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September 20th, 2011:

Nicotine content 3% of current ‘light’ cigarette

http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20110920006569/en/Spectrum-NIDA-FDA-VLN
-xxii-nicotine-x-22

22nd Century Delivers Proprietary Research Cigarettes for U.S. Government
Order
September 20, 2011 11:32 AM Eastern Daylight Time
WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y.–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–22nd Century Group, Inc.
(OTCBB: XXII), a company focused on smoking cessation and tobacco harm
reduction products, announced today that the company has shipped more than 9
million SPECTRUMR research cigarettes. SPECTRUMR was developed by 22nd
Century for the U.S. government and is strictly for independent research
purposes. SPECTRUMR will not be sold as a commercial cigarette in the U.S.

“Working with these researchers and officials from federal public health
agencies has been a terrific experience. Throughout the process, the
investigators provided 22nd Century input on their research objectives and
shared insights into what types of cigarettes would best facilitate their
independent studies”
.The SPECTRUMR product line essentially consists of a series of cigarette
styles that have a fixed “tar” yield but varying nicotine yields over a
35-fold range-from very low to high. Altogether, SPECTRUMR features 24
styles, in both regular and menthol versions, with 8 levels of nicotine in
its tobacco. By far, the most prevalent style of SPECTRUMR produced for
researchers is the very low nicotine (VLN) version, which has 97% less
nicotine than conventional “light” cigarettes.

As the only company in the world able to produce VLN tobacco products, 22nd
Century was chosen to supply its proprietary SPECTRUMR research cigarettes
as a subcontractor under a 5-year federal government contract. Previously,
22nd Century’s management met with independent researchers and officials
from National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to discuss and finalize certain
design features of these research cigarettes.

“Working with these researchers and officials from federal public health
agencies has been a terrific experience. Throughout the process, the
investigators provided 22nd Century input on their research objectives and
shared insights into what types of cigarettes would best facilitate their
independent studies,” stated Joseph Pandolfino, founder and chief executive
officer of 22nd Century.

Dozens of research studies will be conducted with SPECTRUMR. The research
will include: (i) smoking cessation studies, (ii) exposure studies comparing
how different nicotine levels in cigarettes affect smoking behavior and
exposure to smoke toxins, and (iii) studies to determine whether there is a
threshold nicotine level in cigarettes which does not produce dependence.
Many of these studies would be very difficult, if not impossible, to conduct
without SPECTRUMR.

Mr. Pandolfino added, “22nd Century is pleased that SPECTRUMR will be used
to provide answers to important research questions likely to affect tobacco
public policy for years to come. I am optimistic that the results of these
studies will be applied to reduce the harm caused by smoking-the leading
cause of preventable death in the U.S. and the world, according to the CDC
and the World Health Organization.”

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.

Founded in 1998, 22nd Century Limited, LLC (22nd Century) is a plant
biotechnology company whose proprietary technology allows for the level of
nicotine (and other nicotinic alkaloids) in the tobacco plant to be
decreased or increased through genetic engineering and breeding. 22nd
Century owns or is the exclusive worldwide licensee of 98 issued patents in
79 countries where at least 75% of the world’s smokers reside. 22nd Century
is committed to developing and commercializing (i) the world’s most
effective and acceptable smoking cessation aid and (ii) for those smokers
who refuse to quit smoking, consumer-acceptable modified risk tobacco
products that reduce exposure to smoke toxins, as compared to conventional
cigarettes. Through a merger on January 25, 2011, 22nd Century became a
wholly-owned subsidiary of 22nd Century Group, Inc.

China Endorsing Tobacco in Schools Adds to $10 Trillion GDP Cost

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-20/china-endorsing-tobacco-in-schools-adds-to-10-trillion-gdp-cost.html

By Bloomberg NewsSep 20, 2011

In dozens of rural villages in China’s western provinces, one of the first things primary school kids learn is what made their education possible: tobacco.

“On the gates of these schools, you’ll see slogans that say ‘Genius comes from hard work — Tobacco helps you become talented,’” said Xu Guihua, secretary general of the privately funded lobby group Chinese Association on Tobacco Control. The schools are sponsored by local units of China’s government-owned monopoly cigarette maker. “They are pinning their hopes on young people taking up smoking.”

