Tobacco and cigarettes store.

A new study reveals thousands of young children are accidentally poisoned by tobacco products each year in the U.S.

The study discovered between 2006 to 2008, investigators found that 13,705 children younger than 6 were accidentally poisoned by tobacco products.

Cigarettes were the most common culprit, followed by smokeless tobacco products, and more than 70 percent of the victims were infants younger than one year. Now, a new dissolvable tobacco items, which looks similar to candy, may cause an added risk.

In a infant or small child, even small amount of nicotine, can lead to nausea and vomiting. Heavy doses can cause weakness, seizures or deadly respiratory arrest. Doctors say the numbers are alarming. They say parents need to get the message: Don’t leave these products around where children can reach them.

The dissolvable tablets come in forms of flavors, and give adults a smoke-free way to get their nicotine fix. But health experts fear children might mistake them for candy, and get poisoned.

The researchers discovered that the pellets included a bigger proportion of “free” nicotine than the average for cigarettes or dipping tobacco.

Free nicotine is more quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, raising the possibility that it could more toxic.

The results came out in the journal Pediatrics.

According to data from the Ocean Conservancy, in 2009 more than 3 million cigarettes or butts were picked up internationally from beaches and inland waterways as part of the annual International Coastal Cleanup – 1 million from U. S. beaches alone, making them by far the most littered item. But that’s just a fraction of the billions of pounds of discarded butts that degrade slowly, and leave unsavory residue that can harm fresh and saltwater fish.

Intrepid TreeHuggers have thought up a few ingenious uses for used butts, and now a Chinese research group (China is the world’s largest producer of cigarettes) just devised a way to recycle cigarette butt juice, turning it into an effective anti-rust agent.

Researchers including Jun Zhao and Ningsheng Zhang at Xi’an Jiaotong University took cigarette butts and soaked them in water for 24 hours, after which time the researchers could identify nine chemicals in the water, including nicotine.

The soaked-butt brew was then acidified and used to coat steel and found to be anti-corrosive. The researchers want develop a process for large-scale recycling, according to Chemical & Engineering News, but believe government help will be needed.

The challenge, of course, is to get together the estimated 4.5 trillion or more cigarette butts that are discarded each year, according to this article in Swedish Ny Teknik and to data from this site.

California is considering a smoking ban at state beaches and parks due to the risk of wild fires and to wildlife.

A man who walked into a convenience store to buy cigarettes early Monday is accused of returning a short time later and robbing the store.

According to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the holdup happened Monday morning shortly after midnight at the Kangaroo at 7302 S.W. Archer Road.

Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Steve Maynard said a surveillance video shows the man coming in to buy cigarettes, then returning about 15 minutes later, pulling a bandanna over his face and putting a hand into his jacket pocket to indicate he had a gun. The man was given an undetermined amount of cash and fled from the store, Maynard said.

No one was injured in the incident.

Despite a request from the Wisconsin Rapids Fire Department administration, new firefighters will not have to take a pledge to remain tobacco-free.
On Tuesday, the city’s Police and Fire Commission rejected the establishment of a no-tobacco-use requirement for new hires in the Fire Department. The proposed agreement required new department members to agree to not smoke, chew tobacco or use any tobacco product whether on or off duty.

Most fire departments in the state have a similar policy, Fire Chief Mitch Waite said. The union understands the importance of a healthy lifestyle for firefighters and endorses requiring new hires sign the agreement, Waite said. Marshfield and Stevens Point fire departments both have no-tobacco policies.

Some commission members objected to interfering with the personal lives of fire department members. Commission member Nicholas Brazeau questioned why the city should ban the use legal substances by employees.

Brazeau said someone smoking in their own home doesn’t put the public in danger. Firefighters drinking off duty can hurt other people, but the city isn’t looking at forbidding alcohol use off duty, he said.

“Where is this going to end?” Brazeau asked. “Are we going to start banning the use of cream because it might increase their cholesterol levels and cause health problems?”

Commission President Scott Paterick said the language of the proposed agreement that new fire department members would sign is too absolute. A man who smokes a cigar once to celebrate the birth of his new baby would be in danger of losing his job.

