Question by : Is there a difference in tobacco from the old, “banned” Djarum Blacks and the new supposed “cigar” version? Hello, I have been smoking blacks on and off for years now. Then they got banned. Now they have the new 12 pack versus the old 20, and it says filtered clove cigars instead of cigarettes. I bought my first pack today and they look, smoke and nearly taste just like the originals. They are bigger with colored papers, but they still have the filters (no more sugary tip).
Now, is there a difference, or did Djarum just re-label their product to make it sellable?
Best answer:
Answer by Carrie That’s sad to hear. I used to smoke those all the time and haven’t had one in probably 2 years. I can’t believe they got rid of the sugary tip, that was the best.
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If you love cigars–if you’re a truthful cigar aficionado–you likely deal with the Vacation Conundrum at about this time every year.
What’s the vacation conundrum? It’s the issue of which cigars to bring on your vacation.
After all, you don’t want to bring anything that could get crushed. (Long, thin cigars are just about ruled out by this principle.) Sure, most hardcore cigar aficionados have their own travel cigar humidors, which reduces the pressure to bring cigars that will go well in a suitcase; but you’ll want to keep a few out of the cigar humidor, in your carry-on or next-to-you-in-the-car baggage, in case an opportunity presents itself to take a quick smoke. (Who knows–you might fly through one of the handful of United States airports, most small-to-medium-sized and located in the South or Southwest, that calm letting smoking in certain locations.) And those loose cigars that don’t go in the travel humidor? You don’t want anything that would be excessively easily destroyed.
And, of course, what if your in-transit smoke break is fleeting–as are most things in travel? For example, what if you fly through a smoke-tolerant airport with its own small lounge near the tarmac, but you only have twenty minutes before you have to catch your connecting flight?
And, even assuming that you’ve got a travel humidor to bring along–being the cigar aficionado you are–still, isn’t travelling itself fairly hectic? Won’t you want a cigar that’s perfect for those little interstices in the day: the fifteen minutes betwixt getting back from eating and leaving for the museum; the mini-siesta between the end of the day and the lingering dinner at a fine restaurant; the fifteen-minute walk to your next bus stop? When you’re travelling, is it really clock to break retired the fat Churchills? A premium cigar sampler full of the fat cigars possible is really not what you want in your cigar humidor at this point.
All these reasons seem to conspire together to suggest the following temporary change to your normal smoking routine, whatever it is: when on vacation, smoke a small cigar. Cigars with a diminutive ring gauge, truncated length, and squatty, short construction make the best, most convenient companions on your travels–especially those cigars that have big taste in a short container! The problem is, your not-so-premium cigar makers have also figured out that most of us don’t have a lot of time for smoking, and they’ve accommodated by making big tins full of things that have the look and, to the untrained observer, the mystique of cigars but don’t have the construction, rich taste, or premium tobacco. Machine-rolled small cigars are often sold in little tins to cigar smokers on the go. But premium cigar aficionados will want to know if there are any hand-rolled premium cigars that they can instead. And thankfully, there are!
–Coming from 1 of the best-regarded premium cigar companies in the world, there’s the mild-tasting Macanudo Ascot.
–For an exotic taste, consider the Natural Jucy Lucy, with its Syrian and Turkish binders.
–Though it comes in a plated, like some good-known machine-made small cigars, there’s nothing tinny (or machine-made) about the taste of the brilliant H. Upmann Aperitif. A bulk purchase of these fine handmade premium discount cigars might have you wondering if your tastebuds are suffering from wishful thinking. They’re not.
–Acid Blondies, with their unique combination of tobaccos and their short, strong construction, make a strong possibility. (The slightly bell-shaped Acid Kong Cameroon makes another one.)
–The all-Nicaraguan CAO Criollo Pampas sells for under five dollars a stick.
–The pointy Don Tomas Cameroon Perfecto combines Mexican, Dominican and Brazillian tobaccos with a Cameroonian wrapper for taste perfection.
Better yet, build your own premium cigar sampler from all of these items–or inactive others! The kinds of travel-ready cigars you’re looking for will have a ring gauge under five.
provides you the opportunity to build your have sampler of the finest that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.
