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smoke. It is what produces the psychoactive effects that lead 

 smokers to crave cigarettes. 



Numerous patents illustrate how the industry has been 

 working to sustain the psychoactive effects of nicotine in 

 cigarettes. These charts show samples from several categories of 

 patents: eight patents to increase nicotine content by adding 

 nicotine to the tobacco rod (Chart B) ; five patents to increase 

 nicotine content by adding nicotine to filters, wrappers and 

 other parts of the cigarette (Chart C) ; three patents that use 

 advanced technology to manipulate the levels of nicotine in 

 tobacco (Chart D) ; eight patents on extraction of nicotine from 

 tobacco (Chart E) ; and nine patents to develop new chemical 

 variants of nicotine (Chart F) . 



Patents not only describe a specific invention. They also 

 speak to the industry's capabilities, to its research, and 

 provide insight into what it may be attempting to achieve with 

 its products. 



It is prudent to keep in mind that patents do not 

 necessarily tell us what processes are currently being used in 

 manufacturing cigarettes. Nevertheless, the number and pattern 

 of these patents leaves little doubt that the cigarette industry 

 has developed enormously sophisticated methods for manipulating 

 nicotine levels in cigarettes. Today, a cigarette company can 

 add or subtract nicotine from tobacco. It can set nicotine 

 levels. In many cigarettes today, the amount of nicotine present 

 is a result of choice, not chance. 



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