Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes and Tobacco Switching Behaviors; CTP Supplement to Parent Grant: Models For Tobacco Product Evaluation
Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes and Tobacco Switching Behaviors; CTP Supplement to Parent Grant: Models For Tobacco Product Evaluation
Principal Investigator: Dorothy Hatsukami
Funding Mechanism: National Institutes of Health - Grant
ID number: U19CA157345-01A1
Award Date: 3/20/2013
Institution: University of Minnesota
Regulating reductions in cigarette nicotine content has the potential to reduce tobacco use-related morbidity and mortality, but these positive effects might be mitigated depending on whether cigarette smokers switch to other nicotine-containing products and the type of products they use (e.g., cigars, cigarillos, smokeless products, nicotine replacement therapy). The goal of this study is to address the likelihood of product switching behavior and the type of product use following assignment to very low nicotine content (VLNC) cigarettes and access to different types of nicotine-containing products. Investigators will randomly assign subjects to one of three experimental groups reflecting different scenarios of tobacco availability: (1) VLNC cigarettes and access to non-combusted and combusted nicotine-containing products (with the exception of cigarettes) (n=50); (2) VLNC cigarettes and access to non-combusted products only (n=50); and (3) experimental cigarettes with conventional levels of nicotine (0.8 mg nicotine yield) with access to both combusted and non-combusted products (n=25). Over an eight-week experimental phase, participants will be assessed for patterns of tobacco use and biomarkers of exposure.