• by Steve Ellwanger , March 8, 2023

Hemp cigarette brand TAAT Global Alternatives is moving into the tobacco smoking-cessation space with the planned acquisition of a smartphone app called Break Free from Vancouver-based Boksburg Ventures.

Still in development, Break Free could help TAAT “play a strategic role in the marketplace positioning” of its nicotine- and tobacco-free hemp cigarettes, the company said last week.

While hemp cigarettes are legal under U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines, they cannot be marketed as smoking-cessation products.

Break Free is being developed to monitor and track smoking-related habits of adult tobacco users and suggest “customized changes that are specific to each adult smoker to ensure personalized care and attention.”

A companion diagnostics module to Break Free would help smokers personalize and customize the use of currently available FDA-approved smoking cessation products.  Circadian rhythm sensors would monitor sleep/wake cycles and snoring to help adult tobacco users quit smoking.”

TAAT describes its cigarettes as a proprietary blend of hemp—containing federally legal amounts of CBD and THC—that mimic the flavor of tobacco cigarettes.

If approved by Boksburg shareholders on April 10, the deal would provide the company with 17 million shares of TAAT common stock at a deemed value of $0.3225 per share and $3.6 million in working capital.

As of December 2022, TAAT products were sold in more than 800 stores in Las Vegas and 500 in San Diego.

The company also has branched out to Texas with placements in 34 Buc-ee’s convenience stores and a distribution deal with the Greater Austin Merchants Cooperative Association, which services more than 1,800 retailers.