RJR's Camel SNUS twice nicotine content..

November 20, 2008 - West Virginia has the highest prevalence of adult smokeless tobacco use in the United States. (Young Users of Smokeless Tobacco Lack Awareness of Its Dangers) To date R.J. Reynolds Tobacco has not identified West Virginia as one of the test markets for Camel SNUS but Camel SNUS will be rolled out nationally early in 2009.

Researchers at West Virgina University (WVU) found that the Camel SNUS presently available in convenience stores has twice the nicotine content of an earlier version of the same product sold elsewhere in the U.S. When compared with another snus product - Tourney SNUS had a much lower levels of nicotine than Camel SNUS.

Co-author of the study Robert Anderson, deputy director of WVU's Prevention Resource Center concluded that the research showed that nicotine levels in Camel SNUS are stronger than in several snuff products. (This work will be published in an upcoming issue of the West Virginia Medical Journal.)

Reference: WVU: Tobacco product high in nicotine, TraderMarkets.com, 11/18/2008.

It is interesting to note Dr. Jonathan Foulds (fouldsja@umdnj.edu)has insisted that the version Philip Morris' (PM) Marlboro SNUS currently being marketed in the United States differs from Swedish snus in many ways; it has lower moisture content and pH, but most puzzling is its very low nicotine delivery. It is suggested that PM may have designed the product so that it does not satisfy nicotine cravings and fails to enable smokers to switch. (Is low-nicotine Marlboro snus really snus?, Jonathan Foulds and Helena Furberg, Harm Reduct J. 5:9, (Feb 27)2008)