Mr. Waxman. Mr. Bliley. 



Mr. Bliley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Chairman, we are here today to consider issues raised by the 

 Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, David Kessler. In 

 his February 25, 1994 letter to the Coalition on Smoking OR 

 Health — and similarly aired in the media relating to nicotine -^ 

 cigarettes — in his letter, Dr. Kessler suggested that the cigars 

 manufacturers may be spiking their cigarettes with nicotine 

 order to keep their customers hooked. 



This proposition was advanced in even more sensational form 

 a television news magazine program called Day One on February 

 28. In the uproar that followed, The New York Times said in an 

 editorial that the FDA's allegations about nicotine manipulation, if 

 true, would be a crime of unconscionable dimensions. 



Last week Philip R. Lee, Assistant Secretary of the Public Health 

 Service announced dramatically, but incorrectly, it turned out, that 

 FDA had asked the Justice Department to investigate these allega- 

 tions. What was the basis for these grave allegations against the 

 cigarette industry? What is the evidence now available, as Dr. 

 Kessler puts it, that could support a change in FDA's long-standing 

 policy toward tobacco? Is it evident that cigarettes today contain 

 more nicotine than ever before? That could not be. 



If Dr. Kessler had consulted the 1989 Surgeon General's report, 

 he would have noted a chart on page 88 that shows a decline in 

 average nicotine content of about two-thirds between 1957 and 

 1987. The decline in the nicotine content of cigarettes has been 

 common knowledge for years. Is nicotine being added through a to- 

 bacco reconstitution process? 



The reconstitution process has been in use for over 30 years. 

 Manufacturers have explained to the Department of Health and 

 Human Services in correspondence last year that this process re- 

 sults in no increase in nicotine. The New England Journal of Medi- 

 cine in a 1989 article said that the reconstitution process is one of 

 the ways in which cigarette manufacturers reduce the amount of 

 nicotine in cigarettes. Three Surgeon Generals' reports made this 

 same point. 



Is the use of tobacco extract aiding nicotine? Tobacco extracts 

 have long and well-documented use in tobacco products. The manu- 

 facturers told the Office of Smoking and Health that the nicotine 

 indirectly added by the use to tobacco extracts is less than one- 

 three thousandths of a percent by weight of the tobacco blends. 



Is the use of denatured alcohol adding nicotine? Denatured alco- 

 hol has been used for over 40 years. The manufacturers told HHS 

 that the quantity of nicotine indirectly added to tobacco from dena- 

 tured alcohol is less than one-one thousandth of a percent by 

 weight of tobacco blends. Yes, I said one-three thousandths of a 

 percent from tobacco extracts and one-one thousandth of a percent 

 from denatured alcohol. 



Manufacturers pointed out to HHS that 2 to 3 percent of tobacco 

 is nicotine by weight. When someone talks about the nicotine indi- 

 rectly added by extracts and denatured alcohol, it reminds me of 

 the old pictures of a mouse standing next to an elephant or a man 

 standing next to the Empire State Building. 



