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53-424: In 2004, BATUS merged with the other BAT's U.S. business, Brown & Williamson and R.J. Reynolds , to form Reynolds American . BATUS was created by British American Tobacco as a subsidiary to oversee the U.S. holdings in 1980. Through its BATUS unit, BAT diversified its tobacco holdings with acquisitions in the retail sector, paper sector (through the acquisition of Appleton Paper Company) and insurance through

106-504: A Medicaid suit against the tobacco industry, which led to a $ 368 billion settlement in health-related damages by the tobacco companies. Thousands of pages of B&W documents were donated unsolicited to the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Tobacco Control Archives in 1994. These documents consist primarily of scientific studies on the addictive nature of nicotine and other health effects of tobacco smoke. Also included

159-415: A subsidiary of multinational British American Tobacco that produced several popular cigarette brands . It became infamous as the focus of investigations for chemically enhancing the addictiveness of cigarettes. Its former vice-president of research and development, Jeffrey Wigand , was the whistleblower in an investigation conducted by CBS news program 60 Minutes , an event that was dramatized in

212-416: A baby's brain develops before birth. When the rules of baseball were first written in 1845, the carcinogenic potential of chewing tobacco was unknown. At that time, it was commonly used by players and coaches alike. Smokeless tobacco use became rampant by players by the early 1900s. The use of chewing tobacco in baseball steadily increased until the mid-20th century, when cigarettes became popular and took

265-615: A lawsuit against Big Tobacco brought by Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore , a tactic designed to nullify his confidentiality agreement before revealing the truth in an interview with Mike Wallace for 60 Minutes . The tobacco interests responded by getting a Kentucky judge to issue a gag order that subjected Wigand to arrest upon returning to the Commonwealth. Wigand's best hope remained in Bergman's pledge to air his story on 60 Minutes . Brown & Williamson threatened CBS with

318-435: A lawsuit for tortious interference , which could spoil an imminent merger plan with Westinghouse . Instead of the original interview, CBS aired an edited version which did not disclose the crucial details. Bergman bitterly opposed the breaking of his word to Wigand, which eventually led to his resignation from 60 Minutes in 1998. Brown & Williamson still tried to sue Wigand for theft, fraud, and breach of contract after

371-614: A lower health risk than traditional combusted products. However it is not a healthy alternative to cigarette smoking. The level of risk varies between different types of products and producing regions. There is no safe level of chewing tobacco use. Globally it contributes to 650,000 deaths each year. Chewing tobacco may be left as loose leaves or compressed into a small rectangular "plug". Nearly all modern chewing tobaccos are produced by leaf curing, cutting, fermentation, and processing, which may include sweetening and flavoring. Historically, many American chewing tobacco brands popular during

424-506: A major health risk, has no safe level of use, and is not a safe substitute for smoking. Globally it contributes to 650,000 deaths each year, with a significant proportion of these in Southeast Asia . Using chewing tobacco can cause many adverse health effects such as dental disease, oral cancer, oesophagus cancer, pancreatic cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and deformities in the female reproductive system. It also raises

477-735: A new B&W factory in Louisville was begun. On April 26, 1994, British American Tobacco Industries, PLC announced an agreement to buy American Tobacco Company for $ 1 billion. A holding company, named " BATUS, Inc. " was created for this purpose. On October 31, 1994, the Federal Trade Commission filed suit in federal court in Manhattan to stop the deal. An April 1995 consent order required that to prevent antitrust violations, Brown & Williamson had 12 months to sell its Reidsville, North Carolina , plant and nine of

530-419: A powerful role-model effect on youth, particularly among young males in sport, some of whom remain addicted in future careers as professional athletes." According to Connolly, one-quarter of Minor League players do not support allowing the use of chewing tobacco during games, and one-third of Major League players support abolishing it. Due to health concerns, MLB was asked to ban the use of chewing tobacco during

583-468: A producer for 60 Minutes , Wigand stated that he and his family were anonymously stalked, intimidated and threatened with death should he talk. At the time, it was thought that Brown & Williamson were behind these intimidation attempts, but, just before the movie The Insider was released, Brown & Williamson renewed its efforts to reduce Wigand's credibility, and the FBI published a search warrant that

