A small, Virginia-based tobacco company said Tuesday that it will seek the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval to sell a new moist snuff tobacco as a “modified-risk” product with fewer cancer-causing agents. If its application is approved, Henrico County-based Star Scientific Inc. could be the first company to win an FDA designation of a tobacco product as potentially less hazardous to health. “I think (the toba ... Jump to full article >>

Swedish Match North America marketers started in Vail. Now they are handing out silvery sample packs of snus, a traditional Swedish-style snuff, on Wall Street. It’s the clearest sign yet that the Chesterfield County-based company has a different strategy for snus than that of the nation’s top two tobacco firms, which also are pushing the smokeless tobacco. One element: The company is selling snus as a high-end product. “We are ... Jump to full article >>

Gov. Gary Herbert is mistaken when he equates proposals to drastically increase the state’s cigarette tax with the kind of tax increase that would harm a struggling economy. Reasons to raise the cigarette tax are many, varied and compelling. Yes, it would raise revenue — estimates run between $24 million and $70 million, depending on the size of the increase and projections on how many people would quit the habit — but the health benef ... Jump to full article >>

It didn’t get very far, but a bill proposed at the Statehouse Monday raises an issue most of us haven’t heard of — dissolvable tobacco. But Sen. Elliot Werk wants to be proactive and ban the products before they’re even allowed to be sold. The products in question come in the forms of sticks, like toothpicks, and dissolvable chews like mints. They aren’t sold in Idaho yet but they’re being test marketed in Por ... Jump to full article >>

It’s one of the most old-fashioned taxes of all, but the question of what you measure to levy it is emerging as the latest skirmish in the never-ending battle for space on stores’ tobacco shelves. The stakes can be high — a change in the way Texas levied its excise tax on smokeless tobacco has just about driven old-fashioned, loose-leaf chewing tobacco out of the state. Now, in Virginia, the muted clash over the excise tax betw ... Jump to full article >>

Introduction It’s not easy to quit smoking. The nicotine in cigarettes is addicting. Your body craves it because it makes you feel good. So when you try to stop smoking, you go through nicotine withdrawal. You feel awful, and you may worry about gaining weight. You get cranky and anxious. It can be hard to sleep. You’re not the only one. Most people feel bad when they try to quit. The hardest part is not reaching for a smoke to feel ... Jump to full article >>

Smokeless tobacco products, also known as chew or “snuff,” are far from a healthy alternative for tobacco users intending to get a nicotine fix without cigarettes, according to a study published by Portland State chemistry professor Dr. James Pankow. His study resulted in an article named “Levels of mint and wintergreen flavorants: Smokeless tobacco products vs. confectionary products,” which was published in a nationwide journal, Food a ... Jump to full article >>

State officials are seeking $3 million in federal stimulus money to snuff out candy-flavored chewing tobacco and cigars that critics say are aimed at youths. If the Department of Health Services receives the federal grant and lawmakers approve, it would fund a statewide campaign to persuade local communities around Wisconsin to ban sales of products like cherry-flavored chaw. A state official said this backdoor approach could eventually lead to ... Jump to full article >>

When it became clear that the state budget was in crisis mode, three industries with much at stake in Harrisburg opened their wallets. Gambling interests, natural-gas drillers, and tobacco companies have since January spent more than $4.5 million combined on lobbying efforts, according to expense reports filed last week with the state. Those industries were among the few winners in a budget ravaged by the recession. Casinos are poised to introdu ... Jump to full article >>

Derek Jeterteps to the plate again, his jaw churning ferociously on some foreign, sticky substance. It’s just gum, and Jeter will prove that to the world now and then by blowing a giant bubble. But until the silly pink ball emerges, who knows? It might be gum, yet it also could be a pouch of smokeless or dip tobacco – that stubborn, traditional chew of choice for baseball players throughout history. And this is exactly what drives J ... Jump to full article >>