“Technically, if you smoke one cigar, you’re fired,” Paterick said.

The city is spending thousands of dollars each year on its wellness program and doing testing to be proactive with employee health, said Beth Bakunowicz, Wisconsin Rapids human resources director. The proposed no-tobacco policy is asking employees to take responsibility for their own health.

The Police and Fire Commission is the ultimate authority in deciding whether a firefighter would lose his job, Bakunowicz said.

Currently, there are firefighters who smoke, Waite said. They aren’t allowed to smoke in the stations or the vehicles, but they can do so outside. Firefighters who do smoke risk losing some disability benefits that are available to nonsmoking firefighters who contract some cardiovascular illnesses that can be associated with firefighting.

Paterick said the Police and Fire Commission would be willing to consider a no-tobacco policy with less restrictive language than the one discussed Tuesday.

Brazeau said he’d support a no-tobacco policy for firefighters when they’re on duty, but not when they’re off duty.

Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. has been chosen as the consultant for the sale of Bulgarian state tobacco company Bulgartabac.

The Bulgarian Privatization Agency announced Thursday that Citigroup Global Markets Limited had been picked after four companies had originally bid for the consultant role including a tie-in between KBC Securities and Tokushev & Co, Raiffeisen investments- Kamburov and Renaissance Securities.

Citigroup Global Markets Limited represents the European investment banking arm of US-based financial services giant Citigroup. Its activities include underwriting equities and fixed-income products, equity research, and banking services for multinational corporations, middle-market enterprises, and small businesses.

At the end of last year Bulgaria’s Energy, Economy and Tourism Minister, Traicho Traikov, announced that the starting price for the state share in Bulgartabac Holding would be around EUR 100 M.

ASU student Zachary Dorn is concerned he can’t find 15 feet of clean air while walking to his classes because the air on campus is filled with cigarette smoke.
“The smallest amount of smoke causes me to have an asthma attack,” Dorn said.
Tuition hike proposed for new ASU freshmen
Courtney Roake, member of the Health and Counseling Student Action Committee, spoke last week at a town hall discussion at Arizona State University’s Tempe campus about making all ASU campuses tobacco-free.
“We want to inform students that smoking is not the social norm,” Roake said.
HCSAC has spoken to ASU President Michael Crow about the issue, and he recommended the group submit a referendum, Roake said. The students have collected more than 3,500 signatures from classmates, faculty and visitors to support the policy.
“I did have smokers sign the petition,” Roake said. “Many, many smokers.”
The main goal of HCSAC is to help people quit smoking by showing them the tools and resources available to quit. There are many counseling services available on campus, and less than three minutes with a counselor increases someone’s chances of quitting smoking by 30 percent, Roake said.
Approximately 6 percent of college students smoke daily, according to a study in Roake’s presentation. That means more than 4,000 ASU students smoke every day.
“That’s a lot of cigarette butts,” Roake said.
More than 350 universities nationwide are tobacco-free, including the University of Florida. ASU would be the largest university to have a tobacco-free campus.
Chad Williams, HCSAC chairman, voiced his opinions about the success of the tobacco-free programs at other universities. Students at other campuses are respecting the rules.
But School of Sustainability student Natalie Fleming is concerned that ASU won’t be able to enforce the no-tobacco policy on such a large campus because she feels the university already fails to enforce the rule about smoking 25 feet away from buildings. Fleming has an allergy to an ingredient in cigarettes and visited the emergency room after someone was smoking outside the open window of her dorm while she was taking a nap.
Williams said the rule of smoking 25 feet away from buildings is harder to enforce than a strict no-smoking rule. Being 25 feet away is very vague, he said. No one specified if it’s 25 feet away from doors, windows or vents.
Arizona has had the biggest decrease in smoking since the Smoke-Free Arizona law was passed in 2006, said Becky Henry, member of the Influence, Guide, Network for Intercollegiate Tobacco Education. Smoke-Free Arizona banned smoking in most enclosed public places. She said that imposing such a policy on ASU’s campus would have the same effect as it did in other public places.
Williams discussed possible consequences for people who do not comply. Consequences could include handing out compliance cards with resources about how to quit smoking and issuing fines. The money from the fines collected would go toward the education, prevention and enforcement of the policy.
Freshman Taylor Anglen is a swimmer. He is concerned secondhand smoke on campus is negatively affecting athletes’ performances.
“Since I’ve been on this campus,” Anglen said, “I’ve had more encounters with smokers.”

