363 



CLAIM: REYNOLDS TOBACCO MANIPULATES THE mCOTINE IN ITS 

 PRODUCTS TO CREATE, MAINTAIN OR SATISFY ADDICTION 



This claim is also false. The feet is, Reynolds Tobacco and the other tobacco 

 companies do market a broad range of cigarette products in response to the demands and 

 tastes of today's adult cigarette smokers; and within that range of products, there is also a 

 range of "tar" and nicotine yields. The company does not, however, establish specific 

 nicotine yields or manipulate nicotine to create, maintain or satisiy "addiction." 



It is important to understand that nicotine plays an essential role in the taste and 

 "mouthfeel" of cigarette smoke, which are variables that afiFect smokers' enjoyment. (It is 

 also interesting to note that tobacco is not the only common source of nicotine. Nicotine 

 naturally occurs in a variety of common vegetables including tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant 

 and green peppers.) 



A wide variety of cigarette brands and styles are available today largely as a result 

 of blending techniques and other manufecturing processes that developed over many 

 decades. In addition to using blending techniques, cigarette manufacturers reduce "tar" 

 yields through the puffing of tobacco, filtration, air dilution and tobacco reconstitution. 

 These developments help manufecturers provide smokers with the wide selection of tastes 

 and "tar" yields that they demand. 



It is a simple fact that reducing "tar" yields automatically results in proportional 

 reductions in nicotine. So as American smokers have demanded lower "tar" products over 

 the years, the average nicotine yields in American cigarettes have also declined (by more 

 than 60 percent over past 40 years, as detailed in the attached chart) Since 1970, U.S. 

 cigarette manufacturers have been required to disclose "tar" and nicotine yields in product 

 advertising (as determined by a method established by the FTC) 



