DISCUSSION This study describes the production of MYO cigarettes in a convenience sample of MYO smokers in a U.S. metropolitan area (Baltimore, www.selleckchem.com/products/Vandetanib.html MD). Two distinct types of self-made cigarettes were evident: RYO and PMM. In both groups, the participants were usually Caucasian, male, lower income, and chose to make their own cigarettes because of price considerations. There were also interesting and significant differences between RYO and PMM smokers. For example, the average RYO smoker had been smoking RYO cigarettes for 13.3 years, whereas the PMM smokers had been smoking PMM cigarettes for only 4.4 years. As expected, menthol smoking predominated among African Americans in our sample and in the general population (Giovino et al., 2004). However, the prevalence of menthol smoking among Caucasian RYO smokers (58.

3%) in this study differed greatly from that seen in the general population (approximately 20%) (Giovino et al., 2004). The unexpectedly high prevalence of menthol among poor Caucasians and African Americans tentatively suggests that menthol cigarette smoking may be more associated with low socioeconomic status than race among MYO smokers. The price concerns as a reason for choosing MYO cigarettes suggests that prevalence of MYO smoking in the United States and elsewhere may continue to rise with increasing FM cigarette prices and as economic and employment struggles continue. Some differences were seen in the characteristics of the MYO products in this study compared with others published in the literature. RYO cigarettes from the United Kingdom contained more tobacco (0.

51g) and were more likely to include a filter (65.5%) than the cigarettes in this study (7.1%) (Shahab et al., 2008). However, the weight of tobacco in PMM cigarettes reported in this sample is similar to FM weights reported in the United States and abroad (Laugesen et al., 2009; O��Connor, Wilkins, Caruso, Cummings, & Kozlowski, 2010; Shahab et al., 2009). The similarity in weight between cigarettes made at home and in the laboratory has important implications for research on MYO smoking. There were concerns that cigarettes produced in the laboratory may be smaller than those produced at home and therefore affect results of use patterns and toxicant exposures when laboratory-produced cigarettes were used in experimental smoking studies.

The demonstration that cigarettes Batimastat produced in the laboratory are very similar to those produced at home indicates that home- and laboratory-produced cigarettes are acceptable for research studies on smoking behavior and toxicant exposure (Darrall & Figgins, 1998; Laugesen et al., 2009; Shahab et al., 2008). Lower costs were cited by nearly all of the participants as a reason for choosing MYO over FM cigarettes although participants were not specifically asked if price was the reason they began using MYO cigarettes.