Facts about dissolvable tobacco products

I want to correct misstatements in the Aug. 23 article about Linn County supervisors voting not to ban the sale of dissolvable tobacco products.

Iowa retailers operate under display restrictions that apply not only to chewing tobacco, but to all smokeless tobacco products; and a cursory review of the law and facts shows that smokeless tobacco products that dissolve are not taxed or regulated differently than those that do not.

Also consider: They are sold on the same store shelves as other tobacco products, behind the sales counter, requiring a clerk's assistance to access them. They carry the same health warnings as other smokeless products. Their sale requires proof of age.

The article quotes tobacco industry critics saying that “dissolvable strips deliver nicotine in a form designed to look and taste like candy, targeting younger users.” In fact, dissolvable strips are brown, like the tobacco they contain, taste nothing like candy, and are made for and marketed only to adult tobacco consumers. Those who keep referring to these tobacco products as “candy” or “mints” that are “sold on the candy aisle” risk tainting the public discourse about these products with information that is false.

John Singleton

Director, Communications

Reynolds American

Winston-Salem, N.C.