Reynolds American, the second-largest U.S. tobacco company by sales, has been test-marketing Orbs, which are tiny oval-shaped lozenges. Similarly, Star Scientific sells dissolvable products such as
Ariva and Stonewall.
The companies don't market the products to people who want to stop smoking, Kesmodel point out. "Our Camel dissolvable tobacco products provide an option for
adult tobacco consumers who have made an informed choice to use tobacco," a Reynolds spokesman asserts.
"These products are being marketed not as substitutes, but to be used in addition to cigarettes,'' GlaxoSmithKline said in a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, and have the "potential to initiate tobacco use and perpetuate smoking."
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