Every month Trinkets and Trash releases their report from the previous month regarding the latest tobacco news, including ads and contests.
The February edition of Trinkets and Trash boosts something unusual in the world of tobacco…a recall of tobacco products by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company that actually took place at the beginning of February. Customers complained of “sharp metal objects found in select cans” of Skoal, Copenhagen, Cope and Husky causing the recall of 32 varieties. If you hadn’t heard about this recall, you can check out the list here. And whether you have been thinking about quitting or not, now is a great time. You don’t have to find bits of metal in your can of smokeless tobacco to be harmed from using it.
If you have already broken your New Year’s resolution to quit tobacco, you aren’t alone. And one company is letting you know that perhaps you “started to darn big” by trying to end smoking all at once. Just take it one cigarette at a time and use Zonnic gum and mini lozenges instead. They even go as far as to suggest that if you wanted to lose weight, you wouldn’t starve yourself, you just taper off. Zonnic will help you with your quit by providing coupons.
The pressure was on Walgreens during their shareholder’s meeting at the end of January to end tobacco sales, much the same way CVS did. The Walgreens motto “at the corner of happy and healthy” seems contrary with the sale of tobacco products. It appears Walgreens is considering ending tobacco sales.
Internal tobacco industry documents showed the industry targeted minority and African American neighborhoods in marketing menthol cigarettes. It appears the tobacco industry is targeting them once again. Although menthol cigarettes only count for about a third of all cigarette sales, 85% of African Americans smoke the mint cigarettes, compared to 29% of whites. In July 2016, the N.A.A.C.P. “voted to support state and local efforts to restrict the sale of menthol cigarettes.” Now the tobacco industry is countering efforts by public health advocates to restrict menthol sales by enlisting black leaders such as Rev. Al Sharpton to hold meetings to “warn of the unintended consequences of banning menthol cigarettes,” and using the possibility of harassment by police “to counter efforts by public health advocates to restrict menthol sales.” The flyers for these forums fail to mention Reynolds American’s sponsorship.
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