Ingredients Of Mass Destruction

Hey, Hey, FDA;
How many Pesticides did you ignore today?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NON-TOBACCO CIG INGREDIENTS ISSUE BEFORE CONGRESS...TODAY! [i.e., September 19, 2002 ]
*~~~ Will Spiked Cigarettes Finally be Outed? ~~~*

Message below is from a sinister group wholesomely called "Tobacco Free
Kids". Could it be that there are more people than we know about ragging
them, and a host of others, about untested, often toxic/cancer-causing
non-tobacco cigarette adulterants? Though this may be some form of scam
itself, it's at LEAST a MENTION of the topic...a novelty.

But...a few notes:
* "Kids" may already be "tobacco free" when they use cigs that aren't
MADE of tobacco but Industrial Waste cellulose instead, as per many U.S.
patents. (Let's see how they label THIS: "Contents:
Chlorine-contaminated Paper Manufacturing Waste, tobacco flavors,
artificial flavors, artificial aromas, artificial sweeteners, etc etc
etc." But..."Fine Tobacco TASTE" though. Oy.

* Just how remotely likely is a cig labeling law...when such labels, if
thorough, would cause potentially bankrupting liabilities for not only
the cigarette makers but for tobacco pesticide manufacturers (Big Oil and
Big Pharma), suppliers of chlorine-bleached paper, suppliers of the
agricultural additives that are known to become carcinogenic when burnt,
makers of filters with carcinogenic charcoal dust, suppliers of
fire-starting chemicals, and so forth? One does not guess that this
cartel's insurers and investors would care for an Ingredients
List...UNLESS... somehow, they got a liability AND criminal exemption
from Congress for complicity in the deaths of 400,000 U.S. consumers a
year. If the thoroughly hated and demonized Cig Cartel gets out of
liabilities, no U.S. industry can be expected to pay liabilities
again....and there will be no incentive, except PR damages, to conduct
maximally safe business.

* TFK, is "concerned" about "kids" (such a casual, hip and friendly word,
eh?) but has IGNORED dioxins, which are particularly harmful to "kids",
and has ignored "Burn Accelerants" that contribute to so many incinerated
kids and their parents and homes...and neighbors and firefighters. TFK
also ignores, so far, sweeteners and flavorings and smootheners etc that
attract kids who may not care for the "adult" taste of rough, sometimes
bitter tobacco. There probably aren't more than a few hundred "kids" in
the country who smoke (just) tobacco. Maybe more...if you count Bidis
(from India) which, as I understand, JUST have flavor added to actual,
real, no-kidding tobacco. (Cig, insurance and chemical interests hate the
idea of such Safer Cigarettes.)

* TFK here cites formaldehyde, arsenic and ammonia. Formaldehyde...
"usually" (my dictionary says) from methyl alcohol...used as disinfectant
and preservative. TFK fails to tell us what pharm or chemical firms
supply preservatives to Big Cig. Arsenic..a natural mineral element...
could be in soils of ANY crop. Could also be from tobacco pesticides,
but TFK doesn't go into that industrial area. Ammonia...is the ONE
industrial chemical ingredient to get into the news (Weigand, 60 Minutes,
et ilk) but then only to beat up on natural NICOTINE...in that ammonia
speeds up nicotine's effects. Funny that no one mentions the still legal
combo of ammonia AND chlorine in typical cigs. Read your chlorine
cleanser can for SERIOUS warnings about mixing ammonia and chlorine. No
similar cautions on a typical cig. The 599 non-tobacco ingredients
that the industry admitted to are rarely, if ever, mentioned OR exposed
for sometimes becoming toxic and/or carcinogenic when smoked.

* TFK cites the Am. Heart Assn. and Cancer Society and whatnot...as if
these medical business organizations are not up-to-HERE in:
a) chlorine, source of dioxin in cig smoke;
b) radiation, in cigs from phosphate tobacco fertilizers;
c ) and Big Insurance, multi-million dollar INVESTOR in Big Cig (and
likely
pesticides, chlorine, fertilizers and the rest).
Trust THIS "medical" establishment and...you get what you get, namely,
ripped-off, misdiagnosed, unwarned and unprotected from industrial
toxins/carcinogens, and probably poisoned again from their radiology and
drugs.

* TFK says "over 4000 chemicals" in smoke from a single cigarette. There
might be that many in juice from a single organic orange too. TFK
doesn't differentiate between ADDED industrial chemicals (many KNOWN
deadly), and natural chemicals that we've evolved with for a zillion
years. TFK doesn't, as ever, say what KIND of cigarette...plain tobacco,
or the popular processed concoctions. How many "chemicals" would be in
organic tobacco vs. a typical cigarette? ..and what deadly ones would be
in the latter and not the former? TFK seems to be trying to scare us
with the word "chemical".
If TFK likes big numbers...how about mentioning the 450 tobacco
pesticides that are STILL legal in the U.S.? Or better...the
Conservative figure of about $26 TRILLION (!) the cig industry saved by
"settling"? That's based on just 40 years, times 400,000 dead per year
in U.S. (they say), times $1 million only per death liability/penalty.
From that total, subtract the paltry $240 Billion they "paid".)
(Well...THEY didn't pay...the customers/victims did via hiked costs.)
This is money that THEY are keeping, and the public is not receiving for,
say, a Public Health Program.

Do as TFK asks and CALL Your Congress Member! But make sure to
demand that all Pesticide Residues be listed...along with chlorine
content.
Demand that "Burn Accelerants" be listed AND that there be a specific
warning about this idiotic Ingredient of Mass Destruction.
Demand that radiation levels be listed...as they would have been if the
now-stalled Massachusetts labeling law was in effect. Ask for the
Radiation Symbol to be on cigs contaminated by those fertilizers.
Demand that Non-Tobacco cellulose waste that substitutes for real tobacco
be listed....and noted for being "chlorine contaminated" or not.

And...we might also ask for urgent subsidies for Organic Tobacco to save
the farmlands, of course, AND to prevent yet another prison-filling
Prohibition against yet another plant product.

PS: For info NOT found at TFK site...see http://www.ktc.com/~bdrake

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(From "Tobacco Free Kids")
Dear ________,
You can help us keep kids away from tobacco – but you need to act today.

Why doesn't the government stop companies from adding toxins to
cigarettes, require new warning labels and stop tobacco companies from
marketing to kids? Because Congress won't let them!

This Thursday, the U.S. Senate will hold a hearing on a bipartisan bill
that will give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to
help protect our kids. We need you to email and call your U.S. Senator
today and urge them to co-sponsor this important legislation.

For too long, unlike any other consumer product, tobacco products have
escaped any health or safety oversight by the government. Maybe that's
why a smoker inhales over 4,000 chemicals in a single cigarette,
including arsenic, formaldehyde and ammonia. Or perhaps that's why Big
Tobacco continues to market their deadly products to children - and why
90 percent of smokers began in their teens or earlier. Every major public
health group, including the American Cancer Society, American Lung
Association, American Heart Association and the American Medical
Association supports this legislation. I hope that you do too.

We need you to join the fight today. Please click here (or copy and paste
this link into your Internet browser) to send your U.S. Senator a free,
personalized email supporting this important legislation:

http://tfk.grassroots.com/fda/fdahearing//


Alternatively, you may have a greater effect if you call your U.S.
Senator. You can reach them by calling (202) 224-3121 and asking to speak
to your U.S. Senator.
Sincerely,

Carter Headrick
Manager, Grassroots and Field Operations

You are receiving this email message from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free
Kids.