The American Medical Association moved to stop sales of a new ``smokeless cigarette'' being marketed by R.J. Reynolds Co., saying the product is nothing more than a delivery system for the drug nicotine. The nation's largest medical association filed petitions in two states Wednesday in an effort to halt distribution of the product, called Premier. R.J. Reynolds countered with a news release saying the AMA was both inaccurate and hypocritical. ``Premier smoke substantially reduces many of the chemical compounds that the critics of smoking have been complaining about,'' Reynolds' release said. ``Reynolds finds it difficult to understand how the AMA can in good faith suggest that Premier be banned. ``Premier is a cigarette ... not a drug-delivery system, as the AMA has alleged.'' The AMA's legal challenge was filed in petitions in Arizona and Missouri, where the product is being test marketed. In April, the association petitioned the federal Food and Drug Administration to regulate Premier as a drug, although cigarettes currently are not regulated that way. That petition is pending. Premier contains nicotine, an ``addictive drug ... which has been implicated in cardiovascular disease, complications of hypertension'' and other medical problems, the AMA said. ``The scientific evidence is crystal clear about the adverse health effects of nicotine and carbon monoxide,'' Dr. Roy Schwarz of the AMA said at a news conference. The FDA currently does not regulate tobacco products unless they make a medical claim, spokesman William Grigg said. He said the AMA maintains in its FDA petition that Premier should be regulated because it makes ``an inherent health claim.'' The main difference between Premier and other cigarettes is that the tobacco in them is warmed, not burned, said Reynolds spokeswoman Maura Payne in Winston-Salem, N.C. She said the cigarettes contain a nicotine level of 0.4 milligrams and carbon monoxide ``at about the same level as a `lights' brand.'' The cigarettes also show a ``virtual elimination of sidestream smoke, or smoke off the lit end of the cigarette, the elimination of ash and no tobacco aroma,'' she said. But R.J. Reynolds, a subsidiary of RJR Nabisco, said it has treated Premier no differently than any other cigarette. The company began selling Premier in Tucson, Ariz., Phoenix and St. Louis around Oct. 1, but no date had been set for national distribution. Ms. Payne said the cost per pack would run about 25 percent higher than other cigarettes. Health officials in Arizona and Missouri said the issue in their states boils down to a question of jurisdiction. Dr. Robert Harmon, director of the Missouri Department of Health, said his state had been considering action against Premier for some time but he expected any decision was at least a week away. ``I agree that the product should be regulated as a drug and I wrote to the FDA on Feb. 25 asking it to do so,'' Harmon said. ``It is mainly a matter of state or federal jurisdiction.'' Joe Rowan, deputy director of the Arizona Board of Pharmacy, which received the AMA's petition, said the document ``has been taken to the state Attorney General's office.'' ``They will advise the board as to what action they can take or should take, if any,'' he said.
