Evaluation of Oral Tobacco as a Harm Reduction Method for Smokers

Summary

Recently, tobacco companies have developed new oral tobacco products that are purportedly less harmful than conventional tobacco products. These products have not been tested by independent research for their health effects or consumer palatability. In addition, it is not known if these products will be used in addition to cigarette smoking or as a substitute to cigarettes. These two studies will examine four oral tobacco products to answer some of these questions.

The goals of this first study will be to examine: 1) the brand of oral tobacco products which is preferred by cigarette smokers and the pattern and amount of product use when used as a switching tool; 2) the characteristics that are associated with product choice; 3) nicotine exposure from these products; and 4) the withdrawal symptoms from the tobacco products and potential for continued use.

Specifically, our primary aims hypotheses were: 1) the product that will be chosen by most smokers will be based on taste and sensory aspects of the product with products higher in nicotine content more likely to be chosen as the preferred product; and 2) subjects will experience no difficulty using the product for complete cigarette substitution, but a small minority will engage in dual product use.

For the secondary aims, we hypothesized: 1) that compared to the subjects' own brand of cigarettes, the biomarkers for exposure for the oral tobacco products will be significantly lower; 2) withdrawal symptoms from the oral products are likely to occur, but are likely to be mild compared to cigarette withdrawal.

Conditions

• Tobacco Use Disorder

Interventions

OTHER

Camel Snus

All subjects will sample Camel Snus and determine if they would prefer to use this product during the abstinence phase over the other products sampled. Sampling period (duration: 1/2 day) requires use of at least 3 samples of Camel Snus. Intervention period (duration: 2 weeks) involves ad libitum daily use (if Camel Snus is chosen for use) during abstinence phase.

OTHER

Marlboro Snus

All subjects will sample Marlboro Snus and determine if they would prefer to use this product during the abstinence phase over the other products sampled. Sampling period (duration: 1/2 day) requires use of at least 3 samples of Marlboro Snus. Intervention period (duration: 2 weeks) involves ad libitum daily use (if Marlboro Snus is chosen for use) during abstinence phase.

OTHER

Stonewall

All subjects will sample Stonewall and determine if they would prefer to use this product during the abstinence phase over the other products sampled. Sampling period (duration: 1/2 day) requires use of at least 3 samples of Stonewall. Intervention period (duration: 2 weeks) involves ad libitum daily use (if Stonewall is chosen for use) during abstinence phase.

OTHER

Ariva

All subjects will sample Ariva and determine if they would prefer to use this product during the abstinence phase over the other products sampled. Sampling period (duration: 1/2 day) requires use of at least 3 samples of Ariva. Intervention period (duration: 2 weeks) involves ad libitum daily use (if Ariva is chosen for use) during abstinence phase.

OTHER

General Snus

All subjects will sample General Snus and determine if they would prefer to use this product during the abstinence phase over the other products sampled. Sampling period (duration: 1/2 day) requires use of at least 3 samples of General Snus. Intervention period (duration: 2 weeks) involves ad libitum daily use (if General Snus is chosen for use) during abstinence phase.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Cancer Institute (NCI)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Minnesota

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D. · University of Minnesota

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2008-08-31

Primary Completion

2009-10-31

Completion

2010-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations