A reanalysis of nicotine yield from major brand name cigarettes sold in Massachusetts from 1997 to 2005 has confirmed that manufacturers have steadily increased the levels of this agent in cigarettes.
This independent analysis, based on data submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) by the manufacturers, found that increases in smoke nicotine yield per cigarette averaged 1.6 percent each year, or about 11 percent over a seven-year period (1998-2005). Nicotine is the primary addictive agent in cigarettes.
Said Gregory Connolly: “Our findings call into serious question whether the tobacco industry has changed at all in its pursuit of addicting smokers since signing the Master Settlement Agreement of 1998 with the State Attorneys General. Our analysis shows that the companies have been subtly increasing the drug nicotine year by year in their cigarettes, without any warning to consumers, since the settlement…
Creating addicts of one kind or another is just another good old business model. And what’s good for business is good for us all. Right?
Well, it’s certainly a nice dependable revenue stream for the government.
Tobacco is the perfect product for governments: they get good revenues from taxing it and just as its users are about to retire and draw their pensions, they die, thus saving the state a bundle.
Those evil tobacco companies. We should just ban tobacco outright, and force the producers offshore, inspect all incoming packages for he stuf, and start throwing smokers in jail.
The increase in nicotine is caused by several dry years in a row, while the plants were grown. Similar to impact on alcohol content of wine when grapes are picked during dry vs wet summers. 😉
#3. Yeah, that’s worked so well with cutting back on cocaine consumption. Real ‘cure’, force smokers to work VA emphysema wards to earn each pack of coffin nails.
#2. Not quite. The healthcare system keeps some alive, bleeding Medicare for quite a long time.
I’m skeptical of the view that there are dirty tricks at play here. This type of study that was performed doesn’t address the possibility that nicotine levels in the tobbacco plant itself my fluctuate naturally and over time, especially in the context of environmental changes such as new pest that eat the plants, subtle climate alteration, or drastic climate events (hurricanes and/or cold weather snaps).
More Nicotine you say? Well, you have to replace all the Benzene, Cyanide, Formaldehyde, etc with something!
Since its inception, Blizzard has increased the number of playable races in World of Warcraft by 20%. Who is going to study this evil, insidious plot to addict me^H^H our nation’s children???
Actually, with increased nicotine per cigarette, a typical smoker will smoke fewer cigarettes. Smokers are amazingly self regulating. Give them “light” cigarettes and they will smoke more of them, cover up the air bleed holes or inhale deeper to get the same fix.
And, #4 “Not quite. The healthcare system keeps some alive, bleeding Medicare for quite a long time.”
So does just about everyone else in the last two years before they die. You gotta remember, everyone dies of SOMETHING fatal, and in modern Western society, that usually involves a LOT of healthcare trying to stop or delay it. From a pure ecomonic standpoint, better to have them die BEFORE they collect 25 years of SSI and Medicare. Not to mention the benefit to society of that many fewer 80 year olds on the road. 🙂
Best Regards,
David
L.S./m.f.t.
#9 – spsffan –
I agree; although I can’t prove it, in my empirical observations, it stands up; the heaviest smokers I know are (and always have been) those who smoke ‘lights’ or ‘ultra lights.’ They have to smoke more of ’em to attain their desired nicotine level and they therefore get more CO, formaldehyde, & cetera than those who smoke full-strength, but fewer of ’em… but they fail to realize that their ‘lights’ are delivering MORE toxins than their previous smokarillos…
Are young people still picking up the habit? I was thinking that no one born after 1990 was dumb enough to start? I figured all the smokers would eventually die off.
SWEET!!!!!
#12 – I role my own smokes – better quality of tabaccy, less added chemies, and its significantly cheaper
For those interested: (I use C.W. Obel’s BaliShag Brand (Golden Shag) – 1 pack of that & a bag of filters = approx $7.50 – and I can get 50 good cigs out of it – compare that to that manufacturered crap which is over $13 for the same, and my tabaccy is 3x darker)
#12 – Are young people still picking up the habit? I was thinking that no one born after 1990 was dumb enough to start? I figured all the smokers would eventually die off.
Comment by Josh P — 1/18/2007 @ 12:18 pm
Smoking isn’t about dumb and smart.
Of course if they changed the tax structure to the amount of nicotine, it would help keep the levels down, or at least keep them from sneaking the % up…
“Tobacco is the perfect product for governments: they get good revenues from taxing it and just as its users are about to retire and draw their pensions, they die, thus saving the state a bundle.”
Um, did you know that the US government pays over 50 billion a year in smoking related illness? Hardly saving anyone anything.
#17 –
Add to that many millions in Federal subsidies to tobacco farmers…
#2 – You’d be right if the government were concerned about being consistent and rational. Maybe the government figures the black markets it maintains through prohibition of some but not other substances (in thier “war” on another abstraction – drugs) are already big enough to keep the wealthiest players rich, money-laundering banks happy, etc.
It would make no sense to even make tobacco illegal. we live in america to enjoy our freedoms. i enjoy smoking, it goes great with coffee, after eating, with any kind of beer. and people have been smoking tobacco for thousands of years. yea it may be bad for you, but so is trans fat. sugar is bad for you, breathing in air in Los angeles is bad for you. sitting in traffic is bad for you. sitting at a computer screen for hours a day is bad for you, talking on cellphones is bad for you. SCREW IT! they might as well make mairjuana legal, cept the government dosen’t wanna give up the money they make on aresting people for it. they get 80 bucks a day per person when a person is in jail. hmm?
since smoking companies stopped lacing the tobacco with formeldyhide, faster rate of burn and a alcohol component that hooks you, doesn’t anybody know anything about chemistry except what you read on the internet, try a real book, old and 2nd or 3rd edition, never the first, its usually an attempt from the writer to fill in the blanks in their brains