The MiningNewsWire Podcast

Despite the scientifically established harmful health effects of smoking, millions of people around the world still do it. Because of this, many large companies are looking for healthier ways to deliver active ingredients from tobacco and cannabis to people with a smoking habit.

• More than a billion people around the world smoke tobacco or cannabis, leading to 6 million deaths a year.
• Companies in the tobacco and cannabis sectors are looking for alternative delivery systems.
• Some alternatives may be more effective — and healthier — than smoking.

Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) is one of the companies looking at alternative solutions, using fatty acids to make a pleasing, fast, effective delivery system for nicotine and cannabidiol (CBD). Tobacco company Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) is creating lower-risk tobacco products and recently received FDA approval for its latest offering. British American Tobacco Industries p.l.c. ADR (NYSE: BTI) has created a tobacco heater that produces fumes instead of smoke, reducing the potential harm from consumption. GW Pharmaceuticals Plc (NASDAQ: GWPH) has produced a liquid CBD product that is the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medicine of its type. Most telling of all, Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) has announced a long-term strategy to move away from smoking as the core delivery system for its products — a huge step for a global tobacco giant.