Those who love cigars know that Honduras is one of the world’s best places to make them. After all, this Latin American country has been a prime tobacco-growing location for centuries, and its cigar industry boomed again after 1959, when many longtime Cuban cigar makers fled the Castro regime for neighboring countries-including this one. No wonder that Honduran cigars-including those from La Fontana, Camacho, Carlos Torano and La Libertad-sell better than any others in the United States, with the exception of the Dominican Republic.
But how many of us know much about this rich, fascinating country? Like the other Latin American countries which might be said to form the world’s “cigar belt”-Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Brazil, and Mexico-Honduras’s past affects its position as a producer of fine tobaccos-and just possibly its future.
Honduras is, first of all, a proud and epic country: the Mayan Empire, during its classic period (150-900 CE), built cities near the present-day site of Copan, bequeathing a set of ruins that beguile archaeologists and inspire visitors. Christopher Columbus “discovered” this country-already rich in lived history-on his fourth voyage of 1502, and even the story behind the country’s name is romantic. Columbus, it is held, on reaching the Bay Islands near present-day Honduras’s coast, whispered the words “Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas Honduras”: “Thank God we have emerged from those depths.” “Honduras” means “depths,” literally and metaphorically.
Honduras was run by the Spaniards until 1821, when it, along with the other Spanish American provinces of the Spanish Empire, gained independence. Border disputes with other Latin American countries, especially El Salvador, have led to intermittent fighting through the years, and the country has suffered under bouts of political oppression, particularly during the 1980s (when extrajudicial executions, torture and “disappearances” became frequent, albeit not as common as in neighboring Nicaragua). Honduras remains a developing country, especially after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 (which also destroyed much of Nicaragua): according to then-President Carlos Roberto Flores, the superstorm destroyed half a century’s worth of economic gain and developmental progress in less than a week. Seventy percent of that year’s crop died-a small loss for smokers, who depend on the country for its sublime tobacco, but a barely-survivable one for the nation’s small farmers.
But the country did survive. In recent years it’s even boasted an annual growth rate of seven percent-one of the best in Latin America. (Still, half the population remains in poverty.)
Along with the cultural and personal strength that allowed Hondurans to survive such a disaster, the country is also strong in another kind of resource: ecological ones. In less than fifty thousand square miles, it contains over six thousand species of plants, two hundred kinds of reptiles, and seven hundred bird species. In the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve-added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites in 1982-it boasts one of the world’s great rainforests. These areas may hold the key to greater understanding of evolutionary and biological history, or to new drugs. Like several other Latin American countries which depend largely on farming, yet are blessed with ample ecological resources which must be maintained, the country has faced and will continue to face a difficult balancing act in deciding how to use, without exploiting, its environmental riches (which include the soil in which its excellent tobacco is grown).
Given tobacco’s importance as a cash crop-it gives Hondurans something to sell to the United States, and it also gives them a certain leverage with other Latin American countries, as tobaccos of all types flourish in its soil-it’s not surprising that Honduras is not following in the anti-smoking footsteps of, say, Brazil. Percentages of smokers are still relatively high (in the low thirties for men, a rate comparable to that of the US) and public smoking regulations are fairly light (you can’t smoke on the bus or in the hospital, basically). Perhaps this is one tobacco-producer that smokers should consider seeing firsthand. After all, with its considerable natural beauty and light regulation of smoking, this could be a cigar lover’s paradise!
provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.
Nowadays, the number of cigar smokers has been increasing more than ever before. There are many reasons why people have switched to smoking cigars from cigarettes. The first and foremost reason is health, as cigars are comparatively much healthier than cigarettes. This is because tobacco used in cigars is less detrimental to health. Due to the advent of many cigar brands with diverse flavor and accessories, there has been a huge boom in the cigar industry.
Cigar accessories
Cigar cutters, ashtrays, savers, oasis and clothing are popular cigar accessories that give smokers additional satisfaction. Even cigar clothing is very popular among people. Hats, boots, jackets and trousers are popular types of cigar clothing worn by smokers. These are specifically designed for cigar lovers and exhibit a logo of a favorite brand. Cigar clothing is very celebrated among those who are loyal to a particular brand.
How are cigars and cigarettes different?
