© 2008 the Regents of the University Of California. All rights reserved. This material was made possible With funds from the research account of the Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988(Proposition 99).

This first electronic edition of Burning Issues marks the 10th anniversary of the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program’s (TRDRP) newsletter. During the past 10 years, Burning Issues has attempted to tackle the hardest and thorniest issues confronting tobacco control researchers; this new on-line version will continue this fine tradition.

In this first electronic edition, we lead with an editorial on Philip Morris International (PMI). As the US tobacco sales decline, PMI is moving its headquarters to Switzerland to position itself for exploiting bigger smoking markets around the world. Leading the global charge are a line of new and more addictive products and recording staggering profits along with a soaring body count.

In this latest edition Drs. Asotra and Sharan tackle the health hazards of chewing Areca Nut, Betel Quid and Gutkha. While these are not household names at the present in the United States, the use of these substances, often mixed with tobacco, may pose a significant public health threat as peoples who use these products flock to the United States from around the world, especially from the Indian sub-continent and other parts of Asia. The first part of this article reviews the history and properties on these products. The second part of this article, which will appear in the summer edition of Burning Issues, will explore the deleterious effects of Areca Nut use.

Filtered Tips continues to highlight tobacco issues that span a wide range of issues, albeit in brief. And TRDRP Update section announces changes coming to the TRDRP.