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VLN® cigarettes are retailing in increasingly more US states. Photo credit: Matt Marton
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VLN® retail shelf display in the United States.
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VLN cigarettes have 95% less nicotine than regular brands. Photo credit: 22nd Century Group, Inc
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John Miller, president tobacco division at 22nd Century Group. Photo credit: 22nd Century Group, Inc
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John Pritchard, v.p. of regulatory science at 22nd Century Group. Photo credit: 22nd Century Group, Inc
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TAAT® is available in three flavors: original, smooth, and menthol. Photo credit: TAAT® Global Alternatives Inc.
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Michael Saxon, c.e.o. of TAAT® Global Alternatives Inc. Photo credit: TAAT® Global Alternatives Inc.
Whether a consumer wants to cut down or even quit, smokes with low or even zero nicotine just may be the ticket to success.
Many among us have encountered it before: a friend or acquaintance switches to vaping to try cut down on their cigarette consumption or quit for good eventually. But, sometimes they switch back to cigarettes again after only a few weeks or couple of months of vaping. Their most common reason for returning to combustibles reverberates like an alpine echo. Vaping didn’t give them the same satisfaction that a conventional cigarette did. The “mouthfeel” isn’t there, the taste isn’t right, the sensation of drawing “dry” smoke is lacking with e-liquid vapor. However, there may be a solution to that conundrum with low-nicotine or even zero-nicotine combustibles combustibles.
Taking smoking into the 22nd century
The trailblazer extraordinaire in the low-nicotine segment surely ought to be 22nd Century Group Inc. Headquartered in Buffalo, New York, the company generated headlines a decade or so ago when it announced that it had developed a genetically modified tobacco strain that naturally produced 95% less nicotine in its leaves than regular plants. With that patented strain, 22nd Century subsequently created a series of very low nicotine content cigarette products called SPECTRUM® that were exclusively provided to academic research institutions for use in clinical studies to assess the physiological and psychological effects of nicotine reduction in heavy smokers.
Erstwhile research brand goes commercial
Well, fast forward to the present. SPECTRUM proved a success with researchers, but 22nd Century aimed at going further with it and making it available for regular retail with a product called VLN® – which contains the same level of very low nicotine content as the lowest line of SPECTRUM cigarettes used in reduced nicotine cigarette research. It wasn’t an easy endeavor to commercialize VLN, of course, thanks to extremely complex tobacco regulations in the US.
“We are not only under FDA regulations, but also subject to FTC regulations, state and local regulations, as well as the Master Settlement Agreement [MSA] with the National Association of Attorneys General [NAAG],” explained John Miller, 22nd Century’s president of the tobacco division. “Any new cigarette brand to launch in the US must meet the full set of requirements under all of these [regulations],” Miller said. But while the regulatory environment was “challenging for smaller companies like 22nd Century Group,” the firm managed to negotiate the gauntlet nevertheless. Even more amazingly, VLN, by then a registered trademark, became the first combustible cigarette product in the US to ever having successfully gone through both the pre-market tobacco product application [PMTA] and the modified risk tobacco product [MRTP] processes.
The advantages of MRTP authorization
MRTP authorization allows VLN to make specific claims in its marketing materials (including printed on the packaging) that other brands are barred from, such as “95% Less Nicotine” or “Helps Reduce Your Nicotine Consumption”. But whenever these authorized claims are used, FDA also requires VLN to include the additional message “Helps You Smoke Less”. It is worth noting at this point that presently there exist only four authorized MRTP products in the US.
One of them is no longer on the market due to patent disputes, while another two are modern oral products. The fourth one is VLN, and it remains to date the one and only MRTP-authorized combustible cigarette brand in the country. On top of specific marketing advantages, the recognition also qualifies VLN for tax reductions in certain states. “The MRTP tax saving is a great incentive for adult consumers in the seven states that [currently] offer those price reductions,” said Miller.
Soon in a state near you
VLN was first commercially launched in the state of Illinois in 2022, followed by Colorado in the same year. In early 2023, the very-low nicotine brand became available in Wisconsin, but at least another six states also are lined up for a launch this year: Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Texas, California, and Florida. If things pan out, it could well be more, though.
“VLN has been approved in 46 states [and] we are constructing plans to be in at least 18 states by the end of 2023,” divulged Miller. And there is movement in overseas markets, too. According to Miller, the launch of VLN was announced in South Korea in 2022, though the product has not yet actually appeared on retail shelves there. In addition, the company in early 2023 said that it is going to launch retail pilot tests in Japan and Switzerland, with local partners in both countries already on stand-by. “We anticipate all three countries to have products at retail by this year,” asserted Miller.
