247 



Tobacco Co npany 



^ . ..^ Wntlor-Saie-n.NC 27102 



r ivid A. Kessier, M.D. 9i9-74" 7925 



f 'owjuissloner of Food «nd Dnig» 

 ,ood *jid Diug Adminlslration 

 Di'i^utmenl o( Health fc Uuwui Service* 

 Ro<kvUJf,MD 20887 



De<j Dr. Kessler 



This leller is infcndcd to clarify one simple fact that R.J. Reynold* Tobitco 

 CoDipany does rot InnCJse the nli-ulliie in Its clgaxetlet ibrne what is found nadudly 

 In (otjcco. In fact, oui processes reduce the amount of nicotine In cigarettes whm 

 compared to unprocessed tobacco. 



Reynolds manufactures and sella a broad range of cigarette products designed to 

 appeal to the tastes of today's adult cigaretle saiokers. Smoker* bave increasingly 

 demanded lower "t^r* cJgarertcs. A« a result of the processes used to lower "tar*, nicotine 

 has also been reduced. Over Ibe past 40 years, the average "lir* and nicotine In dgarcHei 

 sold In tlie U.S. has declined by uioit than &0%. 



The variety of cigarettes available is, in large part, » result of blending techniques 

 developed over a long history of cigarette manufacture and resccnh. In addition to 

 ixadiiional tobacco blending technicjues, various other techniques are available to 

 cigarette manufacturers. Including pu/flng of toVaixo, filtration, air dilution, tobacco 

 retuustitution and other*, in order to enable manu/acfoucrs to reduce the 'tar' and 

 nicotine yields In their cigarettes. As a result of these various Iechnl4ue$, the sales 

 weighted averages of "tar* and nicotine yields in the United States today are ll.S 

 milligrams and 0.8 milligram, respectively. 



In the early lOSO'a iho tiUa wolgMed avera£e8 of '(ai" and nicotine yields were 36 



milligiams and 2.7 milligrams, respectively. Most clgaietle brands were In a~nanaw 

 band ftround this average. Flue-cuied tobacco naturally contains 2.5 to 35 p r eat 

 iiicotinj, burl«y tobacco contains 2.75 to 4.0 percent nicotine, and fV— V' Ic'^jck* 

 conta'- - C.J '.; "..* percent nicotine in the cured le'f. rinished tV..' '• ^ci .*iiy 

 <ontair. upproxlan '>«ly 13 t JSVi nicotine by welsht. I ^■•'< tV*-- ^'- <-. "-^t o>- ■« !• < 



TI1C brc 'd jJi gc of rljjiielte producla avallab! ? loJiy prcviJri "■ •. '.>•• v.'.\ a 

 wide :.Lc;iv,«t oi tastes, "lar" and nicotine yields. n\e in' and . j\()''".c )„iJ. ii 

 cigarettes are published by the hederal 1 rade Conirulsslcn and the ylelcJs tor ea :h l-rani* 

 are provided In every advertisement for thai brand In accordance with the law. The 

 processing of certain tobaccos enables us to manu/aituxe cigarettes consistent wllh the 

 published 'tar* and niitilljie levels Jcspile the iiKotljic viriitiuns from lv<tf to leaf and 

 Crop to crop. 



LpI me repeal, to that it is absolutely clear R J. Reynolds Tobacco Company .toes 

 not increase the nicoh'ne in the tobacco we use in the manufacture of our cigarettes 



Sincerely, 



\imts W. fohnston 



