junkification

June 11, 2009 11:54 AM

Are US tobacco companies conspiring to make tobacco more addictive through additives or aren't they? Ever since the first reports published in 1999, this has been debated off and on for years as the tobacco lobby defended itself against allegations of racketeering and outright lies. Recently they lost the case. But the question of American cigarettes being more addictive than others still remains unsettled.
posted by infini (16 comments total)

I noticed that I didn't hurt the same way physically if I went without a smoke for a long period of time outside of the US even though I was smoking the "same" brand so I started trying to find out more about this.
posted by infini at 11:55 AM on June 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Cigarettes are delicious.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:13 PM on June 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

Everyone else's tobacco is poisonous. But Lucky Strike's is toasted.
posted by box at 12:14 PM on June 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

Sounds like a totally sensible business practice to me. When the product itself is causing the death of a percentage of your market, you have to keep customer loyalty as high as possible.

I'm surprised they aren't adding caffeine. It works so well with the sales of Starbucks Coffee, Red Bull and other 'energy' drinks and our old friends, Coke and Pepsi.
posted by wendell at 12:55 PM on June 11, 2009

Washpost:

The Senate approved landmark legislation today that would give the government sweeping new power to oversee tobacco, a centuries-old product used by 20 percent of Americans yet largely unregulated in this country.
.... The House will now review the Senate's version before a bill is sent to President Obama, a smoker who has struggled to quit and who has said he is eager to sign the bill into law.
posted by CunningLinguist at 1:11 PM on June 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Is it just me or did the price of patches go way up around the same time the price of cigarettes did a few months ago? That was evil. My multiple attempts to quit every year got really pricey.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:22 PM on June 11, 2009

I'm not sure why they wouldn't, if they thought they could get away with it.
posted by SpacemanStix at 1:26 PM on June 11, 2009

Do the potential profits out-weigh the probable penalties? That's how Big Tobacco will see the issue.
posted by Nauip at 1:48 PM on June 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

The FDA regulation thing is fine with me, but it's bullshit that they exempt menthol but allow the FDA to ban all other flavorings (which it seems pretty clear they will). Time to stock up on clove/vanilla/etc cigarettes and figure out how to import them (or see if the local weed dealers will start stocking them!).
posted by wildcrdj at 2:59 PM on June 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Actually, I also wonder about "it could reduce the amount of nicotine, perhaps to a point where tobacco is no longer addictive " from the WaPo article. Since nicotine is hardly the only dangerous chemical in cigarettes (but it is what gets you the nice drug effect), won't this lead to more cigarettes consumed and thus more carcinogen exposure? I'd rather have one or two nicotine heavy cigarettes than 10 lighter ones.
posted by wildcrdj at 3:03 PM on June 11, 2009

I want to know what they put in American Spirit lights - 'cause a few of those a day taste like heaven. Marlboros and Winstons and whatnot taste like absolute bile next to 'em. Aren't American Spirits supposed to be additive free - 'cause DANG.
posted by mctsonic at 7:26 PM on June 11, 2009

CunningLinguist: "5Washpost:

.... The House will now review the Senate's version before a bill is sent to President Obama, a smoker who has struggled to quit and who has said he is eager to sign the bill into law."

Ha. HAha. BWWAAAAHAHAHA!!!

It's gone around. The thing you see now on the tracks turning the bend is it coming around.
posted by JHarris at 8:24 PM on June 11, 2009

Nauip: "Do the potential profits out-weigh the probable penalties? That's how Big Tobacco all corporations, everywhere will see the issue."

FTFY.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:24 AM on June 12, 2009

A good place to go for information on this sort of thing is the UCSF Library of Legacy Tobacco Documents, a repository of internal tobacco company documents obtained mostly via discovery during the states class-action lawsuit against the companies. A cursory search shows that they did a lot of research on the bioavailability of nicotine, just what they would be interested in if they were manipulating nicotine levels.
posted by TedW at 6:36 AM on June 12, 2009

thanks for the discussion guys... its really scary to think of "crack nicotine" adn even patches as something to keep you "legally" addicted

but, *sigh* pity cigarette smoking feels so good... speaking as a multiple times quitter ;(
posted by infini at 2:44 PM on June 12, 2009

has anybody noticed how it's impossible to buy foreign cigarrettes anymore? i used to get Gaulioises and Gitanes at tobacco stores here in NYC and they're nowhere to be found. allegedly it has to do with the paper they're wrapped with. WTF?!?!
posted by liza at 5:22 PM on June 12, 2009