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<DIV class=timestamp>January 23, 2007</DIV>
<DIV class=kicker><NYT_KICKER>Editorial</NYT_KICKER></DIV>
<H1><NYT_HEADLINE type=" " version="1.0">Nicotine Manipulation Confirmed
</NYT_HEADLINE></H1><NYT_BYLINE type=" "
version="1.0"></NYT_BYLINE><NYT_TEXT></NYT_TEXT>
<DIV id=articleBody>
<P>Any doubts that the tobacco industry has surreptitiously raised the nicotine
content of cigarettes should be laid to rest by a study from researchers at the
Harvard School of Public Health. They confirmed last year’s discovery of the
nicotine increase by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and went on
to identify how the tobacco companies designed their cigarettes to accomplish
this. </P>
<P>These manipulations were discovered because Massachusetts requires
manufacturers to use a more realistic test to measure how much nicotine is
deliverable to typical smokers and requires companies to report design features
of their cigarettes. When Harvard researchers reanalyzed the data they found
that the nicotine yield per cigarette rose by an average of 11 percent between
1998 and 2005, a conclusion contested by the industry.</P>
<P>Harvard researchers concluded that the companies managed this by using
tobacco containing a higher concentration of nicotine and perhaps also by
slowing the rate at which cigarettes burned — thus increasing the number of
puffs per cigarette. The companies presumably hoped that additional nicotine
would hook more new customers and keep old ones from breaking the habit. </P>
<P>Their continued bad behavior makes it imperative for Congress to grant the
Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products,
including the power to reduce nicotine levels and demand extensive data from the
companies. The Senate overwhelmingly approved such legislation in 2004, only to
have House Republicans block it. With new Democratic majorities in both houses,
it is time to rein in this rogue industry. </P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>