Modifications of Nicotine Release

3.3.3 Maintaining Nicotine Dependence

The฀ cigarette฀ industry฀ produced฀ “low-tar”฀ and฀ “low-nicotine”฀ cigarettes,฀ imagining฀ them฀to฀be฀a฀product฀that฀would฀be฀less฀harmful฀to฀health.฀It฀recognised฀very฀early฀that฀ there฀ is฀ a฀ major฀ difference฀ in฀ smoke฀ constituents฀ measured฀ on฀ a฀ Federal฀ Trade฀ Commission฀FTC฀smoking฀machine฀and฀in฀a฀human฀smoker฀Tables฀ 3.4 – 3.6 .฀The฀FTC฀ machines฀“inhale”฀constant฀smoke฀volumes฀at฀regular฀set฀intervals,฀whereas฀smokers฀ individually฀regulate฀their฀depth฀and฀frequency฀of฀smoking.฀The฀smoker฀smokes฀a฀low- tar฀or฀low-nicotine฀cigarette฀quite฀differently฀from฀a฀regular฀cigarette฀ [50] ,฀a฀fact฀that฀is฀ also฀apparent฀from฀the฀earliest฀medical฀studies฀ [51] .฀When฀smokers฀are฀offered฀different฀ types฀of฀cigarettes,฀they฀are฀able฀to฀obtain฀approximately฀the฀same฀nicotine฀dose,฀irre- spective฀of฀the฀nicotine฀yield฀of฀the฀cigarette,฀by฀varying฀the฀frequency฀of฀puffs฀and฀the฀ depth฀of฀inhalation฀ [50] .฀The฀“light”฀cigarette฀was฀also฀one฀reason฀why฀the฀dependence- inducing฀effect฀of฀nicotine฀was฀repeatedly฀and฀vociferously฀disputed฀by฀the฀cigarette฀ industry฀ [52] . Filter฀blocking Silk฀cut฀ultra Marlboro฀light Tar฀mg Nicotine฀mg Tar฀mg Nicotine฀mg Declaration฀on฀the฀pack 1.0 0.1 6.0 0.5 Smoking฀without฀blocking 1.4 0.16 6.3 0.54 Smoking฀with฀50฀ blocking 4.5 0.56 7.6 0.62 Smoking฀with฀complete฀ blocking 12.3 1.21 10.5 0.77 Table 3.4 ฀฀฀Declared฀tar฀and฀nicotine฀yields฀of฀two฀cigarette฀brands฀and฀the฀effect฀of฀increasing฀blocking฀ of฀ the฀ lateral฀ ilter฀ vents฀ during฀ smoking฀ measured฀ with฀ a฀ Filtrona฀ SM฀ 400฀ cigarette฀ testing฀ machine฀ [107] Cigarette฀brands Tar฀yield฀declared฀ on฀the฀pack Standard฀ ISO฀test Realistic฀ “smoking฀test” DuMaurier฀king฀size 15 15.2 36.9 DuMaurier฀light฀king฀size 12 14.4 38.25 Player’s฀regular 16 16.5 37.2 Player’s฀light฀king฀size 13 13.7 33.3 Player’s฀extra฀light฀regular 11 11.8 31.4 Matinee฀extra฀mild฀king฀size 4 4.7 26.0 Rothmans฀king฀size 15 15.8 34.2 Export฀A฀regular 16 15.0 34.0 Export฀A฀light฀regular 13 13.0 28.0 Table 3.5 ฀฀฀Declared฀tar฀yields฀of฀several฀cigarette฀brands฀mgcigarette,฀together฀with฀yields฀measured฀ using฀the฀ISO฀method฀smoking฀machine฀compared฀with฀realistic฀yields฀following฀inhalation฀of฀ cigarette฀smoke฀ [108]

