American Spirit Cigarettes: Do Natural Tobacco and Organic Tobacco Cigarettes Equal Better Cigarettes
Does 100% Additive-Free Natural Tobacco or 100% Organic Tobacco Mean Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company's Green Cigarettes Are Better?
Let's take the first question, first: has the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, makers of the cigarette branded American Spirit, taken advantage of the green movement that's underway? To answer the question, you have to ask a couple of other questions: why would the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company label its cigarettes "natural" and "organic" in the first place; if there wasn't a green movement afoot, would the Santa Fe Tobacco Company bothered with marketing a "natural tobacco" and "organic tobacco" cigarette, especially in the light the times were a-changing southward fast for tobacco companies in the U.S. when Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. introduced its new cigarettes?
In the mid 1990s there was an explosion of lawsuits against the big tobacco companies, and the writing on the wall was obvious to everyone that the tobacco companies were actually, finally, lock, stock and barrel marching off into the sunset to the toll of a death knell. Yet a little tobacco company out of Santa Fe, New Mexico was actually expanding its operations, so much so that it moved in 1996 to the very heart of where the big tobacco companies were scaling back its tobacco growing operations-North Carolina. How is it that while the big tobacco companies were on the ropes, about to go south for the count, arising within the dying tobacco industry was a tobacco company heading north and into greener pastures?
The Organic Food Production Act of 1990, requiring the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop national standards for organic products, is the same year the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. started its "earth-friendly growing programs." The result? The following year Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. introduced its "100% Organic Tobacco" cigarette. So, while big tobacco companies were doing all they could in the 1990s to stem the tide of all of the negative attention it was getting, a little, relatively unknown, under-the-radar, tobacco company saw an opportunity: an opportunity to attach itself to the green, organic, movement quickly taking shape.
The rise of the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. didn't go unnoticed, and in 2002 Reynolds American Inc., the parent company to the better-known R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., came calling. Since 2002, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. has been an "independent operating unit of Reynolds American Inc."
Who allows Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company to advertise its cigarettes "natural" and "organic?" Tobacco is lumped in with foodstuffs you eat under the USDA. Therefore, tobacco follows the edicts pertaining to, and regulations of, the USDA.
Why is the Santa Fe NaturalTobacco Co. allowed to advertise its American Spirit cigarettes as "natural" and "organic?" Again, for starters, tobacco is actually considered a foodstuff by the U.S. government. Therefore, when the Santa Fe Tobacco Company follows the organic requirements that have been established, it gets to label its cigarettes organic.
You can break Santa Fe Tobacco Company tobacco fields in half for the purpose of how it labels and markets its cigarettes: one half of its tobacco is grown following the requirements of the organic ideal; the other half isn't grown following the requirements necessary to gain the organic designation-and that's the tobacco labeled "natural." Certainly, this is the simplified version of how it works, but strip everything else away and that's how it shakes out: if it isn't grown following the requirements of the National Organic Program, one of the only alternatives is to use the catch-all term, "natural."
Finally, does an organic tobacco cigarette or a 100% additive-free natural tobacco cigarette mean it's a better, even a safer cigarette, for you than other cigarettes that aren't natural or organic tobacco?
Ok yes, American Spirit cigarettes are natural in that they don't have all of the chemical additives Marlboro®, Camel®, Kool® and other popular brands of cigarettes have in them. However, natural tobacco is still grown with the use of poisonous pesticides and the like. Plus, you don't have to go any further than the cigarette packaging itself. Not only does the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. warn that "no additives in our tobacco does NOT mean a safer cigarette but, the same Surgeon General's warning that's on the aforementioned chemically-loaded cigarettes is on American Spirit cigarettes, too.
How about the organic cigarettes? Chemicals aren't added to them nor are they grown with the use of pesticides? Ask yourself, "Are my lungs meant to inhale smoke-filled air or air without smoke?" Santa Fe Tobacco Company's American Spirit 100% Additive-Free Natural Tobacco cigarettes and 100% Organic tobacco cigarettes does not mean green cigarettes are better cigarettes?
