Cigarettes Engineered To Be More Addictive and Deadly

CIGARETTES ENGINEERED TO BE MORE ADDICTIVE AND DEADLY

Changes in composition and design of cigarettes have increased the nicotine yield and amount of cancer-causing chemicals smokers receive.

Northborough,  February 2014 – Two recently released studies warn that today’s cigarettes are highly engineered products that increase addiction and are more dangerous than ever before. The 32nd Surgeon General’s Report, The Health Consequences of Smoking- 50 years of Progress, shows that even though today’s smokers smoke fewer cigarettes than those 50 years ago, they are at a higher risk of developing lung cancer due to increased levels of nicotine and chemicals inhaled while smoking. The report reveals that low-tar cigarettes do not reduce the risk of lung cancer, contrary to previous claims, and are, in fact, more lethal than ever before. 

New findings in a study recently published by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and UMass Medical School support the Surgeon General’s Report by showing that cigarette manufacturers have altered the design of cigarettes, which can significantly increase the amount of nicotine a person receives while smoking, making them more addictive. The study discounts claims made by the tobacco industry that the increased levels were “agricultural variation,” pointing instead to changes in the design of cigarettes.  

“Because smokers have no way of knowing that the level of nicotine they are receiving has increased, they can become more addicted more easily without knowing why,” said Tom Land, PhD, primary investigator of the study.

According to the Surgeon General’s report, tobacco product regulation contributes to public health efforts through reductions in tobacco product addictiveness and harmfulness. Tobacco product regulation also serves as an educational tool, helping to correct false or misleading claims by the tobacco industry. The report calls for renewed efforts to combat this and other efforts by tobacco industry to mislead the public.

For the past twenty years the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention program has worked with communities across the state of Massachusetts to fight the tobacco industry’s marketing tactics aimed at kids, help current smokers quit their addiction, and protect people from the harms of secondhand smoke.

For more information about these efforts contact Tina Grosowsky, 508-856-5067, tina.grosowsky@umassmed.edu, at the Central MA Tobacco Free Community Partnership.    For resources on quitting visit www.makesmokinghistory.org.