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Tobacco Industry News
Reports
RJR adds test cities: Smokeless snus 'gaining traction'
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. recently announced that it plans to expand its test marketing program of Camel Snus in May. With this expansion from eight to seventeen major metropolitan areas, Reynolds will be introducing an American-manufactured brand of snus to several cities for the first time. According to a company spokesperson, snus is “gaining traction” among adult tobacco users, even as cigarette smoking rates decline. While some anti-smoking groups have embraced snus as a risk-reduction measure, others argue that this introduction of new tobacco products prevents smokers from quitting. Click here for more information.
Philip Morris USA, RJR pay tobacco settlements
Along with other major tobacco manufacturers, tobacco giants Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds recently made their annual Master Settlement Agreement payments. The 1998 settlement was designed to require tobacco companies to cover $206 billion in healthcare costs and prevention programs over two decades. This year’s payments from Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds totaled $4 billion and $2.25 billion, respectively. Click here to read more.
Actual payments and actual increases in MSA over 2007 and 2008
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has updated the latest numbers for the Total Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) tobacco settlement payments to the 46 states, DC, and the U.S. territories. To see the actual payments to each state and the increases in payments from 2007 to 2008 for each state, click here and here to view bonus payments vs. state tobacco prevention spending information.
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International
Tobacco farmers 'desperate' (Canada)
Canada’s tobacco industry has declined in recent years. Farmers in Ontario have looked to the government for support as they make the transition from tobacco farming to alternative crops. However, the Canadian government recently announced that there will be no buyout for the country’s farmers, and further, no additions to existing exit programs were included in the federal budget. In part, the Ontario growers blame Canada’s tougher smoke-free laws for their decline in profits and lost jobs. Read more here.
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