People generally think that there isn’t a large difference between cigars and cigarettes, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, cigars and cigarettes are different in both size and the type of tobacco used. Generally, cigars are more uniform in size and are comprised of less than one gram of tobacco. On the other hand, cigars can differ in size and shape and can be larger than 7 inches in length. In fact, large cigars can contain between 5 and 17 grams of tobacco. Generally, people take between 1 to 2 hours to smoke large cigars, whereas most cigarettes take less than 10 minutes to smoke.
How to find a cigar?
In to make the process of buying cigar easier, online cigar stores have played a vital role. Especially in the cigar boom of the last decade, online stores have revolutionized the industry and have made the purchasing of cigars cheap and stress-free. Both online as well as offline stores offer a variety of brands, from the low-cost to the premium. Nowadays, Cuban cigars are considered one of the sought after cigars, thus they are expensive and difficult to find. But with the presence of the internet, one can find various tobacco cigars at cost effective prices. But a simple search through the internet offers many different types of cigars at cost effective prices due to competition in the online market.
GothamCigars.com is one stop shop which provides the freshest selections of premium , humidors and cigar accessories. You can online from here at discount prices.
Since its release in 1999, the Ashton VSG has been the most successful blend of Ashton cigars to date. This is a very full-bodied cigar known for having a smooth and deep draw and a rich, complex, intoxicating flavor.
The term VSG stands for Virgin Sun Grown in reference to the fact that all tobaccos used in these cigars are sun-grown by nature. This powerful line is the personal handiwork of Carlos Fuentes Jr. himself, who worked in partnership with Ashton for a total of two years.
Four to five year-old Dominican tobacco is hand-picked from the most fertile plants. The unique flavor of the Ashton VSG comes from a wrapper that is grown on a private estate in Ecuador owned by the Oliva family where it is grown for the Fuente Family exclusively for Ashton. The wrapper matures slowly by sunlight filtered through the region’s natural cloud covering.
This is a powerful cigar with an intoxicating flavor with a complex rich finish. It is blended by Carlos Fuente Jr. using 4 to 5 year old Dominican tobacco hand-picked from the most fertile plants. The unique flavor of the VSG comes from a wrapper that is grown on a private estate in Ecuador owned by the Oliva family where it is grown for the Fuente Family exclusively for Ashton. The wrapper matures slowly by sunlight filtered through the region’s natural cloud covering.
This complex blend of flavor and color are derived from a couple of things. The first is the Dominican filler and binder that make up the heart of each of these fine cigars.
Carlos Fuente Jr. himself blends this line, using 4-5 year old Dominican tobacco that is hand-picked from his very best plants. A more complex layering of flavor derives from the superb Ecuadorian wrapper. The Ecuadorian wrapper is matured very slowly in filtered sunlight that trickles down through the natural cloud covering hovering over the Oliva familys private estate where it is grown.
The Ashton VSG is considered a full body smoke. Generally, it is most appreciated by veteran cigar aficionados who appreciate complexity in flavor and aroma. It is also a good cigar for bold new smokers who want to try something more powerful simply for the sake of appreciating the virtues of strength. Those who do so find that it has a creamy flavor as well that makes the draw as pleasant as it is powerful.
In fact, many cigar reviews have described this cigar as having an elegant, intoxicating flavor. Just after lighting, it has floral notes and flavors that remind you of plum. It also tastes distinctively of natural tobacco. Hints of spice, clove, and cinnamon are also present.
The Ashton VSG becomes moister toward the middle. Many report a leathery component and cedar sweetness. Toward the end of the smoke, a note of raw peanuts can be tasted. It is also well-loved because it has a slow, even burn thanks to an even and firm construction.
The Ashton VSG is distinctively square in shape that it has become a known form. You can also these cigars in a round shape if that is your preference. The most popular size is the 55 ring-size Torpedo. Ashton also makes this blend in ring sizes of 44, 46, and 52.
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In tobacco-related news: Recent reports in several media outlets throw some light on the deepening problem that illegal small cigar factories, known as chinchals, pose for the Cuban government. It turns out that other United States neighbors face similar problems in managing the flow of tobacco.
