Ariva is a smokeless tobacco product that dissolves in your mouth. Place the lozenge between your cheek and gum and allow it to dissolve. Each lozenge generally lasts between ten and thirty minutes. The lozenges are not promoted as leaving any residual residue and do not require spitting like other smokeless tobacco products. Each package contains 20 lozenges and cost on average approximately one dollar less than a pack of brand name cigarettes.http://www.dissolvabletobacco.com

Ariva was originally introduced in 2001. During 2007, it was marketed as a type of smoke-free tobacco to help people to quit smoking or reduce the cravings to smoke. Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton were two of the celebrities promoting Ariva. However, many gossip blogs continually bashed the celebrities, particularly Lohan, for endlessly carrying the lozenge. As Lohan has not quit smoking, this promotional scheme for Ariva was deemed a failure.Evil Beet Gossip: Lindsay’s Trying to Quit Smoking, Ariva’s...(December 7, 2007)

Current marketing materials for Ariva stress the convenience of the product, and emphasize its use amongst "adult smokers who want an alternative to cigarettes in the many smoke-free environments they confront on a daily basis, such as airplanes, movie theaters or smoke-free offices."http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/food-stores/4492051-1.html

Star Scientific Inc. filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to have Ariva certified as less harmful than traditional forms of tobacco on February 19, 2010http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791504575079650020951726.html

The application requests that the Ariva dissolvable tobacco lozenge with wintergreen flavoring, be approved as a "modified risk" product under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9911139 For approval, not only must a company demonstrate with scientific support that a product will reduce tobacco-related harm for individual users, but also benefit the overall health of the U.S. population.

The filing by Star, a small publicly traded company based in Glen Allen, Virginia, is expected to be one of many such applications that will be filed by tobacco companies in the coming years.

The content on this page is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for information on Ariva.