N.Y. lights 'fire-safe' cigarettes

ALBANY, N.Y. — There's something different about cigarette brands sold in New York these days, but you would hardly notice it by looking at them.

Next to the bar code of a pack of smokes is a tiny mark — an asterisk, a dash or a diamond — indicating that the cigarettes will self-extinguish if they're not puffed on regularly.

On Monday, New York will become the first state to phase in a law requiring tobacco companies to sell the new "fire-safe" cigarettes. The law is meant to cut down on the number of smoking-related fires.

About 900 Americans die each year and another 2,500 are hurt by fires started by cigarettes left unattended.

For the past several months, companies have rushed to meet the deadline to supply vendors with the new cigarettes, which are wrapped in special ultra-thin banded paper that essentially inhibits burning.

But manufacturers warn that though the new cigarettes go out on their own, they're not fireproof, and careless handling could still lead to fires.

"It's up to individual smokers to make sure that they do not let these products lull them into a false sense of security," said Ellen Matthews, a spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the nation's No. 2 cigarette maker.

The lower-ignition paper does nothing to curtail the toxicity of cigarettes or reduce the health effects of smoking.

Philip Morris USA, the nation's No. 1 cigarette maker, has marketed its Merit brand nationally with the banded paper since 2000, but it had to tweak it to meet New York's standards, said Brendan McCormick, a Philip Morris spokesman.

Lorillard Tobacco Co., maker of Newport and Kent, has been selling the lower-ignition cigarettes in the New York market since March.

Last week, anti-smoking advocates sent a letter to the major cigarette makers, urging them to use New York's standards to produce and distribute fire-safe cigarettes to other states. Tobacco companies have said there's no immediate plan to roll out the new cigarettes nationally.

New York retailers have not noticed any change in sales or excessive complaints from smokers, except for some who are annoyed when their cigarettes go out automatically.