3.3.4 Marketing of Cigarettes with a “Reduced” Health Risk

By฀even฀discussing฀technical฀aspects฀of฀cigarette฀production,฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀used฀ every฀endeavour฀to฀make฀the฀purchaser฀believe฀that฀the฀modern฀cigarette฀represented฀less฀ of฀a฀health฀risk฀than฀cigarettes฀in฀the฀past.฀Thus,฀it฀pointed฀to฀the฀installation฀of฀the฀cigarette฀ ilter฀ [53] ฀and฀has฀repeatedly฀cited฀the฀minimal฀health฀risk฀associated฀with฀this฀product.฀For฀ the฀consumer,฀however,฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀has฀never฀communicated฀clearly฀where฀the฀ health฀risk฀actually฀lies.฀At฀most฀it฀is฀stated฀that฀the฀newer฀“low-nicotine฀and฀low-tar”฀ciga- rettes฀light฀and฀ultralight฀cigarettes฀are฀“healthier”฀than฀regular฀cigarettes฀e.g.฀Viceroy,฀ Marlboro,฀Winston฀ [54] ฀Tables฀ 3.4 – 3.6 .฀With฀the฀cigarette฀industry฀making฀such฀claims,฀ light฀and฀ultralight฀cigarettes฀are฀smoked฀more฀frequently฀than฀“orthodox”฀brands฀ [41] .฀ The฀actual฀concentrations฀of฀toxic฀substances฀CO,฀benzo[a]pyrene฀have฀since฀been฀pub- lished฀Tables฀ 3.5 ฀and฀ 3.6 .

3.3.5 Compensatory Behaviour by Smokers

The฀tobacco฀industry฀realised฀relatively฀soon฀that฀light฀cigarettes฀are฀smoked฀differently฀ from฀regular฀cigarettes,฀a฀fact฀that฀was฀also฀evident฀from฀a฀comparison฀of฀human฀smoking฀ behaviour฀patterns฀with฀those฀of฀a฀smoking฀machine฀ [55] .฀The฀dependent฀smoker฀immedi- ately฀detects฀the฀modiied฀release฀pattern฀of฀nicotine฀from฀the฀new฀cigarettes.฀Cigarettes฀ with฀a฀reduced฀nicotine฀yield฀are฀inhaled฀more฀deeply฀to฀obtain฀the฀same฀nicotine฀dose.฀In฀ many฀cases,฀especially฀in฀situations฀of฀stress฀or฀altered฀psychological฀mood,฀either฀stronger฀ Table 3.6 ฀฀฀A฀comparison฀of฀smoke฀data฀for฀two฀low-yield฀US฀ilter฀cigarettes฀smoked฀according฀to฀ the฀FTC฀method฀and฀by฀smokers฀ [109] Parameters FTC฀machine฀ smoking Cigarette฀smokers FTC฀0.6–0.8฀nicotine FTC฀0.9–1.2฀nicotine Puff Volume฀ml 35.0 48.6฀45.2–52.3 a 44.1฀40.8–46.8 b Interval฀s 58.0 21.3฀19.0–23.8 a 18.5฀16.5–20.6 b Duration฀s 2.0 1.5฀1.4–1.7 a 1.5฀1.4–1.6 b Nicotine฀ mgcigarette 0.7฀0.6–0.8 1.74฀1.54–1.98 c 2.39฀2.20–2.60 d 0.1฀1.09–1.13 Tar฀mgcigarette 8.5฀7.7–9.5 22.3฀18.8–26.5 e 29.0฀25.8–32.5 f 15.4฀14.2–14.9 CO฀mgcigarette 9.7฀9.0–10.4 17.3฀15.0–20.1 g 22.5฀20.3–25.0 h 14.6฀14.2–14.9 BaP฀ngcigarette 10฀8.2–12.3 17.9฀15.3–20.9 i 21.4฀19.2–23.7฀ j 14฀10.1–19.4 NNK฀ngcigarette 112.9฀96.6–113.0 186.5฀158.3–219.7 i 250.9฀222.7–282.7฀ j 146.2฀132.5–165.5 Test฀groups:฀ a 56,฀ b 71,฀ c 30,฀ d 42,฀ e 18,฀ f 19,฀ g 15,฀ h 16,฀ i 6฀and฀ j 3฀smokers