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636-481: A rope-like mass. Unlike most loose-leaf tobaccos, twist chewing tobacco is usually not sweetened. Pieces of twist are either bitten off or cut and then chewed. Twist chewing tobacco is not widely available and is mostly found in Appalachia . Historically, twists could also be smoked in a pipe, or ground up into nasal snuff . Even though it is less dangerous than smoking, chewing tobacco is addictive, represents

689-412: A successful substitute had not been found and Sandefur refused on the grounds that sales would drop. This argument led Sandefur to fire Wigand in 1993 and to force him to sign an extended confidentiality agreement forbidding him to speak of anything related to his work or the company. The penalty for violating confidentiality was loss of his severance pay, potential lawsuits, and loss of medical coverage. At

742-734: A type of smokeless tobacco product that is placed between the cheek and lower gum to draw out its flavor. It consists of coarsely chopped aged tobacco that is flavored and often sweetened; it is not ground fine like dipping tobacco . Unwanted juices are spat while chewing. Chewing tobacco is a source of nicotine and therefore highly addictive . Quitting chewing tobacco use is as challenging as smoking cessation . Using chewing tobacco can cause various harmful effects such as dental disease, oral cancer , oesophagus cancer , and pancreas cancer , coronary heart disease , as well as negative reproductive effects including stillbirth , premature birth and low birth weight . Chewing tobacco poses

795-503: A well-known fact that teenagers like sweet products. Honey might be considered." Brown & Williamson's Kool menthol cigarettes were deliberately marketed to teenagers, as revealed by internal documents, which has led to a lawsuit brought by 28 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico . Despite Jeffrey Wigand's commitment to honor the confidentiality agreement and his initial refusal to talk to Lowell Bergman ,

848-488: Is documentation of $ 500,000 in payments to Sylvester Stallone for promoting B&W products in five of his films. B&W sought to permanently remove the disputed material from the library with a suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court. The university contended that all of the documents were in the public domain and should be available to scholars and other interested parties. On May 25, 1995,

901-609: Is present in countries such as the United States but particularly prevalent in Southeast Asian countries where the use of smokeless tobacco is common. All tobacco products, including chewing, contain cancer-causing chemicals. These carcinogenic compounds occurring in chewing tobacco vary widely, and depend upon the kind of product and how it was manufactured. There are 28 known cancer-causing substances in chewing tobacco products. Using chewing tobacco increases

954-434: Is tobacco leaves pressed into a square, brick-like mass called a plug. From this, pieces are bitten off or cut from the plug and then chewed. Plug tobacco is declining in popularity, and is thus less readily available than loose-leaf chewing tobacco. Historically, plug tobacco could be either smoked in a pipe or chewed, but today, these are two distinct products. Twist chewing tobacco consists of leaves twisted together into

1007-566: Is true, especially among white and Hispanic males. In 1970, five times as many 65-and-older males used smokeless tobacco as 18- to 24-year-olds did (12.7% of the population were 65+ male users, 2.2% of the population were 18–24 male users). More specifically, moist snuff use increased for males ages 18–24 from 1% of the population to 6.2% of the population, while 65+ male users decreased from 4% to 2.2%. A 2009 survey by The U.S. Centers for Disease Control revealed that 8.9% of U.S. high-school students had used smokeless tobacco on at least 1 day during

1060-451: The 2011 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers . Many believe that the widespread use of chewing tobacco by baseball players has led to a rampant increase in youth, and particularly teen, use. Additionally, teen use of smokeless tobacco has increased and it is more harmful and dangerous to tobacco user, while the use of all tobacco products by teens has decreased. This

1113-593: The American Civil War era were made with cigar clippings. Loose-leaf chewing tobacco is the most widely available and most frequently used type of chewing tobacco. It consists of shredded tobacco leaf, usually sweetened and sometimes flavored, and often sold in a sealed pouch typically weighing 3 oz. Loose-leaf chewing tobacco has a sticky texture due to the sweeteners added. Common loose-leaf chewing tobacco brands include America's Best Chew , Levi Garrett , Beech-Nut, and Stoker's. Plug chewing tobacco

