Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph No. 7 
Another possibility that has been raised by some is whether some brands 
have had their nicotine levels and tar levels actually reconstituted upward 
slightly. 
A third is the changing demographics of the market. As some people 
quit and other people start, the average smoker is a different person who 
would intend, on average, to smoke a higher tar or higher nicotine cigarette. 
Finally, there is the question of whether or not, in fact, there is a limit 
that smokers are willing to tolerate, given the current cigarette array of 
choices. 
How does your hypothesis relate to the question at hand: What is the 
meaningfulness of the FTC test, and is it useM in the market? 
DR. HARRIS: There are several points you make. One is whether the test is 
useful, but also whether the industry has accomplished anything in reducing 
tar and nicotine levels. And I think that, since that was a preamble of both 
talks and it is certainly an issue that I have been puzzling over, I thought it 
was important to wrestle with the question of why have tar and nicotine 
levels not fallen in the last 10 years, and is there anything that can be done 
about it. 
DR. SHIFFMAN: You have very much emphasized the issue of consumer 
choice and consumers making a choice based on accurate information. 
I take it, then, that if consumers could be provided with better, more accurate 
information about yields, that is something that you would favor. 
DR. TOWNSEND: I believe that what the consumer needs is there. The FTC 
method provides reliable comparative information. 
DR. SHIFFMAN: You do not want them to have better information? 
DR. TOWNSEND: Convince me that there is better information. I am not 
convinced that there is. 
DR. SHIFFMAN: I am asking it as a hypothetical question. 
DR. TOWNSEND: If there is important information that the consumer needs 
to make choices in the marketplace, then I want to know it. 
DR. SHIFFMAN: We have seen individual variability around the trend line, 
and if we were able to provide individuals with information about where 
they stood on that, then would that be an improvement that you might be 
able to support? 
DR. DEBETHIZY: That is a tall order for any sort of standardized method. 
DR. RE'n rri: Your talk. Dr. deBethizy, referenced the historical context of 
the development of the F'FC measures. And the historical context was the 
claim that these measures would significantly reduce the risk of disease. 
Do you think that the data so far support a claim that these ITC measures 
predict or are meaningfully related to disease risk? 
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