From: SMOKEFREE@compuserve.com
Date: Tue, 08/19/08
David Sweanor wrote a thought provoking article in the William Mitchell Law
Review on the public health need for tobacco harm reduction products and
policies at:
http://tclconline.org/documents/symposium-sweanor.pdf Other tobacco policy
articles in the publication are at
http://tclconline.org/symposium-proceedings.html
Below is a related article in today's New York Post.
Bill Godshall
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WACKY TABACKY
DIP INTO SOME SMOKELESS NIC
By Justin Rocket Silverman
New York Post
August 19, 2008
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08192008/entertainment/wacky_tabacky_125036.htm
(photo) With users like Lindsay Lohan, the nictoine pill Ariva has arrived.
NO SMOKING in bars or restaurants, airplanes or trains. And forget about
the office - what do you think this is, doll, "Mad Men"?
So what's a law-abiding nicotine addict to do?
Turns out, there are ways to get that nic fix that don't involve lighting
up. Lindsay Lohan is apparently a big fan of one of the newest methods, a
"dissolvable tobacco" pill called Ariva, made of powdered chewing tobacco..
While such things might once have been the province of athletes and
cowboys, it seems the new face of chew is pretty, young and even female.
None of these cigarette alternatives are safe - although they do have fewer
toxins than regular smokes. The best alternative, of course, is not to be
addicted to nicotine in the first place, but for most of us, that ship has
sailed. Read on for the hippest in smokeless pleasure.
American snus
Snus is chewing tobacco packaged in neat little teabags. Inspired by the
popularity of Swedish snus in Europe, both Camel and Marlboro are rolling
out their own snus products. Marlboro's hasn't been released in NYC yet,
but refrigerated dispensers full of Camel snus are appearing on bodega
counters across the city.
Camel snus is less flavorful than the Swedish variety. R.J. Reynolds
spokesman David Howard says this was done to make it "more palatable to the
US tobacco consumer."
Camel snus also comes in flavors such as "frost" and "spice," presumably to
satisfy the American sweet tooth.
According to Howard, snus is perfect for "times and places that you
wouldn't be allowed to smoke." With some Manhattan apartment buildings
starting to ban smoking, those "times and places" are beginning to feel
like all the time, every place.
Crown 7
Perhaps the most space-age cigarette replacement out there, this $80
battery-operated tube works by vaporizing nicotine-laced water. The
"smoker" draws in the water vapor and blows out a steam plume that may look
like smoke but is just mist. About seven "puffs" on the device gives you
the nicotine equivalent of one cigarette.
It's not certain how local bars and restaurants will take to the Crown 7 if
it catches on in NYC, but there's no law against boiling water indoors,
which is essentially what the device does. There is also no fire involved
and no toxic smoke.
"It's the perfect product for office workers," says Crown 7 CEO Ron
MacDonald. "Especially in Manhattan, when you work on a top floor and don't
want to spend all that time going down to smoke. With Crown 7, you get that
nicotine fix, and you're good to go."
Snuff
Snuff has been around for at least 400 years. But unlike the ornate cases
once used by Old World aristocrats, modern snuff is sold in discreet
plastic containers. Some have a little snorting spoon built in, but most
users simply tap the finely ground tobacco out onto their hand, block one
nostril, and snort it up the other. Yes, it burns like hell.
"Nasal snuff gives you a much bigger rush than a cigarette or chewing
tobacco," says Paul Basmajian, 27. "I grew up in Utah, and we used to call
it cowboy cocaine."
The similarity to cocaine is not lost on bartenders or bouncers, and
Basmajian says he has spent many a night explaining to bar staff that snuff
is perfectly legal.
Traditional European snuff is made by mixing tobacco and water, then
scenting it with various oils. Jasmine and sandalwood are popular
"flavors," though most of the snuff sold at SoHo smoke shop Cigarillos
contains menthol and eucalyptus oils to give it a minty smell. But since
snuff containers don't list the ingredients, it's impossible to know just
what you are snorting.
Cigarillos manager Rony Saliba says almost all of his customers who buy the
$5 containers of snuff are European. One young woman even buys it in bulk
to mail to her father in France, where snuff is more expensive.
Swedish snus
There is a reason Sweden has the lowest smoking rate in Europe, and that
reason is snus. The little packets are placed between the gum and the
cheek, and the user receives a heady dose of nicotine.
"It's a lot more civilized than smoking," says Paul Magyar, 29, who
recently stopped into Cigarillos to buy his weekly can of Swedish snus.
"With snus, you don't have to interrupt your evening by going out for a
cigarette."
Magyar says he likes the fact that snus costs only $5 a can, and it doesn't
leave his clothes smelling like smoke.
Unlike American chewing tobacco, which every kid is taught can cause nasty
oral tumors, Swedish snus is pasteurized rather than fermented, greatly
reducing its tendency to cause mouth cancer.
The plastic cans even come with a little compartment on top for storing the
used snus packets until you can find a trash can. When was the last time
you saw a pack of cigarettes with a built-in ashtray?
Ariva
Unlike Nicorette and other synthetic products, little Ariva pills are made
of real powdered tobacco. Dubbed "smokeless satisfaction" by manufacturer
Star Scientific, Ariva comes in wintergreen and java flavors. The java does
indeed taste like coffee, and each pill contains about as much nicotine as
a cigarette.
LiLo seems to prefer the wintergreen flavor, as she's been frequently
photographed gripping the green Ariva box. Both her publicist and Star
Scientific spokeswoman Sara Troy Machir deny rumors Lohan is paid to carry
the product. Machir also says the company is not trying to appeal to the
actress' legions of young fans.
"We have no interest in recruiting another generation of tobacco users,"
Machir says. "We're focused on adult tobacco users."
Star Scientific also makes a similar tobacco pill called Stonewall, which
packs a stronger nicotine punch. At Cigarillos in SoHo, a box of 20
Stonewall pills sells for only $3, a virtual steal compared to the price of
cigarettes.
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