Recognizing the importance of making informed decisions.
We know we must do our part in ensuring all consumers of our tobacco and other nicotine-containing products understand the associated risks when making the decision to use them or not.
That's why we're open about our positions on smoking, nicotine product use and health, and why we consistently adhere to our six core principles in all markets where we do business.
JTI recognizes that cigarettes are a legal but controversial product. People smoke for pleasure but there are real risks that come with that pleasure. Accordingly, JTI believes that tobacco products should be appropriately regulated.
JTI also believes in the freedom of adults to choose whether they want to smoke and that no one should smoke unless he or she understands the risks of doing so. These risks distinguish tobacco from most consumer goods and they place upon the industry a real responsibility. It's a responsibility for which JTI expects to be held accountable, together with governments and the rest of society.
Smoking is a cause of serious diseases including lung cancer, coronary heart disease, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
This conclusion has been drawn from studies which, taken as a whole, show that smokers are at a greater risk of developing these diseases compared to non-smokers and that stopping smoking reduces this risk over time.
While smoking is a cause of these diseases among smokers, there are other risk factors for the individual smoker, including lifestyle, occupation, environment and genetic predisposition. All relevant risk factors need to be taken into consideration when investigating the cause or causes of a disease in any smoker.
If you want to avoid the risks of smoking, you should not smoke.
External links:
World Health Organization
Many smokers report difficulty quitting smoking. The reasons they offer vary. Some say they miss the pleasure they derive from smoking. Others complain of feeling irritable or anxious. Others speak simply of the difficulty of breaking a well-ingrained habit. Given how many people – including smokers – use the term ‘addiction’, smoking is addictive.
But no matter how smoking is described, people can stop smoking if they are determined to do so. No one should believe that they are so attached or ‘addicted’ to smoking that they cannot quit.
Over the past decades, millions of people – all over the world – have given up smoking. Most have done so by themselves. Recent studies have shown that the majority of ex-smokers have quit without treatment programs or other assistance (see Chapman, R., MacKenzie, S., The Global Research Neglect of Unassisted Smoking Cessation: Causes and Consequences, PLoS (Public Library of Science) Medicine, 2010.). Other former smokers have used the many smoking cessation products or programs that are available.
Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS, also known as secondhand smoke) is a mixture of smoke that drifts from the burning end of a cigarette between puffs and smoke exhaled by nearby smokers.
In poorly ventilated areas, ETS can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat. It may also worsen childhood respiratory tract infections and some childhood respiratory conditions, such as asthma. Furthermore, several studies have linked ETS with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Based on the current science, JTI does not believe the claim has been proven that ETS is a cause of diseases such as lung cancer, coronary heart disease, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Many people have concerns about exposure to ETS. All smokers should show consideration for those around them. JTI strongly advises against smoking when children are present.
JTI promotes practical and effective solutions, such as separate smoking and non-smoking areas, which accommodate the legitimate interests of smokers and non-smokers.
External links:
World Health Organization
U.S. Surgeon General Report
Nicotine is a naturally occurring chemical compound. Tobacco plants contain the highest levels of nicotine; however, it is also found in other plants such as tomatoes, potatoes and aubergines, albeit at much lower concentrations. Nicotine can also be produced in a laboratory, which is typically known as synthetic nicotine.
Nicotine contributes to the overall product experience, yet it is not the sole determinant of product satisfaction. Every adult consumer is unique, with individual behaviors and preferences; product satisfaction reflects this individuality. Using tobacco and nicotine-containing products is a complex, dynamic and deeply individual behavior, multifactorial in nature: many adults do so for several reasons other than nicotine, including the sensory, social, tactile, and ritualistic aspects, reasons that may also evolve over time depending on individual circumstances and contexts.
It is essential to recognize that, for many adults who use tobacco or other nicotine-containing products (whether smoked, heated or otherwise), delivering satisfying levels of nicotine is just one of several important product characteristics, in addition to rituals linked to product use, sensory elements associated with specific products, and environmental considerations wherever such products are used, including socializing with other adults users.
Nicotine can enter the body through different routes depending on the intended product use, for instance by inhalation, orally, or via skin absorption. The route of delivery impacts the speed at which nicotine reaches the body’s tissues, including the brain. Nicotine mimics one of the body’s natural chemical messengers, acetylcholine, which cells use to communicate with each other.
