Comparison of Low Yield Cigarettes in African Americans vs. Whites

Summary

The investigators' general hypothesis is that African-Americans (AAs) smoke more for positive reinforcement from nicotine with a "peak-seeking" pattern of smoking (smoking individual cigarettes more intensively with greater intake of nicotine and tobacco smoke toxins), while whites smoke more for negative reinforcement with a "trough-maintaining" pattern (avoiding withdrawal by maintaining more consistent nicotine levels throughout the day by means of a more regular smoking pattern). We, the investigators, believe that these patterns are linked to identifiable racial differences in nicotine pharmacology. For this study we hypothesize that if AAs behave more like nicotine "peak-seeker" while whites behave more like nicotine "trough-maintainers", that AAs will respond to switching from regular to low nicotine yield commercial cigarettes by smoking each cigarette relatively more intensively with a relatively smaller increase in daily cigarette consumption (cigarettes per day or CPD) as compared to whites.

Timeline

Start

2009-12

Primary completion

2013-01

Completion

2013-01

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.