30 



puff of smoke as the vehicle for nicotine. Smoke is beyond question 

 the most optimized vehicle of nicotine and the cigarette the most 

 optimized dispenser of smoke." 



How does the cigarette industry design cigarettes? Several dec- 

 ades ago, the industry began to recognize that nicotine is the 

 psychoactive ingredient in tobacco smoke. Numerous patents since 

 then illustrate how the industry has worked hard to sustain the 

 psychoactive effects of nicotine in cigarettes. 



These charts I will show you show examples from several cat- 

 egories of patents. I recognize you can't read them all now, but I 

 wanted to give you a feel for the kinds of patents we are seeing. 



Eight patents on the first chart (B) increased nicotine content by 

 adding nicotine to the tobacco rod. 



On the next chart (C) five patents are listed to increase nicotine 

 content by adding nicotine to filters, wrappers and other parts of 

 the cigarette. 



The next chart (D) shows three patents that use advanced tech- 

 nology to manipulate the levels of nicotine in tobacco. 



On the next chart (E) there are eight patents for the extraction 

 of nicotine from tobacco. The next chart (F) shows nine patents to 

 develop new chemical variants of nicotine. 



Patents not only describe a specific invention but they can do 

 much more. They speak to the industry's capabilities and research 

 and they provide insight into what industry may be attempting to 

 achieve with its products. At the same time, however, it is prudent 

 to keep in mind that patents do not tell us what processes are cur- 

 rently in use. Nevertheless, the number and pattern of these pat- 

 ents leaves little doubt that the cigarette industry has developed 

 enormously sophisticated methods for manipulating nicotine levels 

 in cigarettes. 



Look at the industr/s own words in these patents. Let me read 

 the key words from a number of patents. The industry is interested 

 in "maintaining the nicotine content at a sufficiently high level to 

 provide the desired physiological activity, taste, and odor." 



These are the words of the patents. "Add nicotine." "Maintaining 

 or increasing the nicotine content." "The release in controlled 

 amounts of nicotine." "Nicotine released in controlled amounts." 

 "Manipulation of the nicotine." "Provide various nicotine levels." 

 "Varying levels of endogenous and exogenous nicotine." "Mainte- 

 nance of the proper amount of nicotine." "Delivers a larger amount 

 of nicotine." "Nicotine donor." "A process for the migration of nico- 

 tine." "Nicotine can be incorporated." "Nicotine-enhanced smoking 

 device." "The application of nicotine components." "Incorporated 

 within the filler material applied to the wrapper, applied within 

 the glue line of the wrapper." 



Let me briefly describe how a few of these technologies work. 

 U.S. Patent number 4,830,028 (Chart G) describes a way to in- 

 crease the nicotine content of low yield cigarettes from 1.66 percent 

 to 2.9 percent nicotine by spraying on a 1, 3 or 5 percent nicotine 

 salt. 



The patent states the nicotine salt is used because added nicotine 

 alone is unacceptably harsh or irritating to the user. Notice that 

 great care is paid to the pH of the smoke because pH affects ab- 



