The Cigarette as a Vehicle for Nicotine Release

3.3.3 Maintaining Nicotine Dependence

The฀ cigarette฀ industry฀ produced฀ “low-tar”฀ and฀ “low-nicotine”฀ cigarettes,฀ imagining฀ them฀to฀be฀a฀product฀that฀would฀be฀less฀harmful฀to฀health.฀It฀recognised฀very฀early฀that฀ there฀ is฀ a฀ major฀ difference฀ in฀ smoke฀ constituents฀ measured฀ on฀ a฀ Federal฀ Trade฀ Commission฀FTC฀smoking฀machine฀and฀in฀a฀human฀smoker฀Tables฀ 3.4 – 3.6 .฀The฀FTC฀ machines฀“inhale”฀constant฀smoke฀volumes฀at฀regular฀set฀intervals,฀whereas฀smokers฀ individually฀regulate฀their฀depth฀and฀frequency฀of฀smoking.฀The฀smoker฀smokes฀a฀low- tar฀or฀low-nicotine฀cigarette฀quite฀differently฀from฀a฀regular฀cigarette฀ [50] ,฀a฀fact฀that฀is฀ also฀apparent฀from฀the฀earliest฀medical฀studies฀ [51] .฀When฀smokers฀are฀offered฀different฀ types฀of฀cigarettes,฀they฀are฀able฀to฀obtain฀approximately฀the฀same฀nicotine฀dose,฀irre- spective฀of฀the฀nicotine฀yield฀of฀the฀cigarette,฀by฀varying฀the฀frequency฀of฀puffs฀and฀the฀ depth฀of฀inhalation฀ [50] .฀The฀“light”฀cigarette฀was฀also฀one฀reason฀why฀the฀dependence- inducing฀effect฀of฀nicotine฀was฀repeatedly฀and฀vociferously฀disputed฀by฀the฀cigarette฀ industry฀ [52] . Filter฀blocking Silk฀cut฀ultra Marlboro฀light Tar฀mg Nicotine฀mg Tar฀mg Nicotine฀mg Declaration฀on฀the฀pack 1.0 0.1 6.0 0.5 Smoking฀without฀blocking 1.4 0.16 6.3 0.54 Smoking฀with฀50฀ blocking 4.5 0.56 7.6 0.62 Smoking฀with฀complete฀ blocking 12.3 1.21 10.5 0.77 Table 3.4 ฀฀฀Declared฀tar฀and฀nicotine฀yields฀of฀two฀cigarette฀brands฀and฀the฀effect฀of฀increasing฀blocking฀ of฀ the฀ lateral฀ ilter฀ vents฀ during฀ smoking฀ measured฀ with฀ a฀ Filtrona฀ SM฀ 400฀ cigarette฀ testing฀ machine฀ [107] Cigarette฀brands Tar฀yield฀declared฀ on฀the฀pack Standard฀ ISO฀test Realistic฀ “smoking฀test” DuMaurier฀king฀size 15 15.2 36.9 DuMaurier฀light฀king฀size 12 14.4 38.25 Player’s฀regular 16 16.5 37.2 Player’s฀light฀king฀size 13 13.7 33.3 Player’s฀extra฀light฀regular 11 11.8 31.4 Matinee฀extra฀mild฀king฀size 4 4.7 26.0 Rothmans฀king฀size 15 15.8 34.2 Export฀A฀regular 16 15.0 34.0 Export฀A฀light฀regular 13 13.0 28.0 Table 3.5 ฀฀฀Declared฀tar฀yields฀of฀several฀cigarette฀brands฀mgcigarette,฀together฀with฀yields฀measured฀ using฀the฀ISO฀method฀smoking฀machine฀compared฀with฀realistic฀yields฀following฀inhalation฀of฀ cigarette฀smoke฀ [108]