596 



While my remarks will be somewhat redundant, repetitive from 

 the other companies, I will highlight them to show the uniform 

 sense of responsibility and accountability that exists in this indus- 

 try, and to add our sense to the absurdity of the allegations that 

 people continue to place against this industry. 



At the outset, I would like to make it clear that Liggett does not 

 increase the nicotine level of our cigarettes beyond the level of nico- 

 tine found naturally in the unprocessed tobacco that we use to 

 make our cigarettes. Second, Liggett does not manipulate the level 

 of nicotine in our cigarettes to hook or addict smokers. Third, 

 Liggett does not use any of the patented technology that was re- 

 ferred to by Dr. Kessler in his testimony before this committee last 

 month. 



And, finally, I want to emphasize that we at Liggett are proud 

 of the quality of the cigarettes that we produce, we're proud of the 

 people who grow our tobacco that goes into our product, we're 

 proud of the people who manufacture them for us, as well as those 

 people who distribute and sell our product legitimately around this 

 country. 



Now, with regard to the manufacture of cigarettes, I would like 

 to emphasize that the manufacturing process results in a reduction 

 in the amount of nicotine in cigarettes when compared to the nico- 

 tine in the unprocessed tobacco. 



Second, the essential components of cigarette manufacturing, and 

 specifically, the use of reconstituted tobacco has been publicly docu- 

 mented for decades, so none of this is new. Reconstituted tobacco 

 is used to reduce waste and to achieve the most efficient use of the 

 natural tobacco that we purchase for our product. 



Tobacco is the most expensive component of the cigarette and, 

 therefore, any loss of that tobacco would make the production of 

 cigarettes more costly. In brief, the reconstitution process involves 

 the addition of water to the tobacco to separate water soluble sub- 

 stances, including some nicotine, from the tobacco. 



The remaining tobacco cellulose can then be formed into sheets. 

 Water soluble substances originally removed from the tobacco are 

 then once again returned to that tobacco sheet. No nicotine not 

 found naturally in the tobacco is added in the production of the re- 

 constituted tobacco. In fact, the reconstituted tobacco contains less 

 nicotine than raw tobacco, from which it was made, because a cer- 

 tain amount of the natural nicotine is inevitably lost in that proc- 

 ess. 



Denatured alcohol and tobacco flavorants are the only other 

 sources of nicotine in our cigarettes. Nicotine occurs naturally in 

 the water soluble extracts of tobacco used in miniscule amounts as 

 flavorants. The use of tobacco flavorants has been a matter of pub- 

 lic record, again, for decades. 



The Specially Denatured Alcohol No. 4, which is used as a carrier 

 for flavors, is the only denatured alcohol that is approved by 

 B.A.T.F. for the manufacturing process in cigarettes. The B.A.T.F. 

 requires that that alcohol be denatured by the addition of a min- 

 iscule amount of nicotine to make it undrinkable. And it is dena- 

 tured in accordance with the prescribed formulas outlined by 

 B.A.T.F. 



