"Defined as indivisible - will it break . . . or simply bend?"

  It seems only appropriate that the title of this issue is, "The Individual" as it has special relevance to the smoking debate and what challenges we face as individuals when confronted by those who would regulate our personal behavior. Like the lone oak tree standing in the cover graphic, we often find ourselves with a sense of separation that belies our absolute dependency on systems and organisms that often remain unseen and beyond our control. Pertinent to our status as tobacco enthusiasts, in this issue and the next, we will explore the state tobacco tax situation with specific information which should be enlightening to most who do not realize the full ramification of their obligation to pay state tobacco tax, even on tobacco products acquired from outside their own state borders. We encourage our readers to develop lines of communication with their local, state and federal representatives and to emphasize to those ELECTED officials that the tobacco industry is not the same entity as the cigarette industry, that "Big Tobacco" means Big Cigarette Makers, not Tobacco Producers.

   You will find a few new things here to enjoy.We have decided to include now as a regular feature of RYO Magazine, a hybrid of last issue's Holiday Buyer's Guide morphed into RYO Magazine's "Guide to Online Treats". In this special section, you will find all of the bargains and interesting items we come across or that our readers tell us about. The section will be continually updated as new information arrives and as there are literally hundreds of unusual, practical and hard to find items in the world of RYO, it is our intent to bring them to your attention with links to make your exploration easier. This section was a big hit in the last issue and to make it increasingly effective, we need your continued input. So retailers, manufacturers, distributors and readers take notice. If you find any interesting items or bargains that you feel worthy of sharing with your fellow readers (and us, of course), please e-mail  RYO. Everyone concerned will appreciate the benefit derived from the vast resources our readership can provide.

   We would especially like to thank all of our advertisers who sell and manufacture a diverse array of high quality accessories and tobacco products, as well as the huge influx of e-mail concerning all aspects of the subject of RYO smoking. This magazine has received little opposition from the anti-smoking forces mainly due to the fact that we, as often stated, are not proponents of smoking but proponents of the public's right to smoke. We recognize the problems that tobacco ABUSE (like any other kind of abuse) can cause and stress, continually, our belief that tobaccos in the purer forms found in RYO products contain far fewer, if any, of the additives that increase health assessment risks. We further stress the quantitatively sensible usage of tobacco as an occasional diversion that we, as smokers, can actively manage. There is no physiological reason that tobacco use need become an uncontrollable habit. For those who enjoy it, tobacco is a pleasurable substance that has a number of benefits to awareness and mood that, when used intelligently, can provide positives unavailable from other substances. But, if you are a four pack a day smoker (or even two), the sheer irritation to your lungs and cardio-vascular system is likely to cause you grief much like the reaction your system would have directly inhaling the equivalent amount of smoke from a campfire or other conflagration. Smoking is not a health-oriented practice, at least physiologically. But many forms of entertainment, which seem crucial for our day to day enjoyment of life, pose risk. Moderation is the key in all such endeavors including tobacco use. If you are going to smoke tobacco, it seems only logical to enjoy the highest quality, most additive-free products available. We strive to make available information on just such products but remember, if you feel you should quit, then do it. In most cases it can be done easily with a little creative replacement therapy.

   In greeting a New Year, we once again emphasize the importance of respecting the environmental/spatial rights of those who do not enjoy tobacco smoke and, hopefully, they in turn will respect our rights as well. Remember that certain environmental disturbances like light, smoke, sound (music/noise), and odors (perfumes/deodorizers), when introduced to enclosed spaces can create highly negative responses from those who do not enjoy these same distractive elements.Take your smoke out into the fresh air where it will taste better and will likewise add a bit of the ceremonial to your pleasure. You will find the very act of ceremony will reduce consumption and make each experience far more pleasurable. If, for environmental reasons, you can't go outside each time you wish to smoke, use a window mounted exhaust fan, like those made by companies like Holmes and others that can be found at any hardware or discount drug/general merchandise store, often for less money than a carton of brand-name cigarettes. If you enjoy public areas set up for smoking, seek them out, use and enjoy them. But, as misery likes company, if you need a crowd to enjoy tobacco, you might re-examine your reasons for smoking. - end Sermon 101.

   Our debut issue of RYO Magazine last year contained information about the first known (to us) injection tube cigarette maker to reach a mass market, circa 1970. It was the Laredo Kit and Jim Shaw, of Jim Shaw's Burnt Offerings (you will find a link to this fascinating website at the bottom of this page) who is a collector of tobacco memorabilia including one the the largest collections of cigarette packages in the world, happened to have an intact kit and was kind enough to send us photos, including instructions, for use of this pioneering product. With his permission, we display them below beginning with the instruction sheet that was included with each kit. To read more about this unique first attempt, see our Back Issues section (January/February 2000).

