# Project 3: The abuse liability and substitution profile of removing cigarette ventilation in the experimental tobacco marketplace

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2021 · $361,124

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Cigarette filter ventilation is a major design feature of the majority of cigarettes sold in the United States
and abroad. Although filter ventilation was initially intended to produce a lighter tasting and potentially
safer cigarette by diluting mainstream cigarette smoke, data have since suggested that ventilation
instead increases total harm from smoking by inducing compensatory smoking (e.g., increased puff
volume and/or more cigarettes smoked per day due to reduced nicotine yields) and may increase
cigarette abuse liability (addictive potential). The goal of this project is to use the recently developed
Experimental Tobacco Marketplace to assess the effects of removing filter ventilation, thereby modeling
a regulatory environment in which filter ventilation was banned, on behavioral economic measures of
abuse liability. In a series of studies featuring both between- and within-subject design components, the
research team will compare purchasing and consumption of unventilated and ventilated cigarettes
across a broad range of prices, as well as examine how filter ventilation impacts the degree to which an
array of alternative nicotine delivery systems (e.g., electronic cigarettes, smokeless tobacco) serve as
economic substitutes for cigarettes. Moreover, we will model electronic cigarette regulatory restrictions
on flavor and available nicotine concentrations to examine how such restrictions interact with cigarette
filter ventilation to affect tobacco consumption. Together, the findings from this project could be used to
inform and maximize the efficacy of regulatory action regarding cigarette filter ventilation and alternative
nicotine delivery systems.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10246920
- **Project number:** 5P01CA217806-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Warren K Bickel
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $361,124
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-20 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10246920

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10246920, Project 3: The abuse liability and substitution profile of removing cigarette ventilation in the experimental tobacco marketplace (5P01CA217806-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10246920. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*