$XXII Invited to Speak at the Colorado Hemp Expo

22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE MKT:XXII), a leader in tobacco harm reduction and cannabis research, announced today that representatives of the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Botanical Genetics, have been invited to serve as featured speakers and presenters at the annual Colorado Hemp Expo at the Ranch Events Complex, 5260 Arena Circle, Loveland, Colorado on Friday, March 31, 2017, and Saturday, April 1, 2017.

Dr. Paul Rushton, Vice President of Plant Biotechnology, and Thomas James, Esq., Vice President & General Counsel, will provide conference attendees with business and scientific updates and highlights of 22nd Century’s advances in the rapidly evolving legal medical marijuana and industrial hemp markets. Headlining the presentation will be Dr. Rushton’s featured speech on Friday evening regarding the Company’s proprietary cannabis initiatives, including the Company’s recently announced development of THC-free industrial hemp plants and the propagation of medical marijuana strains that are selected for increased levels of medically-important cannabinoids, such as CBC and CBD. Dr. Rushton will also speak in a panel discussion on Seeds, Clones, Pesticides and Pollen at the conference. Mr. James will speak on three panel discussions: Investments in Hemp, Global Hemp Activities, and The Future of Hemp. Dr. Rushton, Mr. James and other representatives of the Company will be available for one-on-one meetings throughout the conference.

“We are developing several exciting new strains of medical marijuana as well as industrial hemp varieties with substantially altered levels of cannabinoids – all of which will be below the legal limit of 0.3% THC,” explained Dr. Rushton. “Following our recently announced success with Zero-THC hemp plants and our major collaboration with the University of Virginia, Botanical Genetics is now aggressively expanding our activities in an effort to make our Company a major source of proprietary plants for both the legal medical marijuana and industrial hemp markets. We look forward to exploring exciting business opportunities with like-minded companies in Colorado.”

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.

22nd Century is a plant biotechnology company focused on technology which allows us to increase or decrease the level of nicotine in tobacco plants and the level of cannabinoids in cannabis plants through genetic engineering and plant breeding. The Company’s primary mission in tobacco is to reduce the harm caused by smoking. The Company’s primary mission in cannabis is to develop proprietary cannabis strains for important new medicines and agricultural crops. 22nd Century currently owns or exclusively controls more than 200 issued patents and more than 50 pending patent applications around the world. For more information, visit www.xxiicentury.com and www.botanicalgenetics.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking information, including all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of 22nd Century Group, Inc., its directors or its officers with respect to the contents of this press release, including but not limited to our future revenue expectations. The words “may,” “would,” “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend” and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity or performance. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date that they were made. These cautionary statements should be considered with any written or oral forward-looking statements that we may issue in the future. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to reflect actual results, later events or circumstances, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by us in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, filed on March 8, 2017, including the section entitled “Risk Factors,” and our other reports filed with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission which attempt to advise interested parties of the risks and factors that may affect our business, financial condition, results of operation and cash flows. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary materially from those expected or projected.