Anti-tobacco groups say efforts to reduce sales in the world’s largest cigarette consumer, such as a ban on smoking in public places introduced in May, have been hampered by light penalties, a lack of education about the dangers of smoking and the fact that the regulator, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, also runs the world’s biggest cigarette maker, China National Tobacco Corp.

China has more than 320 million smokers, a third of the world’s total, and about 1 million Chinese die from tobacco- related illnesses every year. Reducing mortality in the country from cardiovascular diseases, for which smoking is a main risk factor, by 1 percent a year over the three decades to 2040 could generate economic value equal to 68 percent of China’s 2010 real gross domestic product, or $10.7 trillion, according to a World Bank report published in July.

“Despite the strong will of the government to implement smoking control policies,” the volume of cigarettes sold in China is expected to keep rising from 2011 to 2015, London-based researcher Euromonitor International said in a July report. It forecasts China’s tobacco market will grow at an average 14 percent a year to hit 1.8 trillion yuan in retail sales in 2015.

Sales Rising

The tobacco industry grew at an average annual rate of 19 percent from 2006 to 2010, according to State Tobacco. Last year, earnings rose 17 percent 605 billion yuan ($95 billion), including 499 billion yuan in taxes. About 53 percent of Chinese men and 2.4 percent of women smoke, according to a 2010 survey by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

While China’s laws ban tobacco advertising on radio, television and in newspapers, they “do not have clear restrictions on sales and sponsorship activities,” according to a report published in January by Yang Gonghuan, a former deputy director of China’s Center for Disease Control, and Tsinghua University professor Hu Angang. The report, titled “Tobacco Control and China’s Future”, cited the example of a Chinese cigarette brand that sponsored a TV series, ensuring that the name appeared during the closing credits.

The European Union banned all tobacco advertising in its member states in 2005. Last year, new U.S. rules ended the industry’s backing of sports like Nascar racing.

‘Healthy Mothers’

Other tobacco sponsorship in China includes funding for 42 primary school libraries in Xinjiang and 40 in Tibet in September 2010, and a 10 million yuan donation in Nov 2010 to a Chinese women’s development fund for a “Healthy Mothers’ Express” campaign, the report said. China National Tobacco, lists charitable activities on its website, including a 5 million yuan donation this month for drought-hit Yunnan province.

In a survey of more than 2,000 adults conducted in 2009 by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, 7 percent had a good impression of the tobacco industry because of its charity work, while 18 percent said they would pick a cigarette brand based on involvement in such activities.

State Tobacco’s press office didn’t respond to requests for interviews or a faxed list of questions about sponsorship.

China decided to create a tobacco monopoly in the 1980s when the industry supplied more than 10 percent of government revenue, said Wang Shiyong, the World Bank’s senior health specialist in Beijing. Today, tobacco contributes 6.7 percent, according to figures from Yang and Hu’s report.

Internal Lobbying

“Especially in tobacco-growing provinces like Yunnan and Guizhou, the tobacco industry is a very important part of local government income,” said Wang. “There is a lot of internal government lobbying to make sure the health consequences of smoking are not addressed.”

The lack of awareness is an issue lung surgeon Liu Deruo is trying to address, starting in his own hospital. Liu lit his first cigarette in 1974 while forced to work in a tobacco field in northeast China during the Cultural Revolution.

“All the farmers I worked with smoked, so I also smoked,” said the 55-year-old head of thoracic surgery at Beijing’s China-Japan Friendship Hospital, who quit after going to medical college. He persuaded the 15 surgeons who work for him also to kick the habit. “Now I tell my doctors they are allowed to smoke only in my office, and nobody dares to do so.”

Liu’s campaign is part of an effort to get doctors to lead reforms in people’s lifestyles.

‘Role Models’

“Doctors’ smoking behavior is of particular importance,” said Sarah England, technical officer at the Tobacco Free Initiative of the World Health Organization in China. “They are role models for their patients and for the general public.”

A government survey found that two in five male doctors light up every day in China. When Liu took over his department in 2001, 94 percent of the doctors smoked, he said.

Pfizer Inc. (PFE), whose Champix is the main prescription anti- smoking drug sold in China, funded a three-year program from 2008 to set up 60 smoke-free hospitals in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to help doctors quit. Smoking among the hospitals’ leadership more than halved to 8.4 percent from 19.1 percent, while overall rates for doctors fell to 6.8 percent from 10.7 percent, said Neena Moorjani, a spokeswoman for the New York- based drugmaker in an e-mail.

