Posted on 01/04/2007 2:05:04 PM PST by ShadowDancer
New Self-Snuffing Cigarettes To Prevent Fires
Six States Requiring Safer Smokes
UPDATED: 2:42 pm EST January 4, 2007
STOCKTON, Calif. -- Many smokers are willing to walk a mile for a Camel, but will they be willing to puff a little harder?
A new California state law that took effect this week requires stores to sell cigarettes that are designed to go out if the smoker stops puffing or drops the cigarette.
Six states have adopted legislation requiring the self-snuffing smokes in an effort to prevent fires.
The new cigarettes have tiny paper bands through which flame is not supposed to burn without the smoker puffing on the cigarette. New York was the first state to require "fire-safe" cigarettes, in June 2004, according to the Sacramento Bee. Vermont, Illinois, New Hampshire and Massachusetts also passed similar laws.
The National Fire Protection Association said that three out of four fires caused by cigarettes could be averted with the safer variety.
Authorities said cigarettes are the leading cause of home fire fatalities, killing more than 700 people each year. One in three of the victims is a child, according so Sacramento TV station KCRA.
Regular cigaretes burn to the end, which can take 10 to 20 minutes. But a fire-safe cigarette stops within a minute after being puffed.
Robert Tuitavuki of the Stockton Fire Department said fires are often caused when people leave cigarettes unattended or fall asleep while smoking.
At some stores, owners have been hearing complaints from customers.
Sunil Sharma of Washington Market said he knows of one customer who stopped coming in because the cigarettes being sold are designed for safety.
Some smokers said they notice a difference in taste, but most said they would rather relight than quit smoking.
R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, two of the largest cigarette makers, want a uniform mandate across the United States. The mandate would be set by Congress, which, according to the paper, which has not taken action.
"We don't want to see a patchwork where states might implement different laws with different standards," John Singleton, communications director for Reynolds' parent firm, told the paper.
In 2005, the first full year that New York required the "fire-safe" cigarettes, the state reported a 10 percent reduction in the number of smoking-related fires, the paper reported. It also said that there was a 26 percent reduction in the number of smoking-related fire deaths, compared to the annual averages from 2000 through 2003.
I smoke self-snuffing cigarettes. I roll my own with 100% pure tobacco. No additives. Pure tobacco will not stay lit without constant puffing. Leave it to CA to reinvent the wheel. (and then prohibit you from using anything else)
"Pure tobacco will not stay lit without constant puffing."
That's why my cigars have to be relit if they sit in the ashtray too long .
i.e. we don't want to live in a republic but a centrally controlled bribe-ocracy run by lobbyists.
Long stem pipe with a blend of cherry and vanilla aromatic.
Flammable ping!
What's next? Bullets that make self-healing wounds?
I would think this would cause people to inhale deeper --- and thus cause more cancer.
Just a random thought.
Exactly what I was going to say: cigars discovered this LONG ago: something about cigar tobacco that requires constant puffing. Never known a fire traceable to a cigar, except on that old Seinfeld episode involving a cabin in the woods. Probably a good thing as far as it goes. Stopped smoking 3 years ago, and I wish everyone would quit. Arsonists, however, will not be threatened because cigarettes were never their tool of choice.
Exactly what I was going to say: cigars discovered this LONG ago: something about cigar tobacco that requires constant puffing. Never known a fire traceable to a cigar, except on that old Seinfeld episode involving a cabin in the woods. Probably a good thing as far as it goes. Stopped smoking 3 years ago, and I wish everyone would quit. Arsonists, however, will not be threatened because cigarettes were never their tool of choice.
Give that man a ceegaar.
ping
It's the paper that keeps 'em burning.
The folks at the tobacco shop tell me it's the 200+ chemicals added to cigarettes that keep 'em burning.
I smoke cigars - all natural.
Thanks! Oh my, it's a Macanudo Ascot! I think I'll smoke that right now.
I smoke self-snuffing cigarettes. I roll my own with 100% pure tobacco. No additives. Pure tobacco will not stay lit without constant puffing.
ditto, Nat Sherman's and other "real" smokes
too much government regulation
Anyway, some of those chemicals include benzenes of different types. You might have seen that listed on cans of automotive lacquers. It's the chemical that really gives that paint a wallop if you don't use a respirator. Some chemicals are used to alter the taste and others, like salt peter, are used to keep the tobacco burning.
Since my state switched to the "safer" cigarets, I've had more problems with possible fires than before. For example, yesterday I lit up, and immediately felt a burn on my hand. That "safe" cigaret did something I've never had happen before: It dropped an ember before it was even puffed on. If that had landed on paper I would have had a fast blaze going.
>>>Regular cigaretes burn to the end, which can take 10 to 20 minutes. But a fire-safe cigarette stops within a minute after being puffed.>>>
A minute is plenty of time for it to ignite the blanket, the chair, or whatever. I'm afraid these new cigarets will lead people into thinking it's safe to smoke when tired.
To pay $45 to $60 dollars for one carton of cigarettes, only to have them packaged in this is totally outrageous!
Boy is that the truth. Tobacco is the biggest government conspiracy/cover-up/scam in US history. I smoke American Spirit. A great tobacco and it used to be a great company in the '90s. They wanted to get Native Americans in the southwest growing their tobacco (or part of it) to help the Indians and for the good promotional aspect of it. The feds slapped that idea right down. There are just so many federal permits for tobacco growing and they aren't making any more. The fact that Indian reservations are supposedly sovereign nations had zero gravity.
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