Comparison of Low Yield Cigarettes in African Americans vs. Whites
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2013-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
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.