A flurry of news reports suggests that Canada is having trouble controlling contraband tobacco–generally tobacco either stolen from producers or sold off-the-books in to avoid the country’s high tobacco taxes. The scale of the problem? No one’s entirely sure, but one of the largest Canadian tobacco companies has suggested that untaxed revenue from contraband tobacco is costing the country billions of dollars. And in a recession, that’s not chump change.
The same study (funded by industry groups) found that up to thirty percent of the tobacco used in Canada is illegal. That number balloons to forty or fifty percent in places like Ontario and Quebec.
One reason this is a serious issue is such tobacco, often sold on the super-cheap in bulk to consumers for a rate that amounts to pennies per cigarette, does not have to clear any health, safety, or quality control boards.
In addition, the larger the trade gets, the bigger the revenue that the government misses out on taxing–which creates big problems for a society with such a generous tradition of social spending. It also means lower for convenience stores and other legitimate businesses, not to mention the tobacco companies themselves, who figure their lost revenue at nine hundred million.
Where is this tobacco coming from? The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (who seize large amounts of the stuff every year) say it’s coming from the United States. More specifically, they trace some of the tobacco to the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve near Ontario, which extends across the US-Canada border. Thus the problem with enforcement: the tobacco is coming from a place that crosses national boundaries, and has a certain amount of limited freedom from both. Several levels of a couple different governments need to be enlisted in any effort to significantly reduce the tobacco influx … as well as, most likely, a study of who is producing this tobacco, and what economic, social or legislative changes might reduce their incentive to do so.
In the meantime, say critics, the Canadian government could at least prohibit of tobacco products such as rolling papers to those who don’t, you know, have a license to make or sell tobacco products.
In any case, news reports don’t mention a widespread illegal-cigar tobacco problem. And cigars do indeed represent a less attractive option for counterfeiters. Cigar aficionados are looking for better-quality cigar tobacco, and part of the reason for growing illegal cigar tobacco is that you don’t have to do quality control. Also, chopped-up cheap tobacco is easier to transport and hide than the full-leaf kind that tends to make a great cigar. Illegal cigar-making tends only to happen in cases where there’s a strong incentive to do so, as in Cuba … and people don’t exactly stream across the border for these great Canadian cigars.
Still, in a troubled economy, how long before we can expect to see similar problems arise in the other areas? In the meantime, the Canadians’ problem is one more reason to cigars from a trustworthy, known source.
provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.
Smoking has become the affliction of a large magnitude of people and others seem to be joining the smoke bandwagon at an alarming rate. Smoking has become a very common sight with one out of every fifth person being a smoker. The trend of smoking has become very common among teenagers also. The problems one gets due to smoking are many, but they do not seem to encourage people to stop smoking or deter people for starting to smoke. The hazardous effects of smoking are many, but people do not seem to be paying heed; the tobacco companies seem to be the only one is reaping the rewards out of smoking.
Since tobacco was born, it has been a few companies dominate the tobacco industry. These companies control most of the production and distribution around the world. They are quick to adapt to their policies and tactics to conform to the regulations set by the government and cater to the needs of the ever-increasing number of smokers around the world.
Tobacco companies of the world
A few companies hold the tobacco production and control of tobacco; the three largest companies sell close to two thirds of the entire supply. The stagnation in demand has prompted them to explore new markets.
The government is in a predicament since the tobacco industry accounts for a vast amount of jobs, but it also has to protect the health of its citizens. The government has tried to cut down on smokers by increasing the taxes imposed on them. By increasing the taxes on tobacco products and leveling higher duties on the companies, the companies are forced to raise the prices, which indirectly reduce use; since higher priced goods will be used less often. There is not much the government can do since tobacco is not a banned product.
The large companies also diversify their business to keep abreast in the market. They use various ways the companies diversify.
By market segments: Products are usually divided into categories, from high priced premium cigarettes to low and middle class of cigarettes. Companies with big brand names sell premium high priced cigarettes but also expand in to lower class to protect them from susceptibility. A decline in of premium cigarettes will be ploughed back by the in the lower or middle brands of cigarettes.
By target group: Every cigarette has its target group. By creating a new target group, the company can raise its overall market share. Thus the need to branch out into women cigarettes and target young people.
