Producers Withhold Safer Cigarettes

Cigarette manufacturers are withholding a product from most states that could prevent hundreds of deaths a year from house fires caused by unattended cigarettes, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) concluded in a paper published last week.

While Reduced Ignition Propensity (RIP) cigarettes could help reduce the number of fire-related deaths, the study’s principal author, Gregory N. Connolly, said he believes that the tobacco industry is reluctant to adopt the product nationally.

The Harvard researchers found that bands of paper inserted at the mouth end of the cigarettes, which are designed to extinguish the cigarettes before they burn all the way to the end, decrease the risk of fire.

Unattended cigarettes are the foremost cause of house fires, leading to about 800 deaths per year in the U.S.

RIP cigarettes have been sold in New York state since June 2004. These cigarettes burned to the end 10 percent of the time in trials as opposed to 99.8 percent with non-RIP Massachusetts cigarettes, according to the study.

Cigarette manufacturers, however, have not extended the sale of this product nationwide. They have cited increased costs and low consumer demand as reasons to keep RIP cigarettes off the shelves.

But Harvard researchers showed that the price of cigarettes in New York is comparable to prices in other states and that tobacco tax revenue since the introduction of RIP cigarettes has remained about constant.

Philip Morris USA, maker of well-known brands Marlboro, Benson & Hedges, and Parliament, declined to comment on Monday.

But the company website said it supports “a uniform, national standard” for RIP cigarettes but opposes individual state laws because they could conflict.

Study author Connolly said he is dubious about the tobacco company’s professed support for the cigarettes.

“Even if Philip Morris opposes state legislation, they could still voluntarily put [national RIP cigarette sales] into practice tomorrow,” Connolly said, adding that the resources for making the extinguishing paper are not a limiting factor for manufacturers.

“They could make the product ten years ago,” he said. “I think the bottom line is that they don’t care and are not regulated by the state or federal agency to care.”

He said the only way to make cigarette manufacturers sell RIP cigarettes is a law mandated by Congress.

Howard K. Koh, Fineberg professor of the practice of public health and associate dean for public health practice, agreed that it is important to push for the adoption of RIP cigarettes in the face of opposition from cigarette manufacturers.

“Holding the tobacco industry to this new standard on a national level is in the best interest of public health and would save lives,” Koh said. “We are hoping the report can serve as a call to action nationwide.”