such as having strong urges to smoke, feeling anxious or irritable, or having unsuccessfully tried
to not smoke – can appear among youths within weeks or only days after occasional smoking first begins.

             The average smoker tries their first cigarette at age 12 and may be a regular smoker by age 14.
Every day, more 3,500 kids try their first cigarette and about 1,000 other kids under 18 years of age become new regular, daily smokers. Almost 90 percent of youths that smoke regularly report seriously strong cravings,
and more than 70 percent of adolescent smokers have already tried and failed to quit smoking.

Immediate and Rapid Effects on the Brain

Part of the addictive power of nicotine comes from its direct effect on the brain.  In addition to the well understood chemical dependency, cigarette smokers also show evidence of a higher rate of behavioral 

problems and suffer the following immediate effects: 

• Increases Stress.  Contrary to popular belief, smoking does not relieve stress.  Studies have shown 

that on average, smokers have higher levels of stress than non-smokers. The feelings of relaxation 

that smokers experience while they are smoking are actually a return to the normal unstressed state 

that non-smokers experience all of the time.

• Alters brain chemistry.  When compared to non-smokers, smokers brain cells- specifically brain cell 

receptors- have been shown to have fewer dopamine receptors.  Brain cell receptors are molecules 

that sit on the outside of the cell interacting with the molecules that fit into the receptor, much like a 

lock and key.  Receptors (locks) are important because they guard and mediate the functions of the 

cell.  For instance when the right molecule (key) comes along it unlocks the receptor, setting off a 

chain of events to perform a specific cell function.  Specific receptors mediate different cell activities.   

Smokers have fewer dopamine receptors, a specific cell receptor found in the brain that is believed to

play a role in addiction. Dopamine is normally released naturally while engaging in certain 

behaviors like eating, drinking and copulation. The release of dopamine is believed to give one a

sense of reward.  One of the leading hypothesis regarding the mechanism of addiction theorizes that 

nicotine exposure initially increases dopamine transmission, but subsequently decreases dopamine 

receptor function and number.  The initial increase in dopamine activity from nicotine results initially in 

pleasant feelings for the smoker, but the subsequent decrease in dopamine leaves the smoker 

craving more cigarettes.

             New animal studies have shown that brain chemistry and receptors may be altered early in the 

smoking process. Habitual smoking may continue to change brain chemistry, including decreasing 

dopamine receptors and thus yielding a more intense craving and risk of addiction.  These brain 

chemistry changes may be permanent.  In addition, because the role played by receptors in other 

cognitive functions, such as memory and intelligence, is unknown, how cigarette smoking effects.