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'Can't let gutkha industry die'  

Ban gutkha, Centre tells Karnataka; CM unaware of advisory  

The Union ministry of health and family welfare has issued a letter advising the state government to ban sale of gutkha (pan masala with tobacco) to prevent its adverse impacts on health due to increasing consumption.

The letter, dated April 25, has been sent to principal secretary, health, EV Ramana Reddy, by the special secretary of Union ministry of health and family welfare, Keshav Desiraju, in the background of growing concern among city oncologists over increasing number of oral cancer cases due to consumption of tobacco in the smokeless form.

Desiraju has said that apart from the risks associated with tobacco, as per the notification by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) (Prohibition And Restriction on Sales), in August 2011, food products should not contain any substance that is injurious to health, and therefore, tobacco and nicotine shall not be used as ingredients in any food products.

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Smokeless Tobacco Study Weighed By Kansas Lawmakers In R.J. Reynolds-Backed Resolution 

• Smokeless Tobacco Study Weighed By Kansas Lawmakers In R.J. Reynolds-Backed Resolution 

Kansas lawmakers are considering a resolution that would require state health officials to conduct a study about the health effects of smokeless tobacco, potentially allowing the state to market smokeless tobacco as a healthier alternative to cigarette smoking.

The Federal and State Affairs Committee of Kansas' House of Representatives has been debating a measure that would require the state's Department of Health and Environment to conduct a study of the health effects of using smokeless tobacco -- commonly known as chewing tobacco -- to determine if it is safer than cigarette smoking.

One goal of the resolution is for the state health department to ultimately make a recommendation to the legislature as to whether Kansas should promote smokeless tobacco over cigarette smoking. The Kansas proposal follows the passage of recent similar resolutions in Nebraska, Indiana and Kentucky -- all backed by R.J. Reynolds.

Richard J. Smith, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds, confirmed that his company has been encouraging the state-based studies. Such studies are in keeping with the company's "tobacco harm reduction" strategy, he told HuffPost. R.J. Reynolds has found scientific evidence showing that chewing tobacco does not pose the same health risks as cigarette smoking, he said.

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Altria Group: Falling Smokeless Products Volumes a Worry  

New carcinogen in smokeless tobacco identified 

Ban on Gutkha on the cards in Odisha  

Comptroller praises Baltimore County for helping snuff out cigarette smuggling  

• HC tells govt to consider curbs on tobacco  

The Allahabad high court in an important direction has directed the state government to now consider the appropriateness of restricting the consumption, sale and distribution of tobacco and nicotine in food products on the same lines as the MP government has already put restrictions on the consumption, sale and distribution of the tobacco and nicotine in food products.

Passing this order on a PIL filed by Indian Dental Association and UP state & others, a division bench consisting of Justice Amar Saran and Justice Anurag Kumar has asked the chief secretary of the state either to put restriction on the same lines as in MP or show cause through the appropriate secretary in this court by the next date on May 23, 2012as to why such a direction imposing the restrictions on the consumption, sale and distribution of tobacco and nicotine in food products may not be issued by this court for enforcement of regulation to 2.3.4 prohibiting the use of tobacco and nicotine as an ingredient in any food product.

The bench has also made it open to the manufactures of the paan masala and gutkha products to move intervention application for clarifying their position by the next date. The petitioner through the PIL seeking ban on the production , sale and consumption of tobacco and nicotine in food products, it has been alleged that the use of the same are causing oral cancer.

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British American Tobacco Wants Tougher Laws Against Smugglers  

Study confirms link between smoking and reduced risk of acoustic neuroma 

New research confirms an association between smoking and a reduced risk for a rare benign tumor near the brain, but the addition of smokeless tobacco to the analysis suggests nicotine is not the protective substance.

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LETTER: Health up in smoke 

Your editorial "Taxes up in smoke" (April 20) could have had the more accurate headline "Health care dollars up in smoke." While tobacco use has been declining, we still spend more than $4 billion a year treating tobacco-related illness in the state. Tobacco remains the number one cause of preventable death and disease. We've got to reduce tobacco use and the evidence is undeniable that one of the most effective ways to do so is to increase the price.

The industry has exploited a state tax loophole with new, cheap, flavored non-cigarette products targeting teens. The Legislature can fix this by equalizing the excise tax, bringing the price in line with that of cigarettes.

Instead of one-size-fits-all declarations opposing any tax, let's have an honest discussion about controlling health costs and keeping our residents healthy.

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• VIDEO: MP becomes first state to ban sale of 'gutka'  

More than seven months after the Centre's new food safety law banned tobacco containing products, the Madhya Pradesh government has been the first state to implement the ban, starting April 2012. Its mandate is very clear, no sale and no manufacture of any food that contains tobacco.

The Madhya Pradesh government has cancelled the licences of 17 gutka manufacturing units and has confiscated tobacco worth over Rs 1 crore, nearly 30 lakh pouches, including Khaini and Zarda.

"Since April 1, we have seized over 30 lakh pouches - in some places being sold clandestinely - we are trying to impose the ban in those places as well – patch as long as khaini is taken through the oral route its banned," MP FDA Ashwini Kumar, Commissioner said.

It's a huge move, in a state where 31 per cent of the population consumes smokeless tobacco.

The move has spurred other states into action, from Bihar where 49 per cent of the population uses smokeless tobacco to Maharashtra where that figure is 28 per cent.

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Unabated gutkha sale in State causes concern  

LAW: Tobacco takes a new smokeless form aimed at youth  

LAS CRUCES -- Cigarette smoking rates are on the decline, but tobacco companies are not taking defeat lying down. RJ Reynolds and Phillip Morris continue to develop new products and recruit new users.

Dr. Erin Sutfin of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center discussed these products with members of the Paso del Norte Regional Smoke Free Network earlier this year. Sutfin is a developmental psychologist who researches tobacco use, particularly among adolescents and young adults. Among other topics, she discussed snus (rhymes with goose), a product peddled by big tobacco.

Snus is flavored tobacco packaged in little pouches, like tea bags. The product is smokeless and spitless. Snus users place the tobacco pouch between the lip and the gum.

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