U.S. report: More nicotine in cigarettes

[TechBear_Seattle]

U.S. report: More nicotine in cigarettes
By STEVE LEBLANC, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

BOSTON -- The level of nicotine found in U.S. cigarettes has risen about 10 percent in the past six years, making it harder to quit and easier to get hooked, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Department of Health.

The study shows a steady climb in the amount of nicotine delivered to the lungs of smokers regardless of brand, with overall nicotine yields increasing by about 10 percent.

The article continues at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_Increasing_Nicotine.html

[meow2u3]

1. No wonder I've been having all those nic fits

eom

[JitterbugPerfume]

2. and no wonder

my daughter and son in law are having such a hard time quitting

[Cooley Hurd]

3. Yet another example of corporate America out of control in the Bush age...

I quit smoking this morning. My asthma has gotten almost unmanageable because of my cigarette addiction. I'm only 40 years old and I DON'T want to have an oxygen backpack by the time I'm 50.

Admittedly, I'm not over my nicotine addiction - I'm wearing a patch...:blush:

[AndyA]

4. Good luck to you, and congratulations on taking the first step to improve

your health. Your body will thank you in a few years. Hope you're able to successfully "kick the habit."

[Cooley Hurd]

6. Thanks, Andy - being able to breathe is a big motivator!

The last few weeks have been HELL - I wake up in the morning and it takes a solid hour for me to catch my breath (even AFTER hitting the albuterol).:(

[Kailassa]

37. good luck, I know how tough it is to quit.

When it gets bad, take it hour by hour, remembering that every hour off
those bloody things is another victory.

And patches don't do much harm, they are heaps better for you than ciggies.

[UpInArms]

18. Hurrah for you, Cooley Hurd - I'm almost 6 weeks without smoking

wearing the patch - just 2 1/2 weeks of patches more to go and I will then be "cold turkey" - but my mind is solidly in the "I am not a smoker" camp.

:toast: :thumbsup:

[rinsd]

20. Congrats!

I've been 6 1/2 months without. Went cold turkey from the outset but whatever gets you thru it, just do it.

:toast:

[Cooley Hurd]

27. It's tough - I know the first time I get some Cap'n Morgan & Cokes in me..

...I'm gonna CRAVE a smoke!:(

Congratulations to YOU, UIA!!!:toast:

[UpInArms]

32. there have been lots of things that have made me want

to smoke - but every time something happens, I ask myself the same question:

What will change if I smoke?

and the only answer I can find is that nothing will change but that I smoked - and that is the one thing that I don't want - so I keep not smoking.

Go have fun with Cap'n Morgan & Coke - and you can still not smoke :D

and have a great time while you are not smoking - I thought that my glass of wine would demand its companion cigarette - but... no - it was still good without the cig :)


(edited for spulling)

[rinsd]

19. Stay strong

DU has a cessation group you may want to visit.

On Sept 12th it will be my 7th month without cigarettes. I went cold turkey but anything that stops you from smoking is good.

Think positive. Soon enough you will be celebrating your 7th month.

On edit: a link to the group

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=326

[54anickel]

21. DU has a cessation group? I didn't realize that. I've been building up

to quitting - have tried unsucessfully 3 or 4 times. Longest I went without was about 6 months. I've got my mind made up this time around though. Helps not having that god-awful stressful job - less stress and not around smokers anymore AND no money for smokes.

[rinsd]

23. Here's a link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=326

[54anickel]

24. Thank you! n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

26. $2500 a year.

To big tobacco.

Crikey!

[Cooley Hurd]

28. Thanks for the info, rinsd!

And Congratulations to you! :toast: I've quit before, but only for 6 months. This time, it's gotta be for good - my lungs are in open revolt right now. I'm too young to feel this shitty...

[Le Taz Hot]

25. Keep on that patch!

I used it to quite 2-1/2 years ago after smoking for 35 years. The patch worked great for me. With the patch you can incimentally step down. I would have never been able to do it cold turkey.

[Cooley Hurd]

30. I've tried the Nicotrol inhaler, but it affects my asthma...

...so I'm back on the patch (I quit for six months using the patch, but was in an auto accident and, while flat on my back convalescing, I started back up again).

Congratulations, Le Taz!!!!!:toast:

[Bassic]

39. I've also got asthma.

And had also quit for 6 months. Then I had a kid, and right after that we learned that my MIL has incurable cancer, and right after that my wife's closest uncle died suddenly of a heart attack.

I cracked under the stress. I've already set my next quitting date though.

[bitchkitty]

40. The best of luck to you - oxygen is a wonderful thing!

.

[RC]

5. The last six years...? Hmmmm.

We need to reclassify tobacco as a Class A drug and enforce the penalty for selling it.

[mongo]

8. Thanks for the input

from the nanny states of America...

[alarimer]

10. Well the tobacco companies are certainly NOT a friend

Judging from this report, they are completely evil.

[mongo]

13. Sorry but

the evil party in this story is the Massachusetts Department of Health, which has spun the change in the method used to test for nicotine in cigarettes into a lie about a big conspiracy by the tobacco companies.

[depakid]

22. You don't know that!

You haven't read the study- and the tobacco industry ISN'T required to pulicly disclose its ingredients (which include a whole host nasties besides nicotine).

Seems to me, once again, it's the people who howl "Nanny state" memes who are the ones with much to learn.

[mongo]

34. Did YOU even read the whole article?

Where they talked about changing the testing method that resulted in higher levels of nocitine being found?

[depakid]

43. Sure I did

But as I said- you don't know whether that's the only thing going on! It could well be they are also spiking the nicotine levels- they've done so in the past.

