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BY Briana Bierschbach
PUBLISHED: 11/30/2008
They don’t look very different and they cost about the same, but starting Monday, all the cigarettes in the state of Minnesota will be “fire safe.”
A law passed in 2007 goes into effect Monday, requiring all cigarettes sold in the state to be fire safe, meaning the cigarette self-extinguishes if left unattended for too long.
The new bill is being applauded by tobacco control advocates and firefighters across the state as being the most important fire-prevention legislation passed in more than 30 years, Nyle Zikmund, Legislative Committee Chair for the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association, said.
“In terms of fire safety, when you take in combination the number of civilian lives and the hazard posed upon firefighters, there just isn’t anything that even comes close to addressing this problem,” Zikmund said.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, cigarettes are a leading cause of home fire fatalities in the United States, killing 700 to 900 people per year. They may have also played a role in a 2003 house fire that killed 3 University of Minnesota students.
Kim Wencl, the mother of one of the students who died, said there was never an official cause of the fire that killed her daughter, Liz Wencl. However, she’s fairly sure it was careless smoking and is happy with the new fire-safe cigarette law.
“I hope this new law will save many lives in the future," Kim Wencl said.
Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, has been pushing for the fire-safe cigarette since 1987.
But recently other states have adopted fire-safe cigarette legislation. About 15 states passed fire-safe cigarette laws in 2008 alone, and states like New York have had fire-safe cigarettes on the shelves since 2004.
Positive results from other states with fire-safe cigarettes finally gave the law some momentum in Minnesota after 20 years, Marty said.
“I think the cigarette industry just figured they have so many other fights and this was just one they were going to lose,” he said.
With more states signing fire-safe cigarette laws, Marty said he hopes this will eventually become a federal law.
Minnesota's law doesn't specify how to make the cigarette “fire-safe”, but the most common technology used by cigarette manufacturers is to wrap cigarettes with several thin bands of less-porous paper that slow down the burning of a cigarette.
If a fire-safe cigarette is left unattended, the burning tobacco will reach that paper and self-extinguish.
Although there were early fears that the new cigarettes were made with chemicals that could endanger the users’ health, the National Fire Protection Association found no evidence that they were more dangerous to smokers, Lorraine Carli, spokeswoman for the NFPA, said
A study performed in 2005 by the Harvard School of Public Health also found no substantial differences in toxicity between fire-safe cigarettes and their conventional counterparts.
However, some convenience stores are having technical issues with making the switch.
Becky Dombrovske, an employee at the BP Gas Station on University Avenue near Dinkytown, said the station has had issues with having to enter all new codes for the fire-safe cigarettes.
But Dombrovske said they have known about the change for several months and have been transitioning for the last few weeks.
“That’s just what has to happen when you get a new product in,” she said.
Laura Gislason, a senior studying geology at the University of Minnesota and a smoker, said this new law is a great idea.
“I have heard of several situations where people I know have had to evacuate their apartment because someone burnt their apartment down,” she said. “This will just be much safer overall.”
27 Comments
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They should also ban smoking
They should also ban smoking in general.
They should also ban...
insipid commentary.
hahaha...right. Maybe they
hahaha...right. Maybe they should ban driving motorized vehicles and booze while they are at it; oh and guns too. Then we would have a super safe world!
The Americans in general
The Americans in general should quit thinking their independent and pay their debts or go back to work, you know you guys shoulda put them FSSC's in the World Trade Center, better luck next time. You all are murderers and you will have your days in Hell on Earth
It must be difficult
Yes, and overeating, and alcohol consumption, and bad thoughts, and anything that could be considered an indulgence or a sin. It must be difficult to be so morally perfect. A burden I wouldn't want to carry...glass houses and all :)
Firesafe?
People are getting sick from these cigarette. We need to know what is in them to cause them to go out.
How about the danger, while driving, of having to re-light this ridiculous cigarette SEVERAL times? Or the fact that the cherry falls off at random in the car. That's very safe. Way to go Steve Marty. We'll see a lot more auto related deaths now. What's next? A candle that goes out every three minutes?
