DENVER –The Colorado Board of Health has urged R.J. Reynolds to stop test marketing its dissolvable tobacco products in the state.
In March, Reynolds moved testing of its Camel Orbs, Strips and Sticks to the Denver region and Charlotte, N.C. to gain additional feedback and new perspectives. The products previously had been tested in Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis and Portland, Ore. over a two-year period that ended in December of last year. For previous CSP/Tobacco E-News coverage, please click here.
According to the Denver Post, Colorado state and private health officials are worried that the new products look like candy and will make it easier for children to try tobacco. "Teenagers may be attracted to the flavoring and discreet nature of the products," the board said.
R.J. Reynolds spokesman Richard Smith responded, "Camel Dissolvables are smokeless tobacco products -- they are not candy or mints as some have erroneously described them," according to the paper. "The packaging is child-resistant and is clearly labeled 'dissolvable tobacco.' They are sold alongside other tobacco products, their sale is age-restricted, and they are taxed at the same rate as other smokeless tobacco products."
Winston-Salem, N.C.-based R.J. Reynolds is the second-largest U.S. tobacco company. The company's brands include five of the 10 best-selling U.S. cigarettes: Camel, Pall Mall, Winston, Doral and Kool. American Snuff (formerly Conwood Co.) is the nation's second-largest manufacturer of smokeless tobacco products. Its leading brands are Kodiak, Grizzly and Levi Garrett. Santa Fe manufactures Natural American Spirit cigarettes and other additive-free tobacco products, and manages and markets other super-premium brands. Niconovum markets nicotine replacement therapy products in Sweden and Denmark under the Zonnic brand name.
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