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1166-547: The British tobacco company Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco . B&W was also involved in genetically modifying tobacco (notably the controversial Y1 strain). B&W was founded in Winston (today's Winston-Salem ), North Carolina, as a partnership of George T. Brown and his brother-in-law Robert Lynn Williamson, whose father was already operating two chewing tobacco manufacturing facilities. Initially,

1219-519: The $ 36 million deal in October. A battle in the war between the tobacco industry and smokers began with Jeffrey Wigand , a biochemist with a career focus on health issues, who became the Vice President of Research & Development at Brown & Williamson in 1989. He was hired to research safer means of delivering nicotine by reducing the harm of other tobacco compounds. At the time, both

1272-504: The 1980s. The group expanded the current store presence of existing businesses and developed Thimbles, a women's clothing company. In 1988, BATUS acquired Farmers Group Inc . In 1989, Sir James Goldsmith attempted a hostile takeover of BAT. In an effort to fend off the takeover, BAT divested much of its U.S. operations to raise capital and focus the business. BRG and BATUS was shut down and some remaining administrative operations were consolidated back to Brown and Williamson Tobacco. While

1325-460: The 30 days before the survey. Usage was more common among males (15.0%) than females (2.2%) and among Whites (11.9%) than Blacks (3.3%) or Hispanics (5.1%). The five states with the highest percentage of high-school users were Wyoming (16.2%), North Dakota (15.3%), South Dakota (14.6%), Montana (14.6%), and West Virginia (14.4%). Notable chewing tobacco brands include: Chewing is one of the oldest methods of consuming tobacco. Indigenous peoples of

1378-462: The Americas in both North and South America chewed the leaves of the plant long before the arrival of Europeans. The Southern United States was distinctive for their production of tobacco, which earned premium prices globally. Most farmers grew some for their own use, or traded with neighbors who grew it. Commercial sales became important in the late 19th century, as major tobacco companies arose in

1431-490: The Kohl family. In 1973, the company acquired Saks Fifth Avenue and Gimbel Brothers. In 1982, BATUS acquired Marshall Field & Co and Frederick & Nelson for $ 310 million. In 1986, BATUS sold Gimbels to various companies including May Department Stores and Allied Stores. Also in 1986, four investors acquired Kohl's in a leveraged buyout. To manage the large retail holdings, BAT and BATUS created BATUS Retail Group in

1484-556: The Reidsville plant, started as Commonwealth Tobacco Company in 1991 and changed its name in November of that year, and is now part of Imperial Tobacco . B.A.T. and Brown & Williamson claimed that since Commonwealth was not one of the five major U.S. cigarette companies, it would meet requirements that Lorillard did not, particularly since Commonwealth would be more likely to compete as a discount manufacturer. The FTC approved

1537-710: The South, becoming one of the largest employers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina , Durham, North Carolina , and Richmond, Virginia . Southerners dominated the tobacco industry in the United States. So much so that a concern as large as the Helme Tobacco Company , headquartered in New Jersey , was headed by former Confederate officer George Washington Helme . In 1938, R. J. Reynolds marketed 84 brands of chewing tobacco, 12 brands of smoking tobacco, and

1590-593: The Superior Court ruled that these documents should be made available for public review. B&W appealed that decision, and on June 23, 1995, the Court of Appeals refused a temporary restraining order preventing release of the documents. On June 29, the California Supreme Court rejected the company's appeal, allowing UCSF to release the documents. Chewing tobacco Chewing tobacco is

1643-540: The Western United States, a device known as the spittoon was a ubiquitous feature throughout places both private and public (e.g. parlors and passenger cars ). The purpose of the spittoon was to provide a receptacle for excess juices and spittle accumulated from the oral use of tobacco. As chewing tobacco's popularity declined throughout the years, the spittoon became merely a relic of the Old West and

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1696-516: The acquisition of Farmers Insurance Group . Management for BATUS was initially derived from Brown & Williamson Tobacco with B&W's CEO and chairman of the board, Joseph E. Edens, becoming the first president of BATUS in 1980. Edens retired as president in 1981 and was replaced by Charlie McCarty. In 1985, Hank Frigon was elected chief operating officer of the company and it was announced that he would succeed McCarty after he retired. In 1972, BATUS acquired Kohl Food and Department Stores from

1749-552: The addictiveness of nicotine and the health hazards of cigarettes were well known by the company and the industry, but were kept a fiercely guarded secret. Wigand soon found his research and recommendations discouraged, ignored and censored, leading to confrontations with the CEO, Thomas Sandefur. Thwarted and frustrated, Wigand turned his attention to improving tobacco additives, some of which were designed for "impact boosting", using chemicals like ammonia to enhance absorption of nicotine in

1802-676: The ante-room at the White House, covered its floor with pools and rivulets of their spittle. An observant traveller in the South in 1865 said that in his belief seven-tenths of all persons above the age of twelve years, both male and female, used tobacco in some form. Women could be seen at the doors of their cabins in their bare feet, in their dirty one-piece cotton garments, their chairs tipped back, smoking pipes made of corn cobs into which were fitted reed stems or goose quills. Boys of eight or nine years of age and half-grown girls smoked. Women and girls "dipped" in their houses, on their porches, in

1855-610: The brands acquired in the American Tobacco purchase. Lorillard Tobacco Company agreed on November 28, 1995, to buy the six discount brands (Montclair, Malibu, Riviera, Crown's, Special 10's, and Bull Durham), but not the three premium brands ( Tareyton , Silva Thins, and Tall). In an out-of-court settlement in December 1995, the FTC also required Brown & Williamson to sell the Reidsville plant, but Lorillard did not want it and

1908-561: The cancer was linked to his lifetime use of chewing and dipping tobacco. A 2016 MLB collective bargaining agreement prohibited all new Major League Baseball players from using smokeless tobacco. Debate exists over whether players should be banned from using tobacco products during the games. The Major League Baseball Players Association disagrees, claiming it is a legal substance, so is acceptable to be used during games. Harvard School of Public Health professor Gregory Connolly , however, says, "the use of smokeless tobacco by players has

1961-472: The careful aim which made for cleanly living. Even the pews of fashionable churches were likely to contain these familiar conveniences. The large numbers of Southern men, and these were of the better class (officers in the Confederate army and planters, worth $ 20,000 or more, and barred from general amnesty) who presented themselves for the pardon of President Johnson, while they sat awaiting his pleasure in

2014-575: The company decided to close it. The FTC rejected the Lorillard deal on April 10, 1996, and B.A.T. and Brown & Williamson agreed July 25, 1996, to sell the six discount brands to Commonwealth Tobacco, LLC, a subsidiary of Commonwealth Brands, described as "a small cigarette maker based in Bowling Green, Kentucky , specializing in low-priced, unadvertised brands." The deal would require FTC approval. Commonwealth Brands, which would also buy

2067-479: The company was not required to file an annual report since they were a subsidiary of British American Tobacco based in London, they did produce reports to assist with financing and investments in the United States. One of BATUS' primary responsibilities was the management of funding and cash from US operations. Brown %26 Williamson Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation was a U.S. tobacco company and

2120-527: The film The Insider (1999). Wigand claimed that B&W had introduced chemicals such as ammonia into cigarettes to increase nicotine delivery and increase addictiveness . B&W had its headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky , until July 30, 2004, when the U.S. operations of B&W and BATUS, Inc. merged with R. J. Reynolds , creating a new publicly traded parent company, Reynolds American Inc. Some of its brands had been sold earlier in 1996 to

2173-604: The last years of his life to speaking with Major League teams about not using chewing tobacco where television cameras could see the players so that children could not witness and be influenced by it. He also dedicated time to the National Spit Tobacco Education Program, which was being run by friend and former Major League player, Joe Garagiola. Tuttle died on July 27, 1998, after a 5-year battle with cancer. Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn died of salivary cancer on June 16, 2014. He claimed

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2226-399: The lungs and affect the brain and central nervous system faster. Wigand believed this process was a deliberate attempt to increase addiction to cigarettes. Wigand's disagreements with Sandefur reached a breaking point over a flavor enhancer called coumarin , which he believed to be a lung-specific carcinogen that the company continued to use in pipe tobacco. Wigand demanded its removal, but

