The Relative Reinforcing Value of Menthol Among Young Adult Cigarette Smokers: Results From a Behavioral Choice Task.

Introduction: Menthol cigarettes are associated with experimentation and progression to regular use. Although reinforcement processes likely underlie menthol's appeal, the reinforcing value of menthol cigarettes remains unknown.

Aims And Methods: This study examined the relative reinforcing value (RRV) of menthol versus nonmenthol cigarettes in young adult menthol (n = 54) and nonmenthol (n = 53) smokers, and differences in menthol's RRV by race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

The Effects of Changes in Cigarette Menthol Content on Acute Nicotine Pharmacology and Smoking Topography.

Introduction: Menthol influences the appeal and addictiveness of cigarette smoking, however the data regarding menthol's effects on nicotine pharmacokinetics (PK) and smoking topography are inconsistent. This study investigated the impact of different cigarette menthol levels on nicotine pharmacology and smoking topography in current menthol smokers.

Aims And Methods: The study was a double-blind, randomized, four-period, crossover study to investigate the effects of smoking cigarettes with varying menthol content (0, 3, 6, and 12 mg menthol) on nicotine PK, smoking topography, and subjective effects in current menthol smokers.

Survey of Premium Versus Large Manufactured Cigars Use in U.S. Consumers.

Introduction: An Internet questionnaire was used to determine smoking behavior, purchasing behavior, and risk perceptions among exclusive or nearly exclusive current users of either large manufactured (LMC) or premium cigars (PC).

Aims And Methods: Respondents (n = 250) were recruited from a nationally representative market research panel. An a priori designation of PC users was adapted from criteria in published literature and the recent National Academy of Science report.

A Method to Amend Cigarettes With Menthol for Use in Research.

Introduction: Studies have evaluated the role of menthol cigarettes on various addiction-related outcomes; however, the effect of varying menthol content on these outcomes has not been evaluated. We developed a method to amend non-menthol SPECTRUM Research Cigarettes to contain menthol at four different levels.

Aims And Methods: SPECTRUM Research Cigarettes, NRC 600 (0.

Mouth Level Intake of Nicotine from Three Brands of Little Filtered Cigars with Widely Differing Product Characteristics Among Adult Consumers.

Little filtered cigars are tobacco products with many cigarette-like characteristics. However, despite cigars falling under the U.S.

Effect of very low nicotine content cigarettes on alcohol drinking and smoking among adult smokers who are at-risk alcohol drinkers.

Alcohol and tobacco use are interrelated. This study examined response to very low nicotine content (VLNC) and moderate nicotine content (MNC) cigarettes by problematic drinking. We utilized a double-blind, randomized, within-subjects crossover design of VLNC and MNC cigarettes in two groups of adult cigarette smokers: with at-risk drinking (ARD; = 23) and without ARD ( = 24).

A Comparison of Use Topography and Nicotine Pharmacokinetics Among Loose and Portioned Smokeless Tobacco Users.

Introduction: Moist snuff smokeless tobacco (ST) products are available in the United States in both "loose" and "portioned" (ie, pouched) formats, but no published study to date has clinically evaluated the associations between ST format, use behavior, and nicotine exposure.

Aims And Methods: Participants used their usual brand of ST (loose ST [n = 30] or portioned ST [n = 20]) during an experimental visit wherein use behavior and plasma nicotine pharmacokinetic parameters were measured following single use (first hour of the session) and ad libitum use (remaining 7 h of the session). Participants' ST products were chemically characterized prior to use for pH and nicotine content.

Formulation of smokeless tobacco products with a wide range of pH to study nicotine pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

The rate of nicotine absorption from tobacco products is a determinant of addiction potential and other detrimental health effects. Oral nicotine bioavailability from moist snuff smokeless tobacco (ST) is influenced by nicotine content, pH, flavors, and tobacco cut. For use in a clinical study testing the effect of pH on nicotine pharmacokinetics, four investigational ST products that differed only in pH were produced.

Measuring young adult appeal for menthol and non-menthol cigarettes: protocol of a clinical trial using both laboratory and intensive longitudinal methods (PRISM).

Introduction: Although the Food and Drug Administration banned other characterising flavours in cigarettes, menthol cigarettes are still available to consumers. Young adult new smokers are initiating with menthol cigarettes, such that the prevalence of young adults menthol versus non-menthol smokers is increasing. Experimentation with menthol cigarettes is associated with progression to regular smoking and nicotine dependence.

The pH of Smokeless Tobacco Determines Nicotine Buccal Absorption: Results of a Randomized Crossover Trial.

Nicotine absorption rate influences tobacco products' addictiveness. For smokeless tobacco, nicotine buccal absorption is associated with its free-base form; the pH of smokeless tobacco defines the proportion of free-base (i.e.

Impact of smoked cannabis on tobacco cigarette smoking intensity and subjective effects: A placebo-controlled, double-blind, within-subjects human laboratory study.

Co-users of cannabis and tobacco frequently use cannabis, then tobacco cigarettes, in a sequential pattern within an occasion, that is, they "chase" smoked cannabis with a tobacco cigarette. The objective of this placebo-controlled, double-blind, within-subjects human laboratory study was to gather preliminary data on how smoking active versus placebo cannabis impacts tobacco cigarette smoking behavior, craving, and subjective effects. Adult daily cannabis and tobacco co-users ( = 9) were randomly assigned to two experimental visit orders (i.

