camelcigsjpg.jpgAlthough the new Camel No. 9 cigarette’s manufacturer seeks to entice women with flavor and style, Sandy Hornung, 62, Olathe, said there is nothing glamorous about smoking-related cancer.

“I’m amazed. I saw this young woman smoking today and I just kind of looked at her like, ‘Are you crazy?’” Hornung said.

When diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer at age 37, Hornung said knowing she might die became frightening. Hornung said she started smoking at 18.

American Cancer Society statistics show 90 percent of adult smokers became addicts by age 18.

Hornung dealt with hair loss and vomiting during chemotherapy and radiation. As far as the Camel No. 9 campaign, Hornung said people need to decide what they want.

“I’m sure seeing that they may think it’s sophisticated to smoke,” Hornung said. “I think it would be nice (if) they wouldn’t allow it. It comes down to the fact that people have to make their own choices.”

Camel No. 9 comes wrapped in sleek black and fuchsia or black and teal packaging. Heavy cardstock ads in women’s magazines such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan feature delicate flowers and boast about No. 9’s “light and luscious” flavors.

R.J. Reynolds spokesman David Howard, Winston-Salem, N.C., said company leaders held focus group sessions in early 2006 with about 2,000 women smokers to discuss the new cigarette.

“We came up with Camel No. 9 in response to female adult smokers who are asking for a product that better reflects their taste and style,” Howard said. “Ninety-five percent marked it as ‘a product for me.’”

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