Nicotine blood levels measured after smoking cigarettes designed to release nicotine by heat evaporation (instead of burning)

Nicotine addiction is a major reason for the resistance of the smoking habit to smoking cessation efforts. Tobacco manufacturers have developed cigarettes with reduced tar and nicotine dose to reduce the toxicity of cigarettes. The Premier® cigarette is one extreme example of such an effort. This product almost totally eliminates toxic constituents, with the exception of nicotine. The authors studied the effectiveness of this product for nicotine delivery by measuring plasma nicotine levels in smokers who were novices to the Premier® product and compared the results with the nicotine levels each smoker attained after use of his/her usual cigarette. Smokers attained a nicotine level of 19.3 ± 8.5 ng/ml by smoking their own cigarettes compared to a level of 9.6 ± 6.0 ng/ml (p < 0.01) with the Premier® product. A subjective survey of study subjects indicated that satiation with the new product was less than with the subjects usual cigarettes.