Published by T. H. Pankey - Featured Contributor in Movies
Lifetime lover of lemonade, iced tea, cafe au lait, and especially food had in New Orleans and New York, T. H. Pankey has worked in a number of restaurants--including one of the oldest and finest dining esta... View profile
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46 Comments
Post a Comment@Taylor: You can't see the forest because of the trees. The "real problem here," as you say, isn't how do we split hairs. The real problem is that organic cigarettes aren't better cigarettes than standard cigarettes, because inhaling smoke is harmful to humans, whether the smoke is from an organic or natural cigarette or a standard cigarette.
The real problem here is that the article doesn't answer the question as it was asked in the title. Had the question been "Do Natural Tobacco and Organic Tobacco Cigarettes Equal Healthy Cigarettes?" Then the answer is clearly correct. But the question asked was "Do Natural Tobacco and Organic Tobacco Cigarettes Equal Better Cigarettes?"; which makes standard cigarettes the point of comparison, not whether smoking itself is good or bad.
@Brandon: No, had you read the comments or looked at them objectively you would have noticed that the majority of commenters DON'T agree with the answer to the question. So no, your characterizing me how you did doesn't apply. I've been repeating the answer to all of the commenters, who say I didn't answer the question, although it's in the article. The question isn't that "clever" either, as you say. It's a simple question that was raised for the benefit of those people who are duped by the angle of advertising by Reynolds American/R.J Reynolds Tobacco Co. & Santa Fe Tobacco Co. And yes, you're absolutely free to talk about the harmful additives in cigarettes. I hope you get strong enough to quit harming yourself by smoking cigarettes, whether the cigarettes are American Spirit Natural or Organic Tobacco cigarettes or another brand of cigarettes. Both require you to inhale smoke itself, and as you agree, inhaling smoke harms you.
T. H. Pankey, what an obstinate ass you are being.
I think everyone here agrees on the answer to your oh so clever question. Inhaling smoke is bad. Got it. Done. No further discussion necessary.
Now can we talk about whether high phosphate fertilizers are causing additional harm due to their emission of radioactive elements into the tobacco? Is this topic off limits for some reason? Do radioactive elements cause cancer?
Yes, some of us smoke. So did Albert Einstein and countless other great men who contributed to society in spite of this particular weakness.
@Mike: Reread the title. Since you missed the question and the clear answer, here it is again: American Spirit Cigarettes: Do Natural Tobacco and Organic Tobacco Cigarettes Equal Better Cigarettes? The article clearly answers that question: No. Organic and natural tobacco cigarettes aren't any better for you than other cigarettes. You inhale smoke from cigarettes, yet the human body isn't created to inhale smoke. You suffocate and harm yourself when you inhale smoke.
This article is as ridiculous as many of the comments posted after it by the people who claim to be against less toxic cigarettes. You are all actually against smoking anything. You have no clear logic or rationality. The question is whether organic tobacco cigarettes are less toxic for you, not whether the human body was designed to inhale smoke. The human body can and does inhale smoke from many sources all the time (car exhaust, wood fires, etc.) It may not be the best choice, but that wasn't the issue. As far as inhaling water (H2O), that's even more idiotic. But, to address it (even though it's childish), humans also inhale water all the time - in very small doses. The sign of a weak, emotional argument is always a diversion or confusion. And this article and many of the comments supporting it are a complete diversion from, and confusion of, the real issues. By your rationale, we shouldn't make safer airplanes because people aren't supposed to fly. Get a life a
Like air pollution particles, we're not meant to inhale particles into our lungs. Doctors have demonstrated via show n tell on tv how it ages our lungs. if you feel it's safe because it's "organic" then why not go try to inhale water?
Ok so Marijuana smoke--> not proven to cause cancer.
There is no difference between natural tabcco, that is stuff you grow in your back yard, that should cause cancer. Nothing suggests that without any additives, in the purest form, that tobacco should still cause cancer.
@BS: Do you also need scientific evidence presented to you that proves the "empty assertion" that inhaling water harms you? Some things we simply weren't created to inhale; smoke and water are on that list.
@Confused as well: The article gives you the answer for which you were looking. You even say it yourself: "We all know smoking is bad for us." Why should you allow yourself to be confused too by a company that calls its cigarettes organic or natural and one that doesn't? "We all know smoking is bad for us."