Or how about this - the government takes away regular milk and makes everyone drink goats milk, just because it's "safer" and won't clog ateries.
A Dictatorship Regime is what this is.
fsc
The reason that i am online right now is to fine out what the difference is between a fsc and one that is not. they taste alot different and they do go out. BUT WHAT MAKE'S THAT DIFFERENCE? Can you help with this question, i think we should all know the ansure!
Thank you, Gary
I have been doing a lot of
I have been doing a lot of research lately on the additive the cigarette companies use to make the "safer" cigarettes. The coalition fighting for the legislation refuses to disclose the information, as well as the cigarette companies, but through perseverance, I have found that the chemical used is called sodium silicate. Inhalation of the chemical can cause severe irritation of mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract. Symptoms may include burning sensation, coughing, wheezing, laryngitis, shortness of breath, headache, nausea and vomiting. High concentrations may cause lung damage. Great! More lung problems!
I haven't been sick in years. Now myself and both of my parents (who are also smokers) are sick as heck. It cannot be just a coincidence. And screw anyone saying I should just quit. Over 40,000 people die every year from car accidents. Maybe the government should make everyone walk to their destination. Or, in the 2 months Christmas trees are used, 200 fires are started. Is the government going to take those away from us too? This is ridiculous. I already can't smoke in public places. Don't take away my enjoyment of a cigarette after a meal in the privacy of my own house you friggin' Nazis. The same people who are careless with a cigarette will be careless with candles and fireplaces. In the 10 years I have smoked, I have never once fallen asleep with a lit cigarette in my hand. So why am I being punished?
I agree 100%
Everyday there is one more law or legislation passed that takes away one more freedom. This is ridiculous, with all the problems in the world the most important thing the law makers have to worry about is messing up my cigarettes. Why dont they focus on feeding the hungry, not in africa, but in our own backyard. Smoking is a choice, and it should be an individual choice. My wife has complained about shortness of breath since the FSC came about. And what is strange is that I knew nothing about them or how they were made until after I started smoking them. Great way to introduce harmful chemicals to the American public. Just suprise them with absolutely no explanation or warning.
I have been doing a lot of
I have been doing a lot of research lately and discovered American Spirits don't use the chemical. Instead, they use cornstarch to ignite the flame. I don't know if there is any reprocussions with cornstarch, but I guarantee they would be farr less severe than with a man made chemical. That leads me to wonder why all cigarettes don't just use cornstarch if it is just as effective.
Or extinguish the flame
Or extinguish the flame rather.
FSC
I have been doing a lot of sole searching as to why I should stop smoking. I know it is expensive, stinky, foul to the hair and clothes, bothers my wife but I tryed to hold out saying "I want to smoke and that is it."
Now, however, I am really pissed our government would allow some forign chemical to be introduced to a consumable product with out the FDA approval or testing or some thing. As of today I will not spend a dime on a smoking product purchased over the counter. Imagine what would happen to the cigarette industry if all Americans just stopped buying cigarettes. That industry is as large as the auto industry, so what the American government would bail them out too...?
The God of Israel will
The God of Israel will enslave all these Haters in less than a dollar is worth
All FSC should be called ASW cigarettes, can you say a mini personal Auschwitz Death Camp for your lungs
LOL
You are correct and at least
You are correct and at least Saddam Hussein was better than these Devils (Americans) you murderers can all smoke the English FSSCs and give USA back to England, are not you all fiends anyway.
Saddam Hussein would let you smoke weed too.
Also, if you die from Melanin Poisoned Milk is it safe to say you died because you were Lactose Intolerant, Anyone who sells these Cigarettes should be thrown off the edge of our Earth
Goddamb this land until they remove FSSC nazi cigarettes,
Why shall we build a furnace when you can just smoke your self to death, LOL
REPEAL THE SO CALLED "FIRE-SAFE" CIGARETTE LAWS PLEASE>
Please help stop the genocide passed into law, with no public input or consent, under the guise of "Fire-Safe" cigarettes; at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/repeal-fire-safe-cigarette-laws . Thank you. Please pass this along to every smoker and friends of smokers you know. Please make our elected officials (by the people, for the people...) aware that they have been duped by James M. Shannon's Coalition For Fire-Safe Cigarettes' hate crime. Thank you.
fsc cigarettes in MN
I have another effective way to show the passers of this silent law that it is violating our rights. I am not going to pay state taxes until it is repealed. There is too much control and I won't put up with it.