The Jan. 24 column by Tom Barton, “Tax tobacco not teachers,” and subsequent coverage of State Rep. Ron Stephens’ proposal to raise cigarette taxes promise that it will not only improve our health, but also solve our budget problems.
If only it were that easy.Cigarette taxes are a quick go-to for politicians looking to fund their spending habits.
But when raising cigarette taxes become a kneejerk reaction to budget shortfalls, we need to take a step back and look at all the facts.
Should the Georgia Legislature unfairly single out cigarettes for increased taxation while vowing not to raise taxes?
Unfortunately, it seems that government wants to play a bigger role in our personal lives every year, making decisions about our finances, hobbies and health habits that used to be up to individuals to decide for themselves.
If smoking is their target today; what will it be tomorrow?
But aside from the philosophical argument, there is a strictly practical reason to rethink raising cigarette taxes. There is plenty of data to suggest that it doesn’t work, that higher taxes on tobacco products consistently fail to produce the higher projected revenues.
Higher taxes on cigarettes increase their retail cost and encourage more people to give them up or to go looking for cheaper cigarettes somewhere else. Either way, the intended revenues don’t add up.
Tying something as important as funding government programs – the justifying concern in the column and legislation – to a tax that is designed to bring in a steadily declining revenue stream doesn’t make sense. It might provide a short-term fix, but one that virtually guarantees us of insolvency down the road. We often fall into these fiscal traps, only to face a renewed crisis as a result.
And the short-term solution is no sure thing either.
For example, the state of New Jersey raised their cigarette excise tax by 17.5 cents in 2006. As a result, their tobacco tax revenue dropped by $22 million a year. The governor’s answer? Raise taxes another 12.5 cents a pack.
In many cases, raising tobacco taxes doesn’t make people quit; it just moves them to do their shopping in another state. If we raise the tobacco excise tax, Savannah area retailers located close by the border can expect to see their revenues plummet – and tobacco sales constitute a hefty portion of the business done by numerous merchants, especially small, neighborhood stores.
Another common reaction to increased cigarette taxes is for smokers to turn to Internet vendors. These scam artists, many operating out of foreign countries, don’t charge taxes at all, nor do they pay them – failing to provide the state with legally required cigarette taxes.
In addition, their business model of online ordering, credit card payment and mail order delivery make it possible for kids to buy cigarettes anytime they want. No ID check to worry about; all they have to do is beat their parents to the mailbox.
Unfortunately, as nice as it would be for a simple cigarette tax hike to solve all our problems, it just won’t work. There is still no substitute for fiscal responsibility. Whether they like it or not, lawmakers should have to bite the bullet and figure out a way to live within their budget, just like the rest of us.
John Heavener is president of the Georgia Retail Association in Atlanta.

Virginia State University’s Agricultural Research Station has been awarded two grants totaling approximately half a million dollars by the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission to research potentially profitable alternative crops for former tobacco and other small farmers in Southside.
“First and foremost, our goal is to rally to the aid of former Virginia tobacco farmers who are seeking to replace substantial income lost since termination of the federal tobacco price support program,” said Dr. Wondi Mersie, associate dean for research in VSU’s School of Agriculture.
“By increasing their incomes, we will simultaneously enhance Virginia’s agricultural economy,” he added.
The Agricultural Research Station received $238,750 to study the capability of oilseed crops-mustard, and canola-to produce biodiesel for use in diesel engines, and ethanol for use in gasoline engines.
As the project’s principal investigator, Dr. Harbans Bhardwaj, a VSU professor and research scientist, will also lead research on legume crops-mungbean and chickpea -for use as food and feed in domestic and import markets, and as feedstocks for ethanol production.
Field experiments will be conducted on VSU’s 416-acre Randolph Farm and at demonstration sites in Carroll, Franklin, Grayson and Patrick counties.
Dr. Tadesse Mebrahtu, a VSU research professor and agronomist, eceived $226,281 to research and promote Edamame, an edible soybean, as a feasible, practical alternative to tobacco.
“This vegetable is considered to have healthful benefits and has become a popular food item in grocery stores and in some fast-food restaurant salads,” Mebrahtu said.
Objectives of the project are to increase awareness of Edamame’s potential as a cash crop, and to foster development of related small business enterprises (processing, seed sales and a marketing cooperative) in Southside Virginia.

