Abuse Liability of Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes Within a Complex Tobacco Marketplace
Condition: Substance-Related Disorders
MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Tobacco regulatory policies can have unanticipated consequences; therefore, methods that
      would permit prospective estimates of the effects of potential tobacco regulations are
      necessary for the development of tobacco regulatory science. The goal of this project is to
      experimentally assess how smokers purchase and consume reduced-nicotine cigarettes. In
      experiment 1, we will investigate how purchasing/consuming reduced-nicotine cigarettes is
      related to nicotine content and absorption. In experiment 2, we will investigate how
      purchasing/consuming changes when other nicotine products are available in an experimental
      marketplace setting. The proposed projects can directly inform tobacco regulation by
      providing estimates of the real-world effects of novel policies.
    

Detailed description: 
      The specific objective in Experiment 1 is to examine the effect of nicotine content (0.4
      mg/g, 1.4 mg/g, 2.5 mg/g, 5.6 mg/g, and 17.4 mg/g of tobacco) and blood nicotine absorption
      on laboratory behavioral economic measures of demand intensity and elasticity. Under
      double-blind conditions, we will examine the relationship between plasma nicotine and
      cigarette demand as a function of the dose of the nicotine in the cigarettes. Regular
      cigarette smokers will consume, on separate sessions, controlled puffs of a cigarette
      containing a blinded dose of nicotine then complete a cigarette purchase task, our measure of
      value, while plasma nicotine is measured. We hypothesize that cigarette demand will be
      associated with dose and level of circulating nicotine, but in a nonlinear fashion such that
      consumption of very low dose cigarettes will not be predicted by nicotine dose or intake
      alone.

      To inform how various products may interact, we have developed and tested a novel method
      called the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace. The Experimental Tobacco Marketplace is a
      systematic extension of similar marketplace methods used with other consumer products (e.g.,
      food marketplaces used in obesity and other nutrition-related research; Epstein, Dearing,
      Roba, & Finkelstein, 2010). In experimental marketplaces, multiple products are available and
      the experimenter controls the prices for each. These marketplaces can be either physical or
      virtual stores (similar to online retailers) and permit the examination of demand elasticity
      and intensity and degree of substitution or complementarity in consumer behavior under
      conditions that approximate naturalistic settings.

      Experiment 2 will extend findings from the first experiment examining the effects of
      different concentrations of nicotine in cigarettes (0.4mg/g, 1.4mg/g, 2.5mg/g, 5.6mg/g,
      17.4mg/g) and blood nictotine absorption on laboratory behavioral economic demand measures.
      Employing this innovative Experimental Tobacco Marketplace, we propose to examine
      reduced-nicotine cigarettes under the following conditions: 1) control conditions where lower
      dose nicotine cigarettes are the only available product in the Experimental Tobacco
      Marketplace and where the tobacco marketplace is similar to the current real-world
      marketplace (i.e., no lower dose nicotine cigarettes, but a variety of other tobacco
      products); 2) lower dose nicotine cigarettes are available with a number of other nicotine
      products excluding conventional cigarettes; and 3) lower dose nicotine cigarettes are
      available with a number of other nicotine products including conventional cigarettes.
    

Intervention name(s): SPECTRUM cigarettes; SPECTRUM cigarettes between
Intervention type(s): Drug; Drug
Intervention description(s): Across six laboratory sessions, participants will consume 10 puffs of either their usual brand of cigarette (one session) or a SPECTRUM cigarette (five sessions) with a nicotine yield varying from 0.03 to 0.70 and either menthol (TPMF codes NRC 103, NRC 201, NRC 301, NRC 401, and NRC 601) or tobacco (TPMF codes NRC 102, NRC 200, NRC 300, NRC 400, and NRC 600) flavor, depending on preference. This will be followed by the collection of blood nicotine content and a cigarette purchase task.; Participants will be assigned one of the nicotine concentrations of a SPECTRUM cigarette. They will complete a cigarette purchase task and make real purchases for the next week. Participants will return and make purchases again, repeating 4 times.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary purpose: Basic Science