Thursday, March 3, 2011

candy-like tobacco products as dangerous as smoking

FARMINGTON — The Davis County Health Department hit the ground running this week after receiving $10,000 to educate youth and camel orbsparents of the dangers of candy-flavored tobacco products.

On Tuesday, Davis County commissioners approved a contract with the Utah Health Department for the funds which will be used to begin an education campaign against the products, health officials say are being marketed to young people.

Most of the products aren’t on the shelves of Utah retailers yet, but they are being test-marketed at locations throughout the country, and they will eventually be here said Sam North, a health educator with the Davis County Health Department.

The products, marketed under brand names like Orbs, Strips and Sticks, usually come in small packages which can be mistaken for breath mint or candy packages.

Only Snus, a no-spit tobacco pouch meant to be placed under the upper lip, has found its way to Utah.

And they come in fruit flavors like peach. “I’ve smelled them and they smell pretty good,” North said.

He said the flavors are such that many adults would not be drawn to using them, but kids with their sweet tooths may find them attractive.

But make no mistake about it they do have nicotine, North said, which offers a “buzz,” something like smokers get from inhaling a cigarette.

The department has already received the grant and has begun putting together educational materials through the Davis County Youth Council. Once the material is compiled, the department will be in junior and senior high schools throughout the county to share the dangers of the products.

North said they will also be educating parents and will eventually meet with area city councils.

He added that those making the presentations in schools will have samples of the products to show kids. “They have a candy-like structure and a candy-like flavor.”

He said teens who know about the products are aware of the dangers, but parents are often shocked that the tobacco companies are marketing to children.

North said the tobacco companies in their own defense point out that the packages have child-proof safety packaging, “but adults, who also often have trouble opening the packages will pour them into a plastic bag which a child can get into,” he said.

That leads to more calls to the poison control centers for people with nicotine poisoning.

In the past, the department’s health educators have warned that if a child ingested as few as three Orbs, a dissolvable breath-mint sized tobacco, with a camel imprinted on each, they would get ill and ingesting 10 could result in a serious illness.

North said the dangers of prolonged use are similar to the effects of chewing tobacco and could lead to sores or even cancer of the mouth or tongue if enough are ingested.

Smoke

Smoking May Actually Be Healthy For You

Smoking may actually help reduce the risk of breast cancer in some women, according to a study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study found that smoking reduces by 50 percent the risk of developing breast cancer in women who have a rare genetic mutation that can lead to to the disease.

Studies have shown evidence of an inverse relationship between smoking and the risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease. In fact, most studies show that the more one smokes, the lower the risk level.

Scientists reported at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting that they're encouraged they can design medications to capitalize on the benefits of nicotine without cardiovascular and other side effects. Apparently, they found that Nicotine-like compounds can improve memory and might one day be used in pills to treat disorders like Alzheimer's disease. [CBS Marketwatch, Nov 8, 1998]


What Is the Leading Cause of Death in America?

Is cigarette smoking the single most preventable cause of premature death in the United States?

* The CDC estimates 434,000 smoking related deaths per year in the U.S.
* The number of babies that die from abortion in the United States is 1.2 million a year.

A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals, and government health statistics shows that American medicine frequently causes more harm than good. The number of people having in-hospital, adverse drug reactions (ADR) to prescribed medicine is 2.2 million. Dr. Richard Besser, of the CDC, in 1995, said the number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed annually for viral infections was 20 million. Dr. Besser, in 2003, now refers to tens of millions of unnecessary antibiotics.

The number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually is 7.5 million. The number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is 8.9 million. The total number of iatrogenic deaths is 783,936. It is evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the United States. The 2001 heart disease annual death rate is 699,697; the annual cancer death rate, 553,251.