This targeting of women and youngsters has been seen in bad light. The tobacco industry has long targeted young people with its advertising and promotional campaigns. One of the most memorable, “Joe Camel” campaign initiated by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, helped generate public outrage against tobacco company efforts to reach young audiences and it is no longer used. The reason is obvious, most people start smoking at an early age. Getting a hold on a new segment will increase its share in the market.
Women are also a segment that the industries try to win over. Cigarettes for women are put forward as a symbol of liberation and some even shown in the light of slimming products. Manufacturers produce (long, slim) cigarettes especially for women. Perfumed or scented cigarettes with exotic flavors are targeted at women. Cigarettes usually have the word “slim” or “lights” to attract women consumers. Minorities are also a target for the tobacco industry.
Diversification by tobacco products: cigarettes companies also try to branch out into other tobacco products. For example, Imperial tobacco has decided to branch out into the roll your own segment; it dominates both the tobacco and the paper for this segment.
Diversification by non-tobacco products: food seems to be the favorite for companies seeking to diversify. R.J. Reynolds bought Nabisco (which, in turn, was later acquired by Kraft) owned by Philip Morris. Japan Tobacco derives a (small) part of its from food. Logistics and wholesaling are another favorite
Austria Tabak, wholesaling of tobacco and other products (and the operation of vending machines) makes up a large share of turnover. Over 20 per cent of Altadis’ earnings originate in its logistics division. Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni owns the largest wholesaler of consumer goods in Denmark. BAT tried financial services (but, since 1998, is a pure tobacco company).
Diversification into food and other activities makes the tobacco companies less dependent on (slow-growing) of tobacco products. However, the profit margins in these industry are usually well below those attained in tobacco processing. Producing and marketing cigarettes remain the more lucrative activity.
Incase of diversification by geographical market, OECD-based tobacco companies are keen to reduce their dependence on their stagnant home markets and establish a presence in markets where growth is above average. After having started business in many markets in Latin
America, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Central Asian republics in the 1990s, their center of attention is shifting to the Far East. All the major tobacco companies now have a presence in Poland, Russia and the Central Asian republics. Austria Tabak, which gained a presence in
Estonia when it acquired the cigarette activities of Swedish Match also has a 67 per cent market share in Guinea. The company was considering entering Asian markets when it was taken over by Gallaher in June 2001. Through this take-over and the acquisition in 2000 of Liggett-Ducat, the Moscow cigarette maker, Gallaher greatly reduced its dependence on the UK market. Similarly, Japan Tobacco became a world player when it acquired the international activities of R.J. Reynolds. Thanks to a relentless internationalization drive, Germany’s Reemtsma now sells less than one-third of its total in its home market (compared to over 60 per cent in 1991) (see also figure 6). It is now on the go in several Central and Eastern European countries and, in 1999, it acquired Cambodia’s Paradise Tobacco Company.
The government.
A predicament is generally faced by the Governments all across the world. On the one hand, tobacco-growing and processing can makes a large contribution to employment, tax revenue and foreign exchange receipts. In many developing and formerly centrally planned economies, the tobacco companies have made sizeable and most welcome investments when other investors were disinclined to do so. On the other hand, governments have the responsibility to protect the population’s health. Smoking is harmful to health and treating people for smoking-related illnesses is expensive. This can lead to heated debates within the same government as each sector defends the interests it believes it should represent.
The economic importance of tobacco growing and processing differs from country to country. At the national level, cigarette ( and import) tax can be a main source of government revenue. In Russia, cigarette tax revenue contributes around 8 per cent to the financing of the state budget.
When the government owns the industry, it receives profits in addition to tax. That is why, in so many countries, State monopolies continue to control cigarette trade and production. In China, proceeds from state-owned CNTC amounted to the equivalent of US$11,000 million in 1999. CNTC has been the Chinese State’s top revenue generator for years. Japan Tobacco earned more than US$400 million for the Japanese State in the fiscal year ending March 2000. The monopolies can also play a social function. In Italy, several of the state monopoly’s factories are to be found in areas of high unemployment.
Then there are balance of payments issues to mull over, many low-income countries rely on the export of cash crops such as tobacco to pay for the service of their foreign debt.
