Our view on tobacco regulation: USA-Today

Nation must do
more to keep kids
out of smoking
pipeline



Ever wonder how the tobacco industry has survived
a decades-long campaign by public health
advocates and government to stamp out the nation's
deadliest habit? One word: addiction.

Now, thanks to a U.S. Surgeon General's report
released this month, the public can find out a lot
more about how potent cigarette addiction really is
and how it has changed over the years.

OPPOSING VIEW: Concerned smokers can quit

"Cigarettes today deliver more nicotine and deliver it
quicker than ever before," says a consumer
pamphlet issued with the report. This change is
especially dangerous to adolescents, whose bodies
are more sensitive to nicotine and who are more
easily addicted than adults — which may explain
why the industry picks up about 1,000 new teen
smokers a day. And why the vast majority of

smokers pick up the habit by the time they're 19.

None of this is an accident: "The additives and
chemicals that tobacco companies put in cigarettes
may have helped make them more addictive," says
the pamphlet.

Nobody knows exactly when these changes
occurred because the public isn't privy to the
industry's methods. But the 700-page report for the
first time pulls together decades of research, and
some internal industry documents, to paint a picture
of how the content and design of cigarettes have
changed over the years.

The chemical form of nicotine has been altered so it
is delivered to the brain more rapidly and
effectively, setting off the craving for more. This
"free nicotine" would make the inhaled smoke
harsher, perhaps discouraging smokers, especially
new ones. But the industry has found ways to
modify that effect.

Filter holes and other types of ventilation make it
easier to inhale more deeply. Sugar and moisture
enhancers reduce the burning sensation, making
smoking seem smoother. Even a change in the size
of microscopic particles in smoke impacts how
effectively nicotine is delivered, which can intensify
the quick buzz that smokers want.

Suffice it to say, this is not your father's cigarette.

The report couldn't have come at a better time. The
dramatic, nearly decade-long decline in teen
smoking has halted among younger teens, and
there's evidence that more of them may be taking up