The Laredo Cigarette Injection System

1.  Be sure handle "A" is in position #1 and engaged in slot "B". 2.  Raise latch "C" to open filter chamber "E" and tobacco chamber "F" 3.  Place tipped end of cigarette paper tube on metal spout "D".  Be sure paper is pushed on as far as possible, completely covering the metal spout. 4.  Place filter in chamber "E". 5.  Place tobacco in chamber "F", spreading evenly through the chamber and tamping lightly with fingers until the chamber is about half filled. Do not overfill. 6.  Close latch "C"  (If difficult to close, remove some tobacco). 7.  While holding tipped portion of paper tube on metal spout with finger to prevent slipping, slid handle "A" all the way forward in a continuous motion to position #2 to inject tobacco into paper tube. 8.  Pull handle "A" back to position #1 and remove finger from paper tube. Then slide handle forward to position #3 to push finished cigarette off the metal spout. Note - Carrying cases are provided for your convenience. Once the can has been opened, the plastic container should be place back on the can to insure freshness of the tobacco. If excess tobacco protrudes from the end of the finished cigarette, it may be cut off with scissors for a neater appearance.

   The Laredo cigarette making kit system was in many ways quite primitive. For instance, you had to hold the tubes in place with your fingers during the injection process and the tubes required that the filter component be added separately as needed. Nonetheless, it was a fascinating first attempt at what has become the hallmark of RYO/MYO filtered cigarette injection, that being tubes and injectors up to and including the Supermatic. We have received a surprising amount of mail over the past year from folks who remember this product, some of whom still use the injector. In fact, there are a few folks out there who swear that these existing relics work far better than most small hand injectors one finds today. To them I would just say that, likewise, I love my old 1972 VW Bus but when it gets really cold, the heater on my Explorer will seduce me every time.

   At upper left is a picture of the kit as it appeared on the shelves in the tobacco sections of general merchandise stores over thirty years ago. At right is the kit opened so you can see the various components. You will notice the $2.00 price hand written in pencil and as we remember it, this seems about the right price for that era as cartons of brand name cigarettes were in the $3 to $4 range. This illustrates an essential point for the make your own starter kit manufacturers and retailers of today: That is, for the starter kit to be a tempting experiment to entice the packaged cigarette smoker to try RYO/MYO, the kits MUST sell for less than a carton of packaged cigarettes.

   Also in this issue you will find various references to a cross country business trip I took in mid-November using Amtrak instead of my normal sadistic method of travel, the airlines. In both the Editorial Section, "The Individual" and the Filtered Tubes section are some pretty interesting demographics and attitudes I gleaned during this leisurely journey from fellow passengers regarding life, politics, tobacco, taxes, and RYO/MYO cigarettes.

   Well there are lots of new products to look at, so we hope you enjoy your visit here this time and wish all of you a most prosperous 2001.

   Check out the links below and keep abreast what is happening in the tobacco wars. It directly effects you and your right to smoke and other endangered freedoms more and more every day. - the ed.   

1. http://www.smokersalliance.org     -  The National Smokers Alliance
2. http://www.forces.org     -   FORCES   -  A national smoker's rights organization
3. http://www.smokers.org    -  The American Smoker's Alliance
4. http://www.fujipub.com/fot - Friends of Tobacco - A Tobacco and Smoking information clearing house
5. http://www.junkscience.com - A highly entertaining site exposing fraudulent and expensive scientific extrapolations.
6. http://thomas.loc.gov - Current, past, and pending legislative actions, bills, and sponsors - a huge resource.
7. http://tobaccolovers.com - A new and growing resource for tobacco related, history, techniques, and links.
8. http://www.smokerscorner.al.ru - A new Eastern European site with a variety of informational sections & services
9. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-366es.html - a "White" Paper produced by the CATO Institute covering the Shelby Amendment which requires that all aspects of research whose findings lead to legislation being enacted be made part of the public record available to all. Fascinating reading.

   Also, most of the news services (CNN, Fox, ABC, MSNBC, etc.), have extensive archives of smoking related articles both pro and con. They are great resources for both sides of the issue. Their websites are easily found in search engines or by URL (i.e. cnn.com).

Without a doubt, what should be the handbook for the smoker's rights enthusiast, Don Oakley's "Slow Burn" - an incredibly well researched, powerful history of the facts and fallacies (mostly) of the anti-smoking movement from its organized inception in the early 60's to present - is available at Amazon.com (click the book graphic at right to purchase it immediately online from Amazon.com (highly recommended). This book is filled with detailed accounts of the step-by-step conspiracy that has created the anti-tobacco environment we all suffer today as well as many portents of the dangers of attorney driven campaigns to change the ways our basic rights are defined. It's all about money and it will make you angry . . . AND. . . you will be amazed at how much wool has been pulled over the eyes of the American sheep population.

Below are some additional links to sites with some in-depth information on the colorful
and fascinating history, complete with photos, of the American Tobacco Industry.

1. Jim Shaw's Burnt Offerings
Lots of photos of old cigarette packs, ads and other historical esoterica.
2. The Cigarette Pack Collector's Association
Compendium of cigarette historical data and collectibles with lots of links.
3. The Duke Family Homestead
Fascinating history of the founder of the American Tobacco Company and Duke University.