Native, discount, or premium brand cigarettes: what types of cigarettes are Canadian youth currently smoking?

Do Budget Cigarettes Emit More Particles? An Aerosol Spectrometric Comparison of Particulate Matter Concentrations between Private-Label Cigarettes and More Expensive Brand-Name Cigarettes

Private-label cigarettes are cigarettes that belong to the retailer itself. Private-label cigarettes from discounters or supermarkets are cheaper than brand-name cigarettes, and their lower price has allowed them to garner an ever-increasing share of the tobacco product market, especially among lower socioeconomic groups. Particulate matter (PM), a considerable component of air pollution, is a substantial health-damaging factor. Smoking is the primary source of PM in smokers’ homes. In a 2.88 m3 measuring chamber, the PM emission fractions PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 from three private-label cigarette brands and three brand-name cigarette brands with identical nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide content were measured and compared to those of a reference cigarette by laser aerosol spectroscopy. All cigarette brands emitted PM in health-threatening quantities. The measurement results ranged from 1394 µg/m3 to 1686 µg/m3 PM10, 1392 µg/m3 to 1682 µg/m3 PM2.5, and 1355 µg/m3 to 1634 µg/m3 PM1, respectively. Only one private-label brand differed significantly (p < 0.001) from the other cigarette brands, which were tested with slightly lower PM levels. All other brands differed only marginally (not significant, p > 0.05) from one another. Significant (p < 0.05) negative correlations between private-label and brand-name cigarettes were found for PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 when accounting for tobacco filling densities, and for PM1 when accounting for filter lengths. The especially health-hazardous fraction PM1 accounted for the largest proportion of PM emissions from the cigarettes tested. The results of this study suggest that- cheaper tobacco products are as harmful as more expensive ones, at least regarding PM emissions. This highlights the importance of anti-smoking campaigns, especially for lower socioeconomic groups, where smoking is more widespread. Governments should reduce the price gap between cheap and more expensive tobacco products by implementing specific tobacco taxes. In such a case, at increasing prices of tobacco products, a downward shift to private-label cigarettes would probably decrease.

Master Settlement Agreement Compliance Tobacco Directories: A Tool to Track Tribally Manufactured Cigarettes

INTRODUCTION

Little is known about the scope of the tribally manufactured cigarette market. This study illuminates the topic by examining the Master Settlement Agreement Compliance Tobacco Directories, regularly updated documents that list the cigarette manufacturers and brand families that can be legally sold within participating states.

METHODS

In July 2014, the latest Tobacco Directories were identified for 43 states and the District of Columbia. Colorado archival tobacco directories were extracted, by month since 2003. Tribal manufacturers and brands were identified in the directories and mapped by state.

RESULTS

A total of 11 tribal manufacturers and 39 tribal cigarette brand families were identified in publicly available tobacco directories. Total unique brands were tallied by state, ranging from 1 to 24 unique brands. Historical data from Colorado showed that tribal manufacturers, as a percentage of all manufacturers, increased from 3.2% in 2003 to 20.6% by mid-2014.

DISCUSSION

Analysis of Tobacco Directories offers an innovative approach to better understand the tribally manufactured cigarette market. More research is needed to understand reporting and compliance to the Tobacco Directories by manufacturers and retailers, and their usefulness as a research tool to the tobacco control community.

IMPLICATIONS

This study aims to make three contributions to the literature: (1) identify tribal tobacco manufacturers and brands in the Master Settlement Agreement Compliance documents; (2) highlight the presence and scope of the tribally manufactured cigarette brands across the United States; and (3) observe any upward or downward trends in tobacco brands and manufacturers since the directories' implementation.