72 



Stateffl«iit on Nicotine-Containing cigarettes 



by 



David A. Kessler, M.D. 

 Commissioner of Food and Drugs 



Mr. Chairman, the cigarette industry has attempted to frame 

 the debate on smoking as the right of each American to choose. 

 The question we must ask is whether smokers really have that 

 choice . 



Consider these facts: 

 o Two-thirds of adults who smoke say they wish they could 



quit^. 

 o Seventeen million try to quit each year, but fewer than one 



out of ten succeed^. For every smoker who quits, nine try 



and fail. 

 o Three out of four adult smokers say that they are 



addicted^. By some estimates, as many as 74 to 90 percent 



are addicted* . 

 o Eight out of ten smokers say they wish they had never 



started smoking^. 



Accumulating evidence suggests that cigarette manufacturers 

 may intend this result --that they may be controlling smokers' 

 choice by controlling the levels of nicotine in their products in 

 a manner that creates and sustains an addiction in the vast 

 majority of smokers. 



That is the issue I am here to address. Whether it is a 

 choice by cigarette companies to maintain addictive levels of 

 nicotine in their cigarettes, rather than a choice by consumers 

 to continue smoking, that in the end is driving the demand for 

 cigarettes in this country. 



Although FDA has long recognized that the nicotine in 



