RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Tobacco maker Star Scientific is making itself the test case for whether the Food and Drug Administration will allow certain tobacco products to be marketed as less harmful than cigarettes.
The small Virginia company is the first to apply for approval to market what the agency calls "modified-risk" products. It sells dissolvable smokeless tobacco that comes in lozenges that dissolve in the user's mouth.
How the FDA handles the products is being closely watched by both the public health community and bigger tobacco companies that are looking for new products to sell as they face declining cigarette demand due to tax increases, health concerns, smoking bans and social stigma.
The request to market the products as safer also highlights the debate over how best to control tobacco use.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
