Lorillard, Inc., through its Lorillard Tobacco Company subsidiary, is the third largest manufacturer of cigarettes in the United States, released it’s quarterly earnings recently, showing it’s progress for the stock holders, and then drops a little nugget, Um, btw, we just bought Blu Cigs with the tune of $135 million dollars.
Ok, they didn’t use those words, but the news was stunning to me. So stunning, I researched it a few times to be sure. Lorillard Inc. makes Old Gold, Kent (a blast from my youth), True, Maverick (remembering days of savaging for change to buy a pack, which are the cheapest? Mavericks? I’ll take a pack. Ah the days of youth) and Newport. Newport is a staple in Miami, and to learn that a major tobacco company sees the future of e-cigs is huge, at least I believe. Maybe we can get those regulations we e-cig smokers have wanted.
The tobacco company on Wednesday also unveiled a $135 million cash acquisition of blu ecigs, a U.S. maker of electronic cigarettes. The deal gives Lorillard exposure to the fast-growing market for the devices, which use small batteries rather than an open flame.
We’ll have to keep our eyes open to see how the other big Cigarette Manufactures respond to this.
Investment group Catterton Partners, a consumer-focused private equity firm, has invested the hefty sum of $20 million dollars into NJoy, a popular E-Cig manufacturer.
Here is the press release:
PRESS RELEASE
NJOY, America’s most popular electronic cigarette brand, announced today that it has received a $20 million investment from Catterton Partners, the leading consumer-focused private equity firm. The investment, which is being made by Catterton Growth Partners, L.P., will be used to accelerate NJOY’s brand awareness, growth and other business development opportunities.*
Americas financial community seems to have taken a long, hard look at the electronic cigarette industry and has finally made a decision. I’m sure the analytics involved has taken every thing that has occurred in the past 8 years of e-cigs growth and found a chance at profit.
On a personal note, this has gotten my attention. Nothing gets the ball rolling as far as innovation, growth and regulations as profit in America. This can lead to good things or bad ones, but it will speed things up regardless and increase awareness to boot.
“NJOY and Catterton are a terrific fit, as both companies are the ‘Gold Standard’ in their respective businesses,” said Craig Weiss, President and CEO of NJOY. “We welcome Catterton not just as an investor, but as a strategic partner that can help take NJOY to the next level.”*
* Reference: pehub.com
A Disposable E-Cig Explodes in Woman’s Hand
as she opens the package. Shona Bear Clark purchased the OneJoy NJOY E-Cigarette from Wal-Mart. While her sister-in-law looked on, Clark opened the package when it them “exploded”. She says the explosion was strong, it knocked over a 15 pound lamp, knocked an art piece of the opposite wall, partially affected her hearing in her “right” ear and caused irritation in her “left” eye. Luckily there seemed to be no damage to her hands at all.
Clark says she called Wal-Mart to warn them as well as called NJoy. Njoy offered to refund her and asked her to mail the defective unit to them so they can find what happened to cause the explosion.
Consumer Reports on E-Cigs
Consumer Reports takes an “Outside” view on e-cigs:
The AAPHP, American Association of Public Health Physician (www.AAPHP.org), said quote
AAPHP favors a permissive approach to E-cigarettes because the possibility exists to save the lives of four million of the eight million current adult American smokers who will otherwise die of a tobacco-related illness over the next twenty years.
A document dated April 2, 2010 that can be found here, shows the AAPHP favoring the sale of e-cigarettes. The list many reasons as well as refer to several works they have on the subject and I highly recommend reading this document.
City-County Council OKs smoking ban: wishtv.com
Indianapolis City-Council approved the proposed smoke ban that will expand the “No Smoking” zones to include bars, bowling alleys, restaurants and hotels… and include e-cigarettes.
If signed by Mayor Greg Ballard, the ordinance would extend a smoking ban to bars, bowling alleys, restaurants and hotel rooms in Marion County.
“We’ve talked and we’ve listened. We’ve studied and we’ve compromised. Now, we’ve taken action to protect our residents and workers and make our city more attractive to business and tourists,” Council President Maggie Lewis in a news release Monday night.
Local bar 30302 East Washington, renamed The Catalina Bars, owner Joe Wilson fought hard against the ban. He feels it will be harmful to his business since most patrons to his bar go there to smoke and socialize. He says he would be behind it if it included the cities of South Port, Speedway, Laurence or Beach Groove.
The new site configuration is now live!
Check out the new site design and stay tuned for even more updates. Over the next few weeks several new layouts will take place as well as formats.
In an article posted in Daily News, Los Angeles, web site Michael L. Marlow gives his view-point on the legislatures actions towards e-cigs. It is a very healthy and honest view from the academia on the entire FDA and other legislature bodies and their handling of the growing e-cig population.
This is a must read for anyone that is interested in what is really going on behind the scenes and how the academia world views e-cigs, not just political figures or die-hard e-cig fans.
In other words, though our knowledge of the health effects of e-cigarettes may be imperfect, we know for sure that they are considerably safer than lighting up a traditional cigarette. It seems public health advocates are more interested in controlling public behavior than seeing smokers choose a less harmful alternative.
WIVB.com manages to post another mis-informed news report on e-cigs joining a long line of “lets post what will stir up the people the most” articles. Amazingly enough, they can help people so much by digging for facts. But, luckily there were several posters that helped “clear up” there miscellaneous mis-facts.
The one that really “screams” of how-did-you-get-that-wrong is:
One of the ingredients the FDA warns of is diethylene glycol. That’s something used inside antifreeze.
I like Anthony Ochoa‘s response the best (which was deleted):
Whomever wrote the article did an amazing job of avoiding the fact that
diethylene glycol (DEG) is NOT used in electronic cigarettes. Nor did
they specifically state that the FDA suggests DEG is used in electronic
cigarettes. To quote the article, “One of the ingredients the FDA warns
of is diethylene glycol. That’s something used inside antifreeze.” Get
your facts straight, or cease and desist from misinforming your
readers.Diethylene glycol is a derivative of ethylene glycol, which IS used in antifreeze, HOWEVER, it is NOT used in electronic cigarettes. The correct chemical would be propylene glycol.
Propylene glycol, which is used in “e-cigarettes,” can also be found in everything from baby food to asthma inhalers to cosmetics to, you guessed it, antifreeze. While still not used as frequently as ethylene glycol, the purpose of of propylene glycol in antifreeze is to offer a safer product to the ethylene glycol alternative. “SIERRA Antifreeze is formulated
with propylene glycol (PG). As compared to ethylene glycol,
propylene glycol is less toxic and safer for children, pets, and
wildlife in the environment. Propylene glycol is used at
specified levels in the formulation of many consumer products
including cosmetics, pet food, and certain over-the-counter
medications.”(Source: http://www.sierraantifreeze.co… )According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry states “Propylene glycol, which is much less toxic than ethylene glycol, is
metabolized to compounds that are normal constituents of the citric acid
cycle.”(Source: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/… )While the FDA considers Propylene Glycol as a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) substance. “Propylene glycol is metabolized by animals and can be used as a
carbohydrate source. Propylene glycol can be ingested over long periods
of time and in substantial quantities (up to 5 percent of the total food
intake) without causing frank toxic effects.” It goes on to say, “The Select Committee has weighed the available information and concludes
that: There is no evidence in the available information on propylene
glycol and propylene glycol monostearate that demonstrates, or suggests
reason to suspect, a hazard to the public” (Source: http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodIn… )
Volcano Cigs releases this new commercial and it’s hilarious:
Top 5 Starter Kits
 | South Beach Smoke |
 | Green Smoke |
 | Halo |
 | Vapor King |
 | Blu |