Western Images

The education drive has a way to go. Only one in four adults in China believe exposure to tobacco smoke causes heart diseases and lung cancer, and the percentage for smokers is even lower — 22 percent — according to the 2010 Global Adult Tobacco Survey for China.

“Socially, smoking is still part of everyday life in China and images, many from the West, still glamorize smoking,” said Linda Sarna, a professor at the University of CaliforniaLos Angeles’ School of Nursing, in an e-mail. “Quitting smoking is still not the norm,” said Sarna, who is recruiting 1,000 nurses at four Beijing hospitals for a new smoking intervention program.

China National Tobacco is one of the country’s biggest employers, with 510,000 staff and its monopoly on production has meant international rivals have made little progress in the country. The state cigarette maker controlled 97.9 percent of the market in 2010, followed by British American Tobacco PLC (BATS) with 0.6 percent, Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) with 0.3 percent, and Japan Tobacco Inc. (2914) with 0.1 percent, according to Euromonitor.

Closed Market

Philip Morris, the world’s second-biggest tobacco company, entered the market in 2008 after signing a license for China National Tobacco to produce Marlboros at two factories.

“For now, the Chinese market is pretty much closed,” Chief Financial Officer Herman Waldemer said at a conference on Sept. 7. “There is a complete monopoly on it. We are developing our relationships.”

In addition to State Tobacco’s control of the industry, it is also part of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which chairs the eight-member body tasked with implementing the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in China, said Xu, a former deputy director at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The government and the industry are in the same body — the regulator is also the enterprise,” she said.

Judith Mackay, a senior policy advisor to the World Health Organization, said the power of the tobacco industry in China made it more difficult to address the problem.

Health Warnings

“An amazing number of things in China come under the jurisdiction of the tobacco industry,” she said. “The health warnings on cigarettes for example. It’s not under the Health Ministry. There’s clearly a set of conflict of interests.”

Regional units of the monopoly fund more than 100 primary schools throughout China, such as the Sichuan Tobacco Hope Primary School, the official Xinhua News Agency reported in May. Some are named after top-selling brands like Hongta, which means red pagoda, or Zhongnanhai, named after the compound next to the Forbidden City where China’s top leaders live and work.

“We’ve been trying to get the Ministry of Education to stop the tobacco companies from sponsoring these schools,” said Xu. “But the ministry wants us to show them proof that this is causing harm.”

–Daryl Loo. Editors: Adam Majendie, Bret Okeson

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Daryl Loo in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7540 or dloo7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jason Gale at j.gale@bloomberg.net

®2011 BLOOMBERG L.P. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Nicola Roxon urges UN to fight big tobacco manufacturers over plain packaging

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/nicola-roxon-urges-united-nations-to-fight-big-tobacco-firms/story-fn7x8me2-1226141931531

Description: Roxon with cigarette pack

Health Minister Nicola Roxon holds one of the designs for plain cigarette packaging. Picture: Alan Pryke Source: The Australian

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has told a United Nations meeting on disease management that governments around the world must unite in their fight against big tobacco firms.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has told a United Nations meeting on disease management that governments around the world must unite in their fight against big tobacco.

Ms Roxon says multinational cigarette manufacturers work across borders and governments must therefore do the same to reduce the harm caused by smoking.

A UN general assembly high-level meeting in New York is looking at how best to prevent non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Ms Roxon told the meeting overnight that Australia was taking up the World Health Organisation’s challenge to introduce plain packaging for all cigarettes.

“The big tobacco giants are fighting desperately through multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns and threats of legal action,” she said in her address.

“They are fighting vigorously because they know plain packaging will hurt them by reducing sales, and they know if Australia succeeds in being the first country to implement these laws we won’t be the last.”

Ms Roxon said taking on cigarette manufacturers required resources and political will.

“(But) the fight against big tobacco is one which, together, we will win.”

Draft legislation, scheduled to be debated in the Australian Senate on Tuesday, will force all cigarettes to be sold in drab olive-brown packs from mid-2012.

Graphic health warnings will cover most of the package, which will be devoid of company branding.