Sweet flowers are slow, and weeds make haste: leveraging methodology from research on tobacco, alcohol, and opioid analgesics to make rapid and policy-relevant advances in cannabis science.

The legalization of medical and recreational cannabis use has occurred ahead of science. The current evidence base has poor utility for determining if cannabis products can meet the standards of safety, efficacy, and quality intrinsic to modern medicine, and for informing regulation of cannabis as a legal intoxicant. Individual jurisdictions that pass cannabis reforms may not have adequate resources to support the level of new scientific research needed to inform regulatory actions; this could make it difficult to keep a rapidly growing multi-billion-dollar cannabis industry in check.

Cigar and Marijuana Blunt Use Among Pregnant and Nonpregnant Women of Reproductive Age in the United States, 2006-2016.

Objectives: To assess trends in prevalence of cigar and blunt use in relation to cigarette use among pregnant and nonpregnant women of reproductive age.

Methods: We used 2006 to 2016 data from the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health to assess past-month use of cigarettes, cigars, and blunts among a total of 8695 pregnant women and 162 451 nonpregnant women aged 18 to 44 years.

Results: Cigarette use was more prevalent than cigar or blunt use in pregnant and nonpregnant women, with higher prevalence in nonpregnant women for each product.

Cigarillo and Little Cigar Mainstream Smoke Constituents from Replicated Human Smoking.

Little cigar and cigarillo smoking is increasing in popularity in the U.S., but little is known about the topography and mainstream smoke (MSS) constituents of these types of cigar products.

Cigar Use Symposium: Epidemiology, Toxicant Exposure, Health and Policy Implications.

Objective: Domestic cigar use has increased over the past 2 decades perhaps partially in response to cigarette restrictions and partially because cigars are used as vehicles for the delivery of marijuana. Although there is ample epidemiologic data to verify use and use patterns, there are relatively few studies that have looked at other aspects of current cigar use, advertising, toxicant exposure, and health effects.

Methods: Gaps in knowledge prompted a research symposium entitled .

Dual Use of Cigarettes, Little Cigars, Cigarillos, and Large Cigars: Smoking Topography and Toxicant Exposure.

Objective: Smoking topography variables and toxicant exposure (plasma nicotine and exhaled CO) were examined in 3 groups of study participants that smoked both cigarettes and either filtered little cigars (Winchester), cigarillos (Black & Mild), or large cigars (Phillies Blunt).

Methods: Laboratory ad lib smoking of the cigar products was collected with a smoking puff analyzer; plasma levels of nicotine and exhaled CO were collected before and after smoking.

Results: Although there were no statistically significant differences in demographic and cigarette smoking topography among the groups, there were significant differences in how the different cigar products were smoked.

Smoking Behavior and Smoke Constituents from Cigarillos and Little Cigars.

Objective: Although most cigarillos and little cigars smokers also smoke cigarettes (dual use), there are few studies comparing toxicant exposure and smoking behavior in cigars and cigarettes.

Methods: Two groups of dual users smoked their usual brand of cigarette and either a Winchester unflavored little cigar (N = 21) or a Black & Mild cigarillo (N = 23). Acute exposure of nicotine and exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) and puffing topography parameters were collected.

Nicotine Content and Physical Properties of Large Cigars and Cigarillos in the United States.

Introduction: Cigars are combusted tobacco products consisting of filler, binder, and wrapper, which are derived from tobacco. Despite the abundance of literature on the composition of traditional combusted cigarettes, research is limited on the physical and chemical properties of cigars. Therefore, research on cigar properties may be useful to better understand their health impact.

Large Cigars: Smoking Topography and Toxicant Exposure.

Background: Cigar smoking in the United States continues despite decreases in cigarette smoking and increased tobacco control efforts. We compared large cigar and cigarette smoking for use patterns, smoking topography, and toxicant exposure.

Methods: Dual users (n = 17, 94% men, 77% African American) smoked ad libitum either their usual cigarette brand or a study large cigar (Phillies Blunt) in two laboratory sessions.

Does marijuana "blunt" smoking contribute to nicotine exposure?: Preliminary product testing of nicotine content in wrappers of cigars commonly used for blunt smoking.

Introduction: An increasingly popular method of consuming marijuana is through the smoking of "blunts," cigar products in which some or all of the tobacco filler is removed and repacked with marijuana. Even if all tobacco filler is removed from the cigar product in the process of making blunts, nicotine may be present in the wrapper of the cigar product. This preliminary analysis quantified the nicotine content in wrappers of cigar products commonly used for blunt smoking.

Menthol Smokers: Metabolomic Profiling and Smoking Behavior.

Background: The use of menthol in cigarettes and marketing is under consideration for regulation by the FDA. However, the effects of menthol on smoking behavior and carcinogen exposure have been inconclusive. We previously reported metabolomic profiling for cigarette smokers, and novelly identified a menthol-glucuronide (MG) as the most significant metabolite directly related to smoking.

Metabolomic profiles of current cigarette smokers.

Smoking-related biomarkers for lung cancer and other diseases are needed to enhance early detection strategies and to provide a science base for tobacco product regulation. An untargeted metabolomics approach by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF MS) totaling 957 assays was used in a novel experimental design where 105 current smokers smoked two cigarettes 1 h apart. Blood was collected immediately before and after each cigarette allowing for within-subject replication.