The Baby Boomers are guilty
The Baby Boomers are guilty of Murders
The Baby Boomers are murdering each other
Maybe they all should have died in Vietnam than bitch and complain about Peace, if this is Peace than a Nuclear War and Worldwide Destruction would be better than being murdered by our government slow with FSSC cigarrettes,
Wake up Amerikkka before you are all dead and cant wake up anymore
More People die from Peanut Allergies than all of the Fire Related deaths like the World Trade Center,
Dont you idiots know someone fell asleep at their desk with a lit cigarette, and the evil tobacco companies flew a plane into it to cover it up,
These FSSC cigarettes will Murder more people than Bin Laden could ever fathom
Go to Hell you Communists
If this were your
If this were your Grandparents generation war would be all over America over this, but you yankers just do not know how much worse your freedom is, your freedom is even worse than the freedom that Iraq used to have. Now they are as you all in the States a bunch of Slaves indebted to the Queen.
This is phase One you Traitors, Phase II you will see how high these FSC cigarettes murdered Millions of Evil Smokers
Rebel or Die of Pnemonia, LOL
FSC's
These cigarettes also made me sick. Headache, sick stomach, shortness of breath, they taste like crap too. I opened my first package unaware that anything had changed, I thought I was coming down with something. I have not smoked another of these vile cigarettes since I figured out what was causing my illness. I wonder what the impact of this will be on their precious tax revenues. It is still mind boggling to realize how many smokers do not know what they are ingesting into their bodies. The anti-smoking Nazi's (and their cohorts in government and the media) will gleefully claim that the sickness and death caused by this "fire safe" additive was really caused by just smoking. These are evil people. The extent to which they have poisoned the minds of so many of our fellow citizens against smokers is astounding and frightening. People wonder how the German people could have stood by while Jews were being incinerated. This is how.
I roll my own cigarettes, and
I roll my own cigarettes, and they go out.
I did a study on the potassium nitrate (saltpetre) that is used to keep the commercial cigarettes burning(in the old style cigarettes) and discovered that THE most prominent warning came concerning the use of saltpeter, and that was that it caused cancer.
Google it for yourself, cancer and saltpeter.
The cigarette makers have not added anything to keep the cigarettes from burning, but have just left out the saltpeter.
When i went to rolling my own , i stopped coughing and hacking and was again able to take full breaths and the noxious taste was greatly lessened.
I did the research because i noticed the dramatic change in the way that i felt. I would say that the great lessening of heart attacks and cancers in the states that have imposed smoking restrictions comes from the removal of saltpeter from the cigarette paper.
I think that the great cancer causer has always been the Saltpeter, and not the tobacco smoke.
To my fellow smokers
Let face it, we have not owned our addiction from the moment we put our first cigarette to our lips. We are the victim here. Tobacco Company has engineered cigarettes to more addictive making it harder for us to quit. Think of all the times in your life you tried to quit only to go right back to it. The tobacco company has taken away your personal right to quit when YOU have been ready to do so. Where was my governor in banning cigarettes manufactured with added nicotine in the great state of Pa.
I too have experienced the side effects of the new chemicals in our cigarettes. Headache, sick stomach, shortness of breath, coughing and I’m dizzy all the time. While leaning over one day liquid started just dripping from my nose, this has never happen to me in my life, so to the person with the ear ache, you too have increased mucus and it probable went in your inner ear.
Has anyone noticed the increased amount of smoke that comes from the extra paper on the cigarette? In the short time sitting here writing this I look around my kitchen and it looks like I just had a house party.
