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it. (United States v. 46 Carton. More or Less. Containing Fairfax Cigarettes . 

 113 F.Supp. 336 (D.N.J. 1953). 



Since we filed that petition with the FDA seeking to classify all low tar and low nicotine 

 cigarettes as drugs under the FDC Act, additional evidence has come to light that we 

 believe justifies the FDA taking jurisdiction over all cigarette products under the Act. The 

 tobacco industry has in our view crossed over the statutory line and is now in the business 

 of selling "drugs" and not just conventional cigarettes. These activities have been going on 

 for some time but because there is no federal agency that has access into the internal 

 workings of the tobacco industry, its activities, its strategies and its manufacturing processes 

 have remained virtually a heavily guarded secret. Documents released as part of the 

 Cipollone liability case have given us a glimpse into the industry's past and present 

 practices. These documents have pointed to the fact that beginning even before 1964, the 

 tobacco industry was investing millions and millions of dollars into developing highly 

 technological products - products which no longer consisted of just blended tobaccos, but 

 rather products in which the nicotine was controlled, products which had sophisticated, 

 elaborate filters to remove so-called toxins from tobacco, and products which contained 

 chemical additives to provide flavor and to control the bum of the cigarette so it would 

 bum faster and smoother. Interestingly enough, all of this was being done at break neck 

 speed while the industry categorically denied that its products caused disease. A review of 

 the evidence that has come to our attention is distressing, to say the least, and prompted 

 our Coalition to file a more recent petition with the FDA seeking to classify aU cigarette 

 products on the market as dmgs under section 201 of the FDC Act. 



Are we surprised by these findings and revelations? Not really. Should the public be 

 outraged by the tobacco industry's secretive efforts to do everything feasible to make huge 



