CBD Cigarettes Take Over Tobacco Industry Marketing

An article from Tobacco Control details the sales techniques used by TAAT, a producer of CBD cigarettes, and raises the question of the regulatory loopholes that this manufacturer of products presented as “tobacco-free” or “nicotine-free” is trying to take advantage of.

Since the end of 2020, the company TAAT has been marketing cannabidiol (CBD) cigarettes in the United States, which follow all the codes of cigarettes: packaging, appearance of the product, handling, taste, combustion, smoke and ash.[1]. These cigarettes are made from hemp and food ingredients, and contain 25 mg of CBD and a maximum of 0.2 % of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, a psychoactive substance). They are offered for sale in three flavors, including one with menthol.

A CBD sector that brings together all the commercial tools of the tobacco industry

The marketing of these cigarettes focuses more on replicating the sensations associated with smoking than on the psychoactive properties of CBD, with CBD cigarettes being presented as “safer” alternatives to tobacco. TAAT’s online sales site clearly targets young people and vulnerable groups. Dr. Cindy Orser, scientific guarantor of the hemp and cannabis sector of the company TAAT, provided a medical opinion on this site[2], based on the model of doctors who promoted tobacco. Not subject to the same prohibitions as tobacco products, TAAT also sponsors sporting events (match between a boxer and an influencer) and festive events (tequila evening by the pool).

Echoing the harm reduction rhetoric used by tobacco and nicotine manufacturers, TAAT is promoting the fact that its cigarettes contain neither tobacco nor nicotine. Like Altria[3], TAAT communicates about quitting smoking and has bought the smoking cessation application Break Free. However, TAAT does not indicate anywhere that smoking plants releases many carcinogenic molecules that are harmful to health.

TAAT's proximity to the tobacco industry is one of the company's hallmarks. TAAT CEO Michael Saxon[4], has spent twenty-five years at Altria and Philip Morris International (PMI) and has himself succeeded Setti Coscarella, a former employee of PMI Canada, since June 2022. The links between the tobacco and hemp industries also appear increasingly intertwined as tobacco multinationals invest in the CBD and cannabis sectors.

Looking for regulatory loopholes

The CBD and THC product markets are now intersecting with the emergence of molecules that escape current regulations, such as delta-8-THC (also psychoactive, but not banned in the United States by the 2018 Farm Bill). TAAT thus launched the Jayvees range of hemp cigarettes on February 8, 2023, containing 60 mg of delta-8-THC, without specifying that this molecule is psychoactive. Since CBD or cannabis-based products have been available in multiple edible forms, TAAT recently offered for sale, through this Jayvees brand, chocolates with the evocative name of Delta 9 and containing 30 mg of delta-8-THC.

By positioning itself in the herbal cigarette segment, TAAT explores the various current regulatory loopholes. Its CBD products are therefore not subject to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), like tobacco and nicotine products, nor to US regulations on cannabis. According to the authors, adaptations to these regulations would be necessary to encompass all forms of related molecules, a task that can be the subject of local measures – faster to implement – to prevent other molecules from appearing in the meantime.

Keywords: TAAT, CBD cigarettes, THC, delta-8-THC, Altria, PMI

M.F.

[1] Lempert LK. TAAT and the rise of hemp cigarettes, Tobacco Control, Published Online First: 07 July 2023. doi: 10.1136/tc-2023-058123

[2] The video was inaccessible on July 11, 2023, but the announcement of this video presented by Dr. Orser was still on the TAAT website. https://trytaat.com/pages/about-taat

[3] Parent company of Philip Morris USA, manufacturer of Marlboro in the United States.

[4] TAAT® Appointments Former Altria and PMI Leader Michael Saxon as CEO, Global Newswire, published June 20, 2022, accessed July 11, 2023.