Nicotine Study Re-ignites Call for FDA Regulation of Cigarettes

Thursday, a Harvard study concluded cigarette companies have been deliberately increasing nicotine levels in cigarettes to make them 11% more addictive -- leading to calls for greater federal oversight of the tobacco industry. Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy promised he would reintroduce a 2004 bill that would allow the FDA to regulate cigarettes; last round the bill failed in the House after receiving Senate approval. Cigarette maker Philip Morris released a statement taking issue with the study, but said it supported Kennedy’s bill. Morris said internal studies showed that nicotine yields for its Marlboro brand were unchanged in 2006 since 1997; any changes were due to random variations. Harvard professor Dr. Gregory Connolly, a leader of the study, said there was nothing random about the growth in nicotine yields, which were consistent across all brands and makers: "We know from our data that there are intentional design changes that result in more nicotine in smoke that increases the capacity for the cigarette to cause and maintain addiction." In August a federal judge found that tobacco companies had for decades "manipulated the use of nicotine so as to increase and perpetuate addiction... [and] lied, misrepresented and deceived the American public."

• Sources: New York Times, Bloomberg
• Related commentary: Warning: Cigarettes May Be Good For Your Financial Health, Light Cigarette Suit Could Exact a Heavy Price on Tobacco Companies, The Tobacco Empire Strikes Back
• Potentially impacted stocks and ETFs: Altria Group Inc. (MO), Gallaher Group Plc (GLH), Carolina Group (CG), British American Tobacco (BTI), Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), Vector Group Ltd. (VGR)

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