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that advertising is used to encourage users to 'graduate' to 

 products with higher levels of nicotine." 



The assertions of Drs, Connolly and Kessler suggest that 

 U.S. Tobacco manipulates its consumers and dictates which of its 

 smokeless tobacco products those consumers ultimately choose to 

 use. Those assertions are totally false. U.S. Tobacco does not 

 employ any marketing strategy based upon a theory that consumers 

 can be enticed to begin using low-nicotine "starter" smokeless 

 tobacco products, and subsequently caused to "graduate" through 

 advertising (according to Dr. Kessler) or through nicotine 

 dependence (according to Dr. Connolly) to products with higher 

 levels of nicotine. 



This fanciful concept was created by plaintiff's counsel in 

 the 1986 Marsee litigation in an unsuccessful attempt to sway the 

 jury against U.S. Tobacco. This fiction has been perpetuated by 

 Dr. Connolly. 



Furthermore, the inflammatory allegations of Drs. Connolly 

 and Kessler regarding a so-called "graduation strategy" are not 

 supported by the facts. Smokeless tobacco products, like all 

 tobacco products, vary in nicotine content. Any suggestion that 

 U.S. Tobacco's line of products i§ developed based on 

 "graduating" levels of nicotine is not true. 



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