2279-505: The new partnership took over one of the elder Williamson's factories. In February 1894, the new company, calling itself Brown & Williamson, hired 30 workers and began manufacturing in a leased facility. In 1927, the Brown and Williamson families sold the business to London-based British American Tobacco . The business was reorganized as the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation. Manufacturing and distribution were expanded, and work on

2332-488: The place of some players' smokeless tobacco habit. Joe Garagiola , who quit, warned about chewing tobacco: "I tell these guys, 'You may not like what I say, but with lung cancer you die of lung cancer, ' " ... "With oral cancer, you die one piece at a time. They operate on your neck, they operate on your jaw, they operate on your throat." Bill Tuttle was a Major League player who made a big name for himself both through baseball and his anti-chewing tobacco efforts. Tuttle

2385-562: The public parlours of hotels and in the streets. Chewing tobacco is still used, predominantly by young males in some parts of the American South, but also in other areas and age groups. In September 2006, both the Republican and Democratic candidates for Senator from Virginia admitted to chewing tobacco and agreed that it sets a bad example for children. In the late 19th century, during the peak in popularity of chewing tobacco in

2438-415: The risk of fatal coronary artery disease , fatal stroke and non-fatal ischaemic heart disease. Quitting chewing tobacco use is as challenging as smoking cessation . There is no scientific evidence that using chewing tobacco can help a person quit smoking. Chewing tobacco is a cause of oral cancer , oesophagus cancer , and pancreas cancer . Increased risk of oral cancer caused by chewing tobacco

2491-607: The risk of fatal coronary heart disease and stroke . In 2010 more than 200 000 people died from coronary heart disease due to smokeless tobacco use. Use of chewing tobacco also seems to greatly raise the risk of non-fatal ischaemic heart disease among users in Asia, although not in Europe. Chewing tobacco can cause adverse reproductive effects including stillbirth , premature birth , low birth weight . Nicotine in chewing tobacco products that are used during pregnancy can affect how

2544-500: The sanitized interview was aired, and launched a 500-page smear campaign against him. However, his depositions at the Mississippi and Kentucky state courts were leaked, and were published by The Wall Street Journal as part of an investigative rebuttal to the attacks. CBS News, embarrassed, finally aired the full, original Wigand interview on 60 Minutes , leaving much of the nation in shock. Forty-six states ultimately filed

2597-475: The time, his daughter suffered from a chronic illness which required continuous medical attention. Soon after this incident, the seven executives of " Big Tobacco " testified during congressional hearings that they believed "nicotine is not addictive". As early as 1972, Brown & Williamson reviewed concepts for flavored "youth cigarettes" , with flavors including cola and apple flavors. In one of their internal memos, Brown & Williamson advisers wrote "It’s

2650-453: The top-selling Camel brand of cigarettes . Reynolds sold large quantities of chewing tobacco, even though that market peaked around 1910. A historian of the American South in the late 1860s reported on typical usage in the region where it was grown, paying close attention to class and gender: The chewing of tobacco was well-nigh universal. This habit had been widespread among the agricultural population of America both North and South before

2703-414: The war. Soldiers had found the quid a solace in the field and continued to revolve it in their mouths upon returning to their homes. Out of doors where his life was principally led the chewer spat upon his lands without offence to other men, and his homes and public buildings were supplied with spittoons. Brown and yellow parabolas were projected to right and left toward these receivers, but very often without

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2756-572: Was an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers , Kansas City Athletics , and Minnesota Twins . He was an avid tobacco chewer; even his baseball cards pictured him with a bulge in his cheek from the tobacco. Nearly 40 years after he began using smokeless tobacco, Tuttle developed a tumor in his mouth so severe, it protruded through his skin. A few years before he died, Tuttle had many of his teeth, his jawbone, his gums, and his right cheekbone removed. He also had his taste buds removed. Tuttle dedicated

2809-478: Was served on Wigand's home, strongly suggesting he fabricated the threats against himself. This claim is countered by an on the record interview by Wigand where he points out the local FBI field office was being used by Brown & Williamson via an ex-FBI agent to do dirty work for the company. Bergman provided him with armed bodyguards and, after legal consultation, urged him to testify for the State of Mississippi in

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