Embarking on the road to reduced nicotine intake
So… what role can very low nicotine cigarettes like VLN potentially play in helping smokers quit or at least drastically reduce their nicotine intake? Well, as we know, the genetically modified tobacco plants created by 22nd Century naturally yield 95% less nicotine than regular strains. That translates to an average of 0.5mg/g on a dry weight basis (DWB); or 0.05%. Accordingly, each stick of VLN likewise contains 95% less nicotine when “compared to all other styles of cigarettes, including those that are typically considered ‘lighter’ varieties,” according to 22nd Century’s vice president of regulatory science, John Pritchard. And previous research conducted with administering very low nicotine cigarettes provided by 22nd Century conclusively showed that adult smokers who switch to reduced nicotine cigarettes
- Reduce their daily cigarette consumption (CPD) by up to 50%;
- Experience more smoke-free days;
- Double their quitting attempts; and
- Experience a reduction in nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
The key to quitting
While Pritchard conceded that sustained usage of VLN does not directly result in quitting, the product nevertheless creates conditions that are conducive to leading toward that goal. And because VLN is a combustible containing real tobacco, it also gives users the comforting and familiar smoking as well as taste experience that they do not encounter with vapes. However, since VLN is practically replete of nicotine, “smokers do not experience that ‘hit’ or ‘reinforcement of nicotine’ as with regular cigarettes,” admitted Pritchard. Yet that is actually a positive thing. It is the key that helps smokers eventually wean themselves off their nicotine addiction.
“Time and again, the clinical and scientific research has shown that adult smokers who switch to our products smoke less,” Pritchard said, adding that “the nicotine level in VLN is simply too low to create or sustain addiction.”
Vancouver firm TAAT triggers media buzz
It is not compulsory that a combustible smoking product must contain actual tobacco in order to help a user cut down or quit, of course. For instance, smokes manufactured from processed hemp are a great tobacco cigarette substitute in that respect – and they are becoming legal in more and more countries. A Vancouver outfit, TAAT Global Alternatives Inc., has garnered a lot of press in recent months with its TAAT products.* Listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, OTC Markets, as well as the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the company has been retailing its 100% tobacco and nicotine-free smokes in the UK and a number of US states where hemp smokes are legal since 2020.
Venturing “Beyond Tobacco™”
The TAAT brand is presently available in three flavor profiles as “original”, “smooth”, and “menthol”. The products contain “a proprietary blend of plant-based material”, which the company has trademarked as “Beyond Tobacco™ ”. Despite the blend not having a single milligram of tobacco in it, “adult smokers who have tried TAAT remark that the smoking experience is very similar to that of smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes.
“Our process is a combination of patent-pending IP along with other trade secrets,” the company’s c.e.o. Michael Saxon told Tobacco Asia during a recent interview. According to the company website “trytaat.com”, one of the main ingredients in the Beyond Tobacco blend is processed hemp. As a result, every TAAT stick contains 25mg cannabidiol (CBD) and less than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabiol (THC).
A great alternative to tobacco
Being a non-addictive and non-psychoactive substance, CBD supposedly has a range of health benefits, including acting as a mild analgesic. Furthermore, there has been some research that suggests that CBD may also help ease the symptoms of actual nicotine withdrawal, the principal reason why many tobacco users ultimately cave in and fail at their quitting attempt. On the other hand, the concentration of the psychoactive THC in TAAT is much too low to trigger any noticeable effect in an adult smoker. As a combustible product completely devoid of nicotine, TAAT can be deployed as a viable substitute for tobacco cigarettes and might be much better suited than, say, vapes, oral products, or nicotine patches.
“Smokers prefer a solution that is more familiar [to them] and fits in seamlessly with their smoking moments,” affirmed Saxon, indirectly confirming that a huge majority of tobacco users who switched to vaping soon return to combustibles. “Over 80% of smokers have tried e-cigarettes but only 3.2% of the market is in the e-cig category,” he claimed.
More legislation is on the way
Continuously increasing retail prices for conventional tobacco cigarettes, primarily driven by exorbitantly high tax incidences, also are a major factor for consumers trying to find alternatives. Smoking tobacco simply is becoming a very expensive pastime. A tobacco-free product such as TAAT is much lower taxed, making it easy on the pocket while the sensory satisfaction gained from “lighting up” is maintained. And as US authorities are gearing up for potential new federal and state legislative bans on menthol flavor as well as a reduction of nicotine in tobacco products to “non-addictive levels”, there could be further rocks strewn in the average’s US smoker’s way very soon. With all of that in the pipeline, “the TAAT brand [is] a great alternative for adult smokers who want to continue to use [combustible] products,” pointed out Saxon.
*All TAAT products are intended for current smokers aged 21 and above only. Further information about TAAT products is available from the websites taatglobal.com and trytaat.com.