Once nicotine has entered the bloodstream, nicotine exerts its effects by binding to specific structures (nicotinic acetylcholine receptors) on the surface of the cells throughout the body’s central and peripheral nervous system. Nicotine is generally considered to be a stimulant, however, depending on the adult consumer and context of use, it may also have relaxant effects. By mimicking the actions of acetylcholine, nicotine’s interaction with the receptors in the brain causes the release or changes in the levels of other chemical messengers (designated as neurotransmitters) including dopamine, glutamate and serotonin amongst others, which contribute to various psychopharmacological effects. These neurotransmitters play an important role in inducing pleasure, enhancing mood, alertness, attention and reducing stress.
Approximately half of the nicotine in the blood is metabolized and eliminated within 2 hours. Complete elimination typically occurs within a maximum of three days, though this varies based on individual factors such as metabolic rate, liver enzyme activity, and frequency or intensity of use.
No.
Nicotine does not cause cancer, including lung cancer. The scientific consensus and evidence indicate that nicotine is not a carcinogen in humans. Moreover, nicotine exposure in consumers who have no underlying cardiovascular diseases does not increase their cardiovascular risk. Additionally, there is no scientific evidence indicating that nicotine can lead to the development of respiratory diseases, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
The risk of developing smoking-related diseases results from the repeated and long-term exposure to the numerous and high levels of harmful chemicals primarily created during the burning of tobacco and inhaled in the smoke generated. Tobacco smoke contains over seven thousand chemicals, including nicotine. While around one hundred of these have been classified as causes or potential causes of smoking-related disease, nicotine is not one of them.
Most notably, nicotine is an addictive chemical as its use can in some individuals lead to tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, such as anxiety and irritability, and cravings when blood nicotine levels decline. While some individuals experience difficulty when trying to quit, it is important to acknowledge that adult consumers can and do successfully stop using tobacco or nicotine-containing products.
Studies in animals suggest that nicotine exposure in adolescence can negatively affect development during this critical period. Nicotine should therefore only be used by informed adults of legal age. Accordingly, individuals under the legal age should not use any tobacco or nicotine-containing product. Moreover, pregnant and breastfeeding women should not use nicotine, as its use during these periods may pose risks to fetal and infant development, according to public health authorities.
Like many substances, nicotine can be poisonous or toxic at high doses, although not at the levels typically obtained by using our commercially available tobacco and nicotine-containing products. Similar to substances that exert mild stimulating effects, nicotine can produce a broad range of short-term and transient physiological effects, including increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and dizziness.
Aside from the risk of addiction, a number of public health bodies and current science indicate that nicotine per se presents little risk to healthy adults, at levels typically obtained in legally available tobacco and nicotine-containing products.
The JT Group has a long history of developing products with the potential to reduce the health risks associated with smoking.
Over the past few years, many adult smokers have chosen to use such products, in particular non-combustible products, which numerous public health bodies have actively endorsed for their reduced-risk potential.
JTI develops both non-combusted tobacco products, such as heated tobacco products, snus and nicotine pouches, that dramatically reduce exposure to known harmful constituents in tobacco smoke and that we believe have the potential to lower the health risks of smoking.
We at JTI are committed to:
bringing outstanding RRP to market as additional choices for existing adult smokers; and
providing information to adult smokers about the potential health benefits of these new products.
JTI is currently conducting studies to evaluate scientifically its RRP. These include chemical and toxicological analyses of product emissions as well as human clinical studies. The results of our studies are available to the public on our science page. JTI is also committed to presenting its data at scientific conferences and publishing in peer-reviewed scientific literature.
We strongly believe that public health bodies, regulatory authorities, the scientific community and the tobacco industry should collaborate to develop policies that will give consumers access to and information about all RRP. We look forward to offering these exciting new products, with all of the real benefits that we believe they present, to the adult smoking population.
Tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide (TNCO) pack prints.
Tobacco smoke is a complex mixture and consists of both particulate and gas phases. The particulate phase is comprised of tar, nicotine and water. The gas phase includes carbon monoxide.
The amounts of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide (TNCO) produced by a cigarette vary from product to product and depend on how it is smoked. In many countries, legislation requires TNCO smoke yields to be printed on cigarette packs.
To determine these TNCO yields, cigarettes are smoked in specially designed machines and the smoke is tested for these components, and others, in accordance with validated methods, such as those developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
JTI believes that TNCO pack prints can be informative to consumers, allowing them to compare machine-derived TNCO yields between products and to select specific products according to their preferences.
However, TNCO pack prints do not, and were never intended to, indicate the levels of tar, nicotine or carbon monoxide that an individual smoker will inhale. The amount of smoke an individual smoker takes in depends on the way he or she smokes as well as the type of cigarette.
There is no safe cigarette. Products with lower TNCO pack prints compared to other products are not necessarily any less harmful for the individual smoker.