FDA backs low-nicotine cigarette research as it weighs new regulatory power

[pamdis]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...2c0954-efbd-11e2-9008-61e94a7ea20d_story.html

My biggest fear - they will simply regulate how much nicotine I'm allowed to consume in order to get me to quit smoking. But they fail to realize that I already quit by replacing how I get my nicotine. If they regulate how much nicotine I can get from my e-cigs and I can't get it by returning to smoking, then what? I understand why they want me to quit smoking. I can't understand why they insist on me giving up nicotine.

 

[Berylanna]

I'm sure they'll allow you to get it from products produced by their owners, Big Pharma.

 

[pamdis]

But I want to decide how much nicotine I need to stay sane. If I can't get what I need I think I will give new meaning to the phrase 'public health risk'

 

[flowerpots]

NRT products available now would likely be a good indicator of what mg nicotine you would be looking at being able to get, right? That's my thinking anyway. The patch, for example, comes in 21mg nic as the highest/strongest level, but is delivered in microdoses over a period of about 8 hours is about when I notice it starts wearing off. Then there's the lozenges/gum, which comes in 4mg as the highest/strongest level.

 

[AgentAnia]

I am totally flummoxed by this study as described in the article!

The Spectrum cigarettes she’ll [a study participant, a smoker for 30 years] be smoking for the next six weeks could contain as much as 95 percent less nicotine than her usual brand. Anusionwu, 54, is among the first of nearly 850 participants around the country who over the next year will help researchers and federal regulators try to answer an important question: How much does nicotine need to be reduced in cigarettes to make them less addictive?

So the study participants, presumably, are all smokers. How can it be determined whether lowering the nicotine will make a cigarette less addictive when the participants are all smokers and therefore already "addicted" to nicotine?

Does the FDA not know that nicotine users self-titrate? If they are given lower-nicotine cigarettes, they'll simply smoke more cigarettes to reach their accustomed nic level. If the FDA is going to test for reduced nicotine addiction, wouldn't they have to conduct studies with never smokers? (Which of course they can't do because it would be unethical... Though maybe they could, since they seem to be a bit low on ethics in general... hmmm)

Also, the FDA is providing low-nicotine tobacco cigarettes. The study participants may be lowering their nic levels (assuming they aren't simply smoking more cigs), but they're still ingesting all the dangerous chemicals associated with smoking tobacco. So how does this further the public health aspect of FDA's "war on smoking"?

Maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture here, but this study seems to me to be totally without merit. If I'm wrong, could somebody please put me out of my confusion?!

 

[bnrkwest]

Crazy, they want to make cigarettes less addictive by lowering nicotine, when nicotine is not the long term problem?? There is other stuff in cigarrettes that make them so addicting. I get nic from ecigs but it must not be very addicting because I kept lowering my level with no adverse affects. I am at 6 and zero now. Alot of ecig users reduce nic not increase it.
I think this study misses the mark, what else in cigarettes make them so addicting other than nicotine. Nicotine is not the problem here. bnrk

 

[pamdis]

Crazy, they want to make cigarettes less addictive by lowering nicotine, when nicotine is not the long term problem?? There is other stuff in cigarrettes that make them so addicting. I get nic from ecigs but it must not be very addicting because I kept lowering my level with no adverse affects. I am at 6 and zero now. Alot of ecig users reduce nic not increase it.
I think this study misses the mark, what else in cigarettes make them so addicting other than nicotine. Nicotine is not the problem here. bnrk

I also find it facinating that people are able to reduce their nic levels so easily. Wouldn't it be interesting to find that, rather than being the actual addictive substance, nicotine is simply beneficial for easing the withdrawal symptoms of other substances? And that the only reason some people continue to use nicotine after they have recovered from their addition to whatever is addictive in cigarettes is because they enjoy the mild, harmless caffeine-like stimulant effect?

 

[Berylanna]

But, hey, our ally, AEMSA, is proposing a standard that would ban WTA's....which about 5-10% of vapers need to get off combustibles.

 

[Vocalek]

Compensation predicts smoking cess... [Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2013] - PubMed - NCBI

Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2013 Jun 10. [Epub ahead of print]
Compensation predicts smoking cessation failure.
Niaura RS, Pearson JL, Abrams DB.
Source

The Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at Legacy, 1724 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20036, USA, rniaura@legacyforhealth.org.
Abstract
RATIONALE:

Compensation is a potential result of decreasing the available nicotine and tar dose in cigarettes. There is little published data linking compensation with cessation.
OBJECTIVES:

We sought to examine whether compensation in response to restricted cigarette yield is associated with difficulty quitting smoking.
METHODS:

Questionnaires and blood samples were collected from 174 smokers interested in quitting smoking as part of a larger smoking cessation study. Participants were instructed to use a filter designed to remove 50 % of tar and nicotine from the cigarette but otherwise smoke normally. Participants returned after 3 days of using the filter for follow-up data collection.
RESULTS:

Nicotine levels and cigarettes per day decreased after use of the filter. Baseline nicotine and change in nicotine pre/post filter use, but not cigarettes per day or change in cigarettes per day were associated with smoking abstinence at 30 days.
CONCLUSIONS:

Smokers who demonstrate sensitivity to the biological or behavioral consequences of decreased nicotine content in tobacco smoke have greater difficulty quitting. These findings suggest the need for personalized cessation treatment linked to behavioral compensation.