There is a worrying lack of safety data on electronic cigarettes,despite their growing popularity with the public, two leading Greek researchers have warned.
In the British Medical Journal, they say that without more evidence it is impossible to know if such products actually do more harm than good.
Some studies have raised safety fears, but retailers argue e-cigarettes are a healthy alternative to the real thing.
Users can inhale nicotine without tar, tobacco or carbon monoxide.
The Department of Health suggested consumers “exercise caution”.The report authors said consumers should stop using the devices until ongoing safety studies reported back within the next year.The World Health Organisation is among those to raise concerns about the safety of these new types of cigarette substitute, which deliver a nicotine hit in a fine vapour.
And in the past year, US regulators have detained and blocked numerous shipments of e-cigarettes at borders because the devices are not approved.
In the UK, it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes as a “quit smoking” aid.
But they are widely available to buy as a “cigarette alternative” over the internet and are sold in a number of places, including some bars and clubs.
Andreas Flouris and Dimitris Oikonomou, from the Institute of Human Performance and Rehabilitation in Greece, say there have been three main reports on e-cigarette safety – one by US regulators, one by a publicly-funded Greek research institute, and another by a private company in New Zealand.
The US Food and Drug Administration report expressed concern after finding different brands of the battery operated device delivered markedly different amounts of nicotine vapour with each puff.
The FDA also detected traces of powerful cancer-causing chemicals.
The Greek institute Demokritos took a neutral stance on the products and did not find any evidence of chemical contamination.
Private enterprise Health New Zealand did find cancer-causing chemicals in products, but concluded that overall e-cigarettes should be recommended on the basis of the health risks associated with smoking normal cigarettes.
The researchers told the BMJ: “The scarce evidence indicates the existence of various toxic and carcinogenic compounds in e-cigarettes, albeit in possibly much smaller concentrations than in traditional cigarettes.”
Callum Reckless, director at Smart Smoker, a company that sells e-cigarettes, said: “I believe that electronic cigarettes are indeed a safer alternative to smoking real cigarettes.” He welcomed more research into the safety of the products.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said it had been working with regulators to test the products and that none of those tested so far complied with product safety regulations.
She said the government was working to ensure e-cigarettes were labelled and sold appropriately.
“The Department of Health is not aware of any evidence about the long-term safety of e-cigarettes and, as such, would suggest that consumers exercise caution.
“E-cigarettes are not promoted by, or available on, the NHS,” she said.
Deborah Arnott, of the charity Action on Smoking and Health, said: “We do need better data on safety and appropriate regulation for e-cigarettes, although these products are certain to be significantly less hazardous than cigarettes, which lead to premature death in half all long-term users.”
She said there was demand for the products from smokers – UK estimates suggest around one in ten has already tried them.

The Customs Department has uncovered an illegal factory involved in the processing of imitation “Half Time 5″ and “League” cigarettes in Kampung Baru.
The discovery was made following the arrest of the factory lorry driver at Bandar Country Homes Rawang at 4pm on Tuesday.
Customs deputy director-general Datuk Mohammad Khalid Yusof said the lorry was carrying 1.1 million cigarette sticks, worth RM110,000.
Following his arrest, the department raided a factory in Sungai Buloh and found it to operating without a valid licence, he told reporters at the factory Wednesday.
He said 700 boxes of blended tobacco, weighing 4,095 kg and valued at about RM614,250, involving tax of RM379,371.04, were seized from the factory.
The department also seized 585,360 cigarette sticks worth RM105,364.80 and four machines, comprising a cigarette making, packing and wrapping machines, all worth RM1.5 million, he added.
Mohammad Khalid said the department was investigating the factory owner.