The FINANCIAL — Many countries put pressure on tobacco companies by restricting the use of flavoured and menthol cigarettes. But in Georgia menthol and other flavoured cigarettes are freely accessible.
In 2009, cigarettes with chocolate, cherry, vanilla and other flavours were banned in the US. And now FDA (Food and Drug Administration) advisors are recommending a ban on menthol cigarettes throughout the US.
Menthol cigarettes are found to increase initiation and reduce cessation. They have also been shown to inhibit nicotine metabolism, causing systemic enhancement in exposure to nicotine.
In Georgia menthol Kent convertible cigarettes were introduced in May 2011 and as many of the smokers interviewed by The FINANCIAL claim, they smoke more menthol convertible cigarettes than they did other cigarette brands before.
In Georgia the situation vis-à-vis any kind of ban is very gloomy. There is no control on imported tobacco ingredients apart from tar, nicotine and CO yields.
It is well-known that one cigarette’s tar contains 80 chemical additives to counter balance the tobacco leaf flavour and make it easier and more enjoyable to smoke.
“Checking tobacco ingredients has never been a practice in Georgia. Tobacco companies are taking advantage of that, importing different flavoured cigarettes which are very harmful for the health,” said Giorgi Bakhturidze from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There has been talk of forcing tobacco companies to disclose ingredients of the cigarettes through government and NGO involvement although no particular steps in terms of legislative changes have been taken,” said Bakhturidze.
As Kakha Gvinianidze from the Framework Convention on tobacco control implementation and monitoring Centre in Georgia told us, it is the 6th year that they have been pressing the Government to issue such a regulation although no practical steps have been taken.
“Chemical additives are in some cases added in Georgia, as Philip Morris is producing Chesterfield and Marlboro and L&M, thus no inspection is enforced on them as it is profitable for the tobacco industry, as well as convenient for the Government not to get a headache from it,” said Gvinianidze.
It’s estimated that the Georgian Government attains approximately 300-400 Million GEL in cigarette excise taxes.
The US Federal Government collected over 7 billion USD from cigarette related taxes, and all the states in the country combined collected an incredible 21 billion USD (by 2007).
Major US tobacco makers even urged a federal advisory panel against banning menthol cigarettes, arguing that such a ban would likely create an unregulated black market.
Roughly 12 million Americans smoke menthol cigarettes, including 75 percent of African American smokers. Many of the menthol cigarette smokers are made up of young people.
Similarly in Georgia the majority of menthol cigarette and especially convertible cigarettes are smoked by youths, especially females. Doctors say that such products increase their addiction to tobacco and make it harder to quit smoking.
As the latest FDA 2011 report says, menthol is present in varying concentrations in 90 percent of tobacco products, including cigarettes that are not marketed as menthol cigarettes.
Apart from the US, the United Arab Emirates is considering the banning of menthol cigarettes and similar recommendations are being taken in Ukraine too.
In Georgia it is common to find flavour and menthol cigarettes, those of BAT (British American Tobacco) Kent and Pall-Mall and several other importers too.
As Sopho Tabatadze, BAT Manager in Georgia claims, there is no difference between smoking menthol Kent or another convertible system.
As she says, convertible cigarettes are obtainable in in Japan, France, Argentina, Mexico, Ukraine, and South Korea and in many other countries.
As Giorgi Margishvili, Philip Morris International Country Manager says, the Ministry of Health and Labour Affairs has to establish regulations for ingredients disclosure, according to article 4, although they’re not yet established.
“On the other hand PM Georgia is fully compliant with the Tobacco Control Law that regulates only tar, nicotine and CO yields in tobacco products in Georgia,” said Margishvili.
As he says, with or without ingredients, all tobacco products cause serious diseases and are addictive.
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