Tobacco.org -- News, Credits & Awards Page
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant" -- Justice Brandeis
Tobacco.org is a free resource center focusing on tobacco and smoking issues. It features tobacco news, information, assistance for smokers trying to quit, alerts on tobacco control issues, and open consideration of all aspects of the spectrum of issues concerning tobacco, nicotine, cigarettes and cigars.
It began in 1988 with Gene Borio's news-posting service on Compuserve (where Borio was a forum leader), Prodigy, and later AOL. A BBS (Electronic Bulletim Board Service) began in 1993, and the website began in 1996. Since 2000 it has been run by Gene Borio and Michael Tacelosky.
Contacts:
Gene Borio
tobacco.org
PO Box 359
Village Station
New York, NY 10014-0359
212-982-4645
http://www.tobacco.org/
geneb@tobacco.org
Michael Tacelosky
Smokescreen
1502 21st. Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-955-9099
tac@smokescreen.org
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MISSION:
July 15, 1993: Tobacco BBS Established
(Original press release defining TBBS' origin, function, and goals)
http://www.tobacco.org/Graphics/0506toba.jpg
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AWARDS:
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"Tobacco BBS is an essential resource for anyone doing research on the tobacco industry, tobacco litigation or smoking issues."
Dow Jones Business Directory (08/01/97)
http://bd.dowjones.com/showreview.asp?ID=820&gif=industries
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USA Today HotSite Award! September 26, 1996
Tobacco Affairs
Will tobacco executives get indicted? Will Congress overcome it's addiction to tobacco money? Fire up the Tobacco BBS for some smoke-related current affairs. http://www.tobacco.org/
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/ch0926.htm
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2nd USA Today HotSite Award! May 7, 1997
Tobacco BBS
If you're feeling confused by tobacco current events, an expanded TBBS aims to clear the air. With the latest info on the legal/legislative wrangling, including news, documents and events. As the site says: "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." http://www.tobacco.org/
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/ch0926.htm
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Netscape's 
Cool Site Award
http://directory.mozilla.org/Health/Substance_Abuse/Tobacco
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StudyWebÆ Academic Excellence Award
March, 2001
http://www.studyweb.com/images/sw_award.gif
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A NetGuide Live! 4-Star Site (top rating)
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IWAY 500 Winner!
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StudyWeb Award
http://www.studyweb.com/images/sw_award.gif
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Featured in WebActive
July 22 - 28, 1996
Featured Site Review
Tobacco BBS
The Web site for the Tobacco BBS opens with a quote from Justice Brandeis that reads, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." Building on the metaphor, one could say that this site is a scouring supernova.
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Argus Clearinghouse Approved------------------------------------------------------------------------
Netsurfer Digest January 11, 1998
Tobacco in a Nutshell
Tobacco's winding story is the subject of A Capsule History of Tobacco, an interesting textual browse. Its snippets follow a Tobacco Timeline: Columbus' brief description of tobacco, and subsequent signal events; the great age of the pipe (the 17th century, not the 1960s); the age of snuff (18th century), the age of the cigar (19th century - unless you count today), and the rise of the cigarette (the age of Bogart and Philip Morris). Celebs old and modern abound: Francis Drake, Pocahontas, Walter Raleigh (beheaded, by the way), Peter the Great, Thomas Edison, and more. Lesson one: A lot of people have died over disputes about tobacco.
http://www.tobacco.org/History/Tobacco_History.html
http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/nsd.04.01.html
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Netsurfer Digest Oct. 24, 1996
BUT HIS LUNGS WERE WEAK AND HE WAS OUT OF MATCHES
The Tobacco BBS focuses, more or less objectively, on smoking, though most of the material leans toward the anti-smoking camp. . . The meat of the site is divided into news, health, resources, documents, culture, and activism sections.
http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/v02/nsd.96.10.24.html
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Tobacco BBS Explodes Disinformation--
Wins a 4-grenade award "Excellent Site"
http://www.disinfo.com/prop/narco/prop_narco_thetobaccowars.html
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ARTICLES:
Tobacco Industry Gets Microscopic Treatment on the Internet
Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 16, 1998Now, if all this smoking talk is giving you a headache, an antidote is www.tobacco.org. . . You'll find the latest news about the tobacco industry, with a heavy dose of lawsuits, research and other material about smoking's health hazards. This is the place to go to get the latest on ongoing tobacco-related litigation
http://www.gateway-va.com/pages/news/tobac/1998/0216chip.htm
Tobacco Historically Given Little Media Coverage
St. Paul Pioneer Press Jan. 25, 1998
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/news/mtc_docs/018704.htm
The Net Serves as Command Central in Tobacco Wars
St. Paul Pioneer Press March 24, 1997 To many online activists, the Internet is filling a void left by newspapers and magazines that long ignored the biggest public health story of the late 20th century. "The situation we have today basically is [due to] the complete failure of the advertising-driven model of journalism," said Borio. . . "We have been under 40 years of blackout of tobacco information."
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/archive/tobac/dox/tob324.htm
Article on Tobacco BBS from the Mullins, South Carolina Tobacco Market
http://www.tobacco.org/resources/general/mullins.html
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Kudos to Tobacco BBS' Esteemed News Story Contributors
Stan Shatenstein, Medical Journal Editor.
Larry Breed
John Ricci
Michele Wronski
Karen Zielaski
John Ferguson
Noah Meyerson
Taylor Caffery
Mary Jayne Hellebust
Ed Sweda
Jon Krueger
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Prized Tobacco BBS benefactors:
Michael Tacelosky
Julia Carol & Diane Jones, Americans for Nonsmokers Rights
Gary O. Galliher, Galiher DeRobertis Nakamura Ono Takitani
Dr. Alain Poirier, Comite de Comm.,Tabac de la Monteregie
Gregory M. Johnson
Peter Singer
Ross Hammond
John Ferguson
Karen & Greg Hartley
Armon F. & Evelyn L. Yanders
D. Gordon Draves
Sam Orlando
D. Wyatt, American Lung Assoc. of Metropolitan Chicago
Cliff Douglas
Brian Wickwire MD
Hye-Joo Kim
Dave Cundiff, MD
William J. Butler, Ph.D.
Dr. Michael Cummings, Tobacco Control Program at Roswell Park Cancer Institute
John Stanley, Esq.
Dave Klitaske, Esq., Robins Kaplan
[anonymous]
[another anonymous]
[and another anonymous]
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About Gene Borio
About Gene
I'd love to tell you all about myself, my life, etc., but I'm too busy collecting tobacco news!
The best I can do right now is refer you to: Philippe Boucher's Rendez-vous with . . . Gene Borio
I do enjoy hearing from people, feel free to write to
Best,
Gene
Gene Borio Tobacco.org PO Box 359 Village Station, NY 10014-0359
FUNDED BY TTAC