Star Scientific Exiting Tobacco Business

(cspnet) Star Scientific Inc. said in a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) that its board of directors has voted unanimously to discontinue the manufacturing, distribution and sale of our company's dissolvable smokeless tobacco products, Ariva and Stonewall Hard Snuff, as of Dec. 31, 2012.
"With this change, our company will no longer be manufacturing or selling any tobacco products, the filing said. "The board was motivated to take this action in light of the continued losses and low sales for our dissolvable tobacco products over the last several years. It was also motivated by the fact that restrictions under the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act."
The company said that the Tobacco Control Act "prohibit[s] our company from making any statements about the comparative safety of various types of tobacco products have made it extremely difficult to effectively market our dissolvable tobacco products, notwithstanding that they represent a less hazardous alternative to cigarettes and to traditional smokeless tobacco products." Continued