Abstract

To the Editor.— The recent commercial introduction into the US market of the Premier "smokeless cigarette" by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is the newest entry by the tobacco industry of nicotine delivery systems. The device is a tube that has the superficial appearance of a conventional cigarette but that contains very little tobacco.1 Its primary means of nicotine delivery is an aluminum cylinder in which a charcoal tip has been partially inserted. The cylinder (4.5 mm in diameter and 29 mm in length) is filled with aluminum oxide beads that have been treated with glycerol and nicotine-laden substances. The smoker ignites the charcoal tip and draws hot gases through the aluminum chamber, causing volatile components to form an aerosol and be drawn into the user's lungs. A patent (No. 4756318) application by the company claims that the device "may be used or may be modified for use as