 

[Petrodus]

The FDA couldn't care less if you quit or die.
They are in place to protect the profits of their masters ... BP.

 

[snork]

But, hey, our ally, AEMSA, is proposing a standard that would ban WTA's....which about 5-10% of vapers need to get off combustibles.

Ally.

How did you arrive at a 5-10% figure, by the way?

 

[bnrkwest]

I never tried WTA that I know of, unless it was in some juices I didn't realize. If someone uses WTA is there a problem getting off of it? bnrk

But, hey, our ally, AEMSA, is proposing a standard that would ban WTA's....which about 5-10% of vapers need to get off combustibles.

 

[aikanae1]

Sure, remove the nicotine and keep people smoking tar and 4,000 unknown chemicals... All this proves is that FDA is a tool for BT and BP controlling the smoking market. It'll take them another 50 years before they realize "gee, people kept dying so maybe there's something else?"

 

[snork]

I never tried WTA that I know of, unless it was in some juices I didn't realize. If someone uses WTA is there a problem getting off of it? bnrk

Nah, you would have to purposely buy it, it doesn't grow on trees and nobody slips it in just for grins.
Problem getting off of it? Doesn't seem to be from the reports I've seen, though for me it's enjoyable to the point of why would I want to?

 

[rothenbj]

Does the FDA not know that nicotine users self-titrate? If they are given lower-nicotine cigarettes, they'll simply smoke more cigarettes to reach their accustomed nic level.

That probably won't be the case anyway. First they'll need to determine if they like the taste. If not, they'll quickly be buying what they like. Then, if they can live with the taste, they'll smoke as you suggest and, if history repeats itself, they'll smoke considerably more to hit their usual nic levels. Haven't we gone through this decades ago? Remember when the government pushed for low tar and low nic cigarettes. They even indicated on the pack the levels of each. It was a complete and utter failure.

Participants were instructed to use a filter designed to remove 50 % of tar and nicotine from the cigarette but otherwise smoke normally. Participants returned after 3 days of using the filter for follow-up data collection.

That reminded be of some ancient history. Long ago, in a far off world, there was a get rich quick scheme, I mean a quit smoking technique, that you used a series of plastic filters that you put your cigarettes in. I think it was 4 filters that each week or so you'd use the next step. By the fourth filter, if you hadn't thrown them in the trash, you could get a hernia trying to get any smoke in your lungs. Yeah, I wasted my money on this as well as at least a dozen other "methods" to extract the green from my wallet.

I never tried WTA that I know of, unless it was in some juices I didn't realize. If someone uses WTA is there a problem getting off of it?

Most people seem to use it sparingly. For a while it was all I vaped and I'd use 1-2 ml a week, more for relaxation. Unfortunately, I'm using a lot more regular nicquid now since B&Ms opened within driving distance and when you walk out of the store, you have flavors that you love. It's best for those that find something missing in nicquid, the MAOI effect. Translated, if you have depression in your physiology, you'll probably not be happy with normal nicquid. When I found this to be my situation, WTA was just a dream. I found snus that reall takes care of the reasons I smoked in the first place.

 

[Faylool]

NRT products available now would likely be a good indicator of what mg nicotine you would be looking at being able to get, right? That's my thinking anyway. The patch, for example, comes in 21mg nic as the highest/strongest level, but is delivered in microdoses over a period of about 8 hours is about when I notice it starts wearing off. Then there's the lozenges/gum, which comes in 4mg as the highest/strongest level.

You can chew two pieces gum at a time ( usually gives you hiccups...someone calls them nic cups) and definitely use two three patches.

 

[Faylool]

I found snus too Roth.... Oh yeah you know. But really it was to replace WTA DIY juice because of the availability deal and now I don't have to worry about that so long as things stay about the same. I only used two portions so far today. It doesn't seem all that addicting because I didn't vape much and only snuffed once. Might make up this evening which often happens. I'd say they are no more addicting than just plain nic. This is the first thread I've heard mention any ban on WTA. Thought it was being ignored. Wondered when things would start being said about it by the busy bodies

 

[snork]

I found snus too Roth.... Oh yeah you know. But really it was to replace WTA DIY juice because of the availability deal and now I don't have to worry about that so long as things stay about the same. I only used two portions so far today. It doesn't seem all that addicting because I didn't vape much and only snuffed once. Might make up this evening which often happens. I'd say they are no more addicting than just plain nic. This is the first thread I've heard mention any ban on WTA. Thought it was being ignored. Wondered when things would start being said about it by the busy bodies

Heh. Nobody's mentioned a ban on WTA, it's only AEMSA who excludes it from their list of accepted eliquid ingredients by their membership. Though by being a self-appointed "standards" organization and presenting themselves to the FDA as such, they might as well be saying to the busybodies: "Pink elephant? What pink elephant? I don't see any pink elephant in the corner of the room over there!"