Tobacco exports made up close to 10 per cent of Cuba’s exports in 1997-98. In the case of
Tanzania it was 15 per cent, In Zimbabwe over 25 per cent and in Malawi tobacco exports made up two-thirds of commodity exports.
Citizens smoke. But, if they smoke domestically produced cigarettes, using homegrown tobacco or use imported cigarettes and tobaccos can make a large difference when foreign exchange is scarce. That explains why so many countries try to restrict the imports of cigarettes and encourage domestic producers to use local tobaccos, for example, by providing a favorable tax treatment to companies that use a minimum percentage of homegrown tobaccos. The cigarette companies have also been a key source of investment in the formerly centrally planned countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. When others were disinclined to invest, those companies saw the possibilities offered by a blend of pent-up consumer demand, outdated production facilities and the association with independence and “western style” living that so appealed to the people in these countries after many years of central planning and little consumer choice. After having lobbied successfully for the reduction of restrictions of Asian markets such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, the large tobacco companies are eagerly waiting for the opening up of the other economies (notably China) that continue to restrict imports from and/or investments by foreign tobacco companies.
Tobacco growing, processing and exports can thus make a significant involvement to national employment and national income. Yet, however important tobacco growing and processing may be at the national level, its full economic and social significance is best grasped at the micro or regional level. In some regions, tobacco is grown side by side with the crop, which is the main source of income; its contribution to overall income is modest. However, in many others, tobacco is a main source of income and employment.
Tobacco growing and tobacco processing may bring substantial economic and social benefits, but the treatment of smoking-related illness is costly. Cigarette smoking causes cancer. It is addictive. The WHO estimates that tobacco products cause around 3 million deaths per year. Cigarette smoking is the major cause of preventable mortality in developed countries. In the mid-1990s, about 25 per cent of all male deaths in developed countries were due to smoking. Among men aged 35-69 years, more than one-third of all deaths were caused by smoking. The costs of treating all these people are clearly enormous (WHO, 1997).
So far, smoking has not had the same impact on mortality among women and among people from developing countries. There is an approximate 30-40 year time lag between the onset of persistent smoking and deaths from smoking. The effects of the greater incidence of smoking between these two groups will thus be felt with a lag, but it seems reasonable to believe that its impact on them will not differ fundamentally from that on developed country males.
It may be argued that smokers willingly take a certain health risk when enjoying their smoke. They like the taste and all the other things that they associate with smoking. Nevertheless, this does not apply to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or “second-hand smoke”.
Smoke gets in your eyes your clothes. Moreover, it gets in your lungs. Non-smokers cannot escape from smoke in badly ventilated areas. To be exposed to other people’s tobacco smoke can be a nuisance in addition to being a health risk for non-smokers.
Governments and conflicting pressures: How do they get by?
In practice, governments have opted for several strategies (which are often followed simultaneously). A recent strategy consists of seeking compensation for the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses. It has been followed with success in the United States, as we saw in section 3.4. Governments also set rules regarding the maximum content of hazardous substances in cigarettes. Most of all, however, governments try to discourage demand for what is, as the industry does not tire of telling us, essentially a legal product.
This is done in a variety of ways, with some governments applying particular vigor and others taking a more relaxed approach. Overall, however, the trend is clear: governments’ rules on smoking are becoming ever more restrictive. The use of tobacco products is being discouraged in several ways.
Limitation of the space where smoking is allowed.
This is done above all to protect non-smokers from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke. Smoking is being prohibited in public places (particularly health care and educational facilities) and in mass transport. Legislation requires restaurants to reserve space for non-smokers.
Limitation by age group
It is prohibited to sell tobacco products to people under a certain age.
Limitations on points of .
The use of vending machines is being restricted because these cannot discriminate against to young people.
Health warnings stating that tobacco is harmful to health have become obligatory.
The warnings must be placed on packets and in ads, with the authorities prescribing the text and the minimum space allotted to the warning in the ad or on the pack. Governments sponsor education and public information programs on smoking and health.
Advertising bans. Restrictions concern the location of ads, the media used (no billboards, no ads in the printed media or in cinemas), the images presented (no young people, no cigarette packets), and the time when broadcasting is allowed (not during hours when children watch television).
The manufacturers are unhappy with these restrictions, and in particular with the ban on advertising. In their view, it is not proved that such a ban discourages demand for cigarettes (as its proponents claim). They are concerned about its effect on the value of their prime asset, the brand name.
Worldwide, the tobacco-processing industry employs hundreds of thousands of people. However, due to a combination of slow demand growth, consolidation, and higher productivity, this number is unlikely to increase by much in the near future. Fewer people are needed per unit of production. The industry is becoming less intensive in the use of labor. Tobacco growing, in contrast, gives work to millions of people. It continues to be a highly labour-intensive activity. The scope for productivity increases in tobacco growing would appear to be more limited than those in tobacco processing.
Over a million people are employed in the world tobacco industry
However, of this number a high percentage is employed in just three countries: China, India and Indonesia. The large number employed in China comes as no surprise in view of the large number of cigarettes (one-third of the world total) produced there. Still, the productivity gap with the United States is striking. China produces roughly three times as many cigarettes as the US, but it needs over nine times as many people to produce them. In the other two countries, the scope for productivity improvements would appear to be even higher.
THE SCENARIO TODAY.
The situation concerning smoking are scary, if global trends continue as they are doing today by 2030 more than 8 million people will die each year from tobacco related causes-80% in the developing regions of the World. In India per example where 120 million smoke 1 in 5 men will die for smoking. Smoking is on the decline in developed nations but is on a large-scale rise in developing or underdeveloped nations. The statistics are frightening, every eight seconds someone dies from smoking; about 15 billion cigarettes are sold daily. There are 1.1 billion smokers in the world today, and if things continue as they have, that number is expected to increase to 1.6 billion by the year 2025.
Smoking and use of tobacco products is on a decline in most developed countries. However, it is on a rampant increase in other developing countries.
In the US, there has been a decrease in the number of smokers. This can be attributed to the growing awareness of the damage smoking causes to the health of the individual. There is however a sad side to the story, smoking has increased to a drastic level in other countries and the figures are staggering.
China is home to 300 million smokers who consume upwards of 1.7 trillion cigarettes a year, or 3 million cigarettes a minute. As many as 100 million Chinese men presently under the age of 30 will die from tobacco use. There are approximately 120 million smokers in India today, and it is estimated that in the year 2010 alone, there will be close to one million tobacco-related deaths among men and women age 30 to 69 in India. Worldwide, tobacco use will kill more than 175 million people between now and the year 2030. Current tobacco-related health care costs in the United States total US $81 billion annually. Germany spends an average of US $7 billion, and Australia, US $1 billion each year on health care directly related to tobacco use. Health care costs associated with secondhand smoke total US $5 billion a year in the U.S. It is estimated that as many as 500 million people alive today will be killed by tobacco use. The statistics are chilling.
One reason for the sudden spurt in the numbers in these countries may be due to the arrival of tobacco companies. The lax stand of the governments in these countries makes it a good bet to start business. The anti smoking lobbies in these countries have not been able to combat the increase. Increased awareness has made it hard for tobacco companies to work in many countries and so the tobacco companies have shifted their sights to greener pastures.
These countries have a very small anti smoking lobby and the government restrictions o them are not so tough and the government is dependent on the revenues it earns from them. Setting up business in these countries has resulted in increased used of tobacco products.
The anti smoking lobby has been very effective in curtailing the spread and increase of smoking around the world.
Advertising related to tobacco has is banned in most countries. Warnings of the harmful effects of the product have to be printed on the packet. This statutory warning is mandatory in most countries. The WHO in its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into effect on 27 February 2005 has specified that all 168 countries should ban advertisements unless their constitutions forbade them to do so.
Today, we are aware of the hazards of smoking. Even though the people are aware of the harmful effects of smoking they rarely seem to pay heed. Everyone knows that smoking causes cancer, heart diseases and can shorten the life span of an individual. It is a highly addictive habit and smokers are at a risk of losing ten years of their life.
With so many smokers around the world, tobacco companies are the only ones gaining form the increase.
Smoking Joey-Heavy Smoker –
If you are smoking-try to quit- but in the meantime-smoke for less.