Ms Roxon later told ABC Television that other like-minded countries had shown an “enormous” amount of interest in Australia’s plain-packaging push.

They needed to be informed what tactics big tobacco used in the battle, she said on Tuesday.

“We can share this information, we can support each other, we can make sure that everyone knows what’s going on in other countries.

“Tobacco companies are multinational ones, they work across borders, and we need to do that in our determination to protect the community from harm caused by smoking.”

Smoking In Films ‘Should Mean 18 Rating’

http://news.sky.com/home/showbiz-news/article/16073171

20 Sept 2011

Films depicting people smoking should be given an 18 certificate, according to a new report.

Smokers stub out their cigarettes

The report says children should not be able to see movies which show characters smoking

The study by the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies and published by the British Medical Journal, says the cinema glamorises cigarettes and encourages young people to smoke.

It wants smoking to be treated like sex and violence.

Anti-smoking group Ash agrees. Chief Executive, Deborah Arnott said: “Smoking in films encourages children to take up smoking. And that’s no surprise.

“That is why tobacco advertising was banned, because showing images of people, particularly glamorous young people, smoking encourages children to smoke.”

Smoking has a long cinematic history. James Bond, Bridget Jones and Holly Golightly all famously enjoyed a puff.

But under the new proposed rules, children would not even be able to watch classic cartoons like 101 Dalmatians or Lord of the Rings which features a pipe-smoking Gandalf.

Classifiers say it is a matter of proportion. David Cooke, head of the British Board of Film Classification, said: “There is material in some films that glamorises smoking and that is one of the things we look out for as a classification issue.

“Smoking is an issue, but it is not just a concern for film, but TV as well as the internet, publishing, newspapers, magazines – you have to take a look at other types of misuse across a whole.

“You also have to look at other kinds – drugs, alcohol – clearly they are things we have to be vigilant about as well.”

“Smoking in films encourages children to take up smoking.”

Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive, Ash.

According to Cancer Research, by the age of 15, more than one in seven children regularly smoke.

But opinion is divided about whether banning it in films would make them give up.

Movie makers argue it is about freedom of expression and films should reflect real life.

Critic Mark Ecclestone says: “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which will be up in award ceremonies, everyone smokes pretty much constantly in that movie.

“It would annoy a lot of people in that film if they were not allowed to do that as it is detail which gives the whole project authenticity.”

Film censors under fire for failure to stub out smoking on screen

Independent.co.uk

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Tobacco researchers have attacked “incompetent” film regulators and “insouciant” politicians for failing to act upon evidence suggesting that teenagers are being lured into smoking by seeing it in movies.

The call by the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies for a “complete overhaul” of film regulation to protect young people “from pervasive and highly damaging imagery” has been rejected despite compelling evidence.

“Smoking in films remains a major and persistent driver of smoking uptake among children and young people, which the actions of irresponsible film makers, incompetent regulators and insouciant politicians are abjectly failing to control,” wrote Alison Lyons and John Britton from the centre.

Researchers at the University of Bristol found that 15-year-olds most exposed to films in which characters smoked were 73 per cent more likely to have tried a cigarette, and nearly 50 per cent more likely to be a current smoker, than those who watched the fewest films featuring smoking.

The links are even starker when analysed alongside comparable international studies: viewing smoked-filled films more than doubles the risk of a teenager experimenting with cigarettes and increases the risk of current smoking by two-thirds.

This latest research, published in Thorax, has triggered calls for films that feature smoking to be automatically classified as 18 and to be regarded as dangerous as illicit drugs and violence. Stricter regulations over the past decade have limited tobacco advertising on TV, in shops and magazines but this does not extend to smoking imagery in films.

Smoking has played a symbolic role in films: think James Dean in Easy Rider and John Travolta and his T-Birds in Grease. But health experts say most smoking is unnecessary to the plot and characters, yet glamorises a health hazard to impressionable youngsters.

A Department of Culture, Sports and Media spokesman said: “The Government believes the current arrangements provide sufficient control on the depiction of smoking in films and a total ban would be a disproportionate interference. This action would undermine the credibility, and therefore the quality, of domestically produced films.”

©independent.co.uk

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/film-censors-under-fire-for-failure-to-stub-out-smoking-on-screen-2357476.html?service=Print