Trying to reduce the amount of house fire is a good cause they are just doing it wrong. Lots of things cause fire. Education is the answer here, working smoke detectors, fire extinguishers.
The Harvard school of health has admitted that there needs to be more testing done on regular ver. fsc cigarettes to see the health affect on smokers. We are not talking about how your matrices, draperies or your clothing was manufactured to be fire safe. Those where absolute wonderful fire safe changes, saving many live. We are talking about a consumable product here. We cannot sacrifice one group for another.
And why is it I can only find information on the amount of fires started by tobacco in 2006. A lot of laws have gone into place sense then. Let’s see 2008. So don’t be fooled by that 700 to 900. don’t believe it.
FSC cigarettes
First, I have no idea where the 700-900 number for fire deaths from smoking is coming from. The correct number for 2007 is 215 deaths related to fires "caused" by smoking. Go to the US fire administration homepage and see for yourself.
Also on this site, you will discover that approximately 60% of the fires "caused" by smoking were caused by a drunk smoker. Another statistic from this page is that approximately 60% of fire deaths happen where this is no working smoke detector.
What I find most interesting is none of the pro-FSC cigarette groups/website mention anything about how many fires/deaths were prevented by requiring FSC cigarettes. New York has required them since 2004, so there should be some data. I can only conclude that data does not prove any benefits with FSC cigarettes.
If these FSC cigarettes have the same "toxicity" as non FSC cigarettes, smokers would not be feeling sick!
40 some million smokers, 215 smoking related deaths....
Terrible
In a time of economic turmoil, it is ridiculous that this would be implemented for any purpose. The FSC makes the cigarettes taste funny (in a bad way), give me shortness of breath (yes, it's new), actually burn sideways while driving before almost going out, then when i puff it to get it going again the cherry flies off right at me (which is dangerous while i'm driving!), and to add insult to injury, the prices skyrocketed.
i don't like the idea of my personal choice being mucked with, and with the slow demonization of smokers in this country, it only makes me angrier. from the self-righteous non-smokers who feel the need to preach to every smoker they encounter, to the constant advertisements telling me how monstrous and ignorant i am for making this choice. it almost feels as if this country is trying to bully their smokers into quitting.
i will NOT quit smoking. if the country is trying to steal my cigarette money for a more disgusting (and more unhealthy feeling) cigarette, then the country will not get any of my money. i will order from overseas and gladly give my money to someone else for their cheaper, tastier cigarettes that don't make smoking an unnecessary headache.
Sodium Silicate Poison
This new "fire-safe" cigarette additive has made my husband so sick that he said if he knew he would never get better, he wouldn't want to go on living. For months now he has had headaches, nausea, insomnia, double-vision, depression and a bad taste in his mouth. After doing a search for these symptoms at wrongdiagnosis.com, we came up with only one possibility: poisoning. Then we started racking our brains for everything in our environment that might cause poisoning. We eat mosty fresh organic foods, no processed junk. We filter our water as well. The ONLY thing we could come up with was the possibility that something was in the cigarettes. Then he remembered hearing that there was some new additive to make cigarettes go out, and he has been having trouble with his going out even while he is smoking them. Now we have discovered that the poison is Sodium Silicate. I hope there is no permanent damage to his health.
You are a fool
You are hoping for no permanent damage to his help and yet he is a smoker? I have a feeling that sodium silicate is doing much less damage than the cigarette itself, if any at all.
Poision
Due to feeling sick as every person on this forum also says i started rolling my own I will not buy any more FSC death sticks. I know smoking is bad for me, but I am not ready to quit, one thing I quit was using ASPERTAME I had this poisioning in 2004, so between ASPERTAME and FSC the GOVERNMENT NAZIS found a "LEGAL" way to slowly kill us.
You are a fool
It is amazing how much contempt has been generated for people who engage in the risky behavior of cigarette smoking and how they've been de-humanized to the point that some "feel" that it is just fine to add poison to a product that is consumed by millions without telling them in advance. Now, if a private industry had done this, what would happen? Oh, but the government is only doing what is best for us! Beware of what they may next decide is "best for us".
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