Low-Tar Cigarettes Come Under Fire

Abstract

THE ILLUSION that low-tar brands are safer than regular cigarettes is all smoke and mirrors. A new population-based study has confirmed laboratory evidence that tar and nicotine levels do not predict smokers' exposure to carbon monoxide or the tobacco metabolite cotinine ( Am Rev Respir Dis . 1993;148:435-440). Coalition on Smoking and Health is hoping the new evidence moves the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to acknowledge that the so-called low-yield cigarettes are being deceptively marketed as though they are less of a health hazard than regular cigarettes, and therefore are subject to regulation as drugs under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. tobacco industry insists that it does not promote low-yield brands as healthier. The only health claims on any pack of cigarettes or any cigarette advertisements are those made by the Surgeon General's warning, says Phillip Morris spokesperson Sheila Banks-McKenzie. RJ Reynolds' public