Two new smoke-free tobacco products could be the wave of the
future or a repeat of past missteps, some industry observers say.

Cigarette makers Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. plan to
test-market smokeless, spit-free tobacco brands targeted at cigarette
smokers, fueling a debate among tobacco-control advocates over whether
such products will help or hurt public health.

The move indicates that cigarette makers are looking for ways to cope
with stricter laws against indoor smoking and possible federal
government regulation of tobacco products. Manufacturers also may hope
to spur demand among smokers for products that are potentially less
risky than cigarettes, which cause cancer, heart disease and contribute
to about 400,000 premature deaths in the United States each year,
public-health agencies say.

"The marketplace is beginning to shift," said Scott Ballin, a Washington
consultant who works on tobacco- and health-policy issues. If Congress
gives the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco
products, companies could be allowed to market alternatives as safer
than cigarettes, provided they have proof.

"What is beginning to happen, in my view, is all these various companies
are trying to position themselves to make sure they have a piece of the
action," Ballin said.

Studies have found that a large percentage of the more than 40 million
U.S. smokers have tried to quit or would like to quit. Philip Morris
says its research has found that some adult smokers are interested in
smoke-free options. The company's new product, Taboka, is designed to
appeal to them.

Taboka, which will be test-marketed in Indianapolis, is a small pouch of
tobacco that users place between the cheek and gum for a dose of flavor
and nicotine similar to a cigarette's. Unlike traditional moist snuff,
it is designed so that users do not have to spit, and the pouches are
discarded after use.

Taboka will be sold in containers of a dozen pouches for about the same
price as a pack of Marlboros, the company's most popular cigarette
brand.

Taboka will join several products introduced in recent years and
marketed as smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes. Those include
Stonewall, sold by the Chester-based discount cigarette company Star
Scientific Inc.

Some tobacco-control advocates have argued that smokeless tobacco can
reduce the harm of nicotine addiction. Others fear that the new products
will be a repeat of light and low-tar cigarettes, once widely perceived
as safer than regular cigarettes.

As late as the 1980s, "the public-health community said, 'If you can't
stop or won't stop [smoking], at least switch to these low-tar and
low-nicotine cigarettes,'" said Thomas Glynn, director of cancer science
and trends for the American Cancer Society. "Now, 25 years later, we
find it made no difference except to switch where the lung cancers were
found -- from the upper part to the lower part of the lung," because
smokers tend to inhale light cigarettes more deeply.

"That is why you see so much caution" about new tobacco products, Glynn
said.

Smokeless tobacco causes oral cancer, gum disease and may contribute to
heart disease, all of which Philip Morris will acknowledge on the labels
of Taboka packages. The U.S. surgeon general said in 1986 that smokeless
tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.

About 7,500 people in United States died of oral cancer in 2005, and
about 31,000 new cases are expected in 2006, according to the American
Cancer Society. It is not clear how many of those are smokeless-tobacco
users or smokers.

Other researchers argue that smokers who will not or cannot quit should
switch to smokeless tobacco, which does not pose as much of a health
risk as cigarettes. Brad Rodu, an oral pathologist and professor of
medicine at the University of Louisville, is one proponent of smokeless
as a "harm-reduction" strategy for smokers who cannot break their
nicotine addiction.

He said numerous studies have found that users of smokeless tobacco run
less risk of developing cancer than cigarette smokers.

Rodu and others point to Sweden, where a type of smokeless tobacco
called snus is more widely used than cigarettes, and where lung cancer
and oral cancer are less prevalent than in countries with higher smoking
rates. Rodu said cigarettes cut about eight years off the life of the
average smoker, while smokeless tobacco reduces life span by less than a
month on average.

"I think this harm-reduction strategy is gaining momentum among
public-health specialists," Rodu said. "Cigarette smokers have a right
to know about products that are safer."

Still, Rodu said he would recommend that smokers quit all tobacco
products, rather than switch from one to another.

Rodu's conclusions are disputed by other researchers, who say the
potential harm of increased smokeless-tobacco use far outweighs any
potential benefits and that smokeless is a gateway product to smoking.

"I have seen no evidence to suggest that people can move successfully
from smoking cigarettes to using smokeless," said Glynn of the cancer
society.

Ballin said Congress should take steps to regulate the tobacco industry
and ensure that any new products pitched as potentially safer truly are
safer. Tobacco companies, he said, "should not be able to make claims
without having a third party take a look at it."