Which makes yu're just as much of a conspiracy theorist as the people you accuse!

[mongo]

44. Read slower this time

The study tried to measure nicotine levels based on the way smokers actually use cigarettes, health officials said, in part by partially covering ventilation holes as they smoke and taking longer puffs. Traditional testing methods which do not take real-life smoking habits into account, typically report lower nicotine contents, officials said.

So, we have an article with a big start MORE NICOTINE FOUND IN CIGARETTES!!!! Oh my gosh!! Then, the story goes on to explain why - which has nothing to do with cigarettes having more nicotine in them.

But the story and you want to believe that this is some great proof of further conspiricy by the tobacco companies. So, instead of taking the story at face value, it is YOU who are making up more facts than the story contains.

This is an object lesson in what we are up against with the 30% die-hard Bush supporters. Even in the face of truth they, like you will believe a lie that fits their viewpoint.

And notice how little support I am getting here. I'm sure if I hadn't posted there would be 50 posts about the evil tobacco companies at it again... instead of just a few.

But even the people who can see the truth won't speak up here, because it doesn't fit their world view.

It's exactly the same thing we are up against with the freepers.

[depakid]

45. Well- I think it goes to show

That you haven't read the full study- and apparently you don't appreciate the history of the industry (or how epidemiology works). You simply jumped to an unwarranted conclusion- without critically thinking about what else might be going on.

"The report also found:

* Overall, nicotine yields increased ten percent from 1998 – 2004.
* As of 2004, 93 percent of all cigarette brands were rated high nicotine.
* Marlboro, Newport, and Camel, the three most popular brands chosen by young smokers, all delivered significantly more nicotine.
* Kool, a popular menthol brand, increased 20 percent. More than two-thirds of African American smokers use menthol brands."

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=pressreleases&agId=Eeohhs2&prModName=dphpressrelease&prFile=pr_060829_nicotine.xml

The report itself details two separate evasive actions.

The first- as the original article mentions- is that they are tailoring their cigarettes to federal testing conditions, which rely on the use of a smoking machine.

Many brands of cigarettes now include filters that allow air into the flow during smoking machine tests, effectively diluting it. In real world use, however, studies have found that filters are structured so that these air intakes are frequently blocked by the lips or fingers of the smoker.

Even in cases where extra air makes its way in, smokers were found to simply inhale more deeply in order to compensate. When more realistic figures are used, it becomes clear that all types of cigarettes, including light versions, are delivering large doses of nicotine.

Potentially more disturbing is the trend revealed by that figure: back in 1998, only 84 percent were in the highest category. Over that six year time period, the increase in nicotine in smoke averaged nearly 10 percent. Anyway the data were sliced—by brand, by company, etc.—the increases were statistically significant.



"Industry documents turned over during landmark litigation in the 1990s that led tobacco companies to settle with state governments for billions of dollars showed that the companies routinely spiked the nicotine content of their products so that cigarettes would be more pleasurable and addictive. The state study, tobacco control specialists said, suggests that practice has persisted."

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2006/08/30/cigarettes_pack_more_nicotine/

Full Study: http://www.mass.gov/dph/mtcp/reports/nicotine_yields_1998_2004_report.pdf

[rinsd]

17. Yeah becuase prohibition with other durgs is going oh so well

:eyes:

[mongo]

7. So buried in the story is this

The study tried to measure nicotine levels based on the way smokers actually use cigarettes, health officials said, in part by partially covering ventilation holes as they smoke and taking longer puffs. Traditional testing methods which do not take real-life smoking habits into account, typically report lower nicotine contents, officials said.

Of the 179 cigarette brands tested in 2004 for the report, 93 percent fell into the highest range for nicotine. In 1998, 84 percent of 116 brands tested fell into the highest range.

In other words, they changed the testing method which resulted in the amount of nicotine they "found" being higher. The rest of the story which implies that the cigarette manufacturers are putting more nicotine in cigs is just propaganda.

but hey, like the Truth campaign, any lie is a good lie when it is for a social vice you despise...

[mcscajun]

9. And that one paragraph doesn't let you know that ALL of the difference

is attributable to the change in testing method, does it? Don't jump to that conclusion, but it seems to make you certain because you'd like to think it is. I wouldn't make any judgments on the study myself unless and until I read the abstract and/or saw the figures and testing methodology in detail.

Smoking kills, and in the meantime it takes you apart, a piece at a time. There's no lie there.

[mongo]

11. Well, if that wasn't all the difference

I believe they wouldn't have worded the rest of the story so carefully

"The level of nicotine found in U.S. cigarettes"

"The study shows a steady climb in the amount of nicotine delivered to the lungs" (because the testing method was different)

"The study found...- delivered significantly more nicotine than they did years ago." (before they changed the testing method)

"Of the 179 cigarette brands tested in 2004 for the report, 93 percent fell into the highest range for nicotine. In 1998, 84 percent of 116 brands tested fell into the highest range."

Don't you think that if there had been a real change the story would have mentioned exactly what was the cause? They don't because they can't.

No where in the story do they actually say that cigarette manufacturers have changed the way they manufacture, that nicotine in various tobacco plant varieties has changed, etc. If there had been any real change except the testing method the main stream media would be all over this.

It's you who has jumped to the convienent conclusion this story is meant to convey to you.

[mcscajun]

12. I haven't jumped to any conclusion, and I've said so.

You on the other hand, Believe.

[mongo]

14. Or maybe my comprehension

and BS detector for propaganda is just a tad more developed.

[mcscajun]

16. Ha!

I doubt it.

[Psephos]

36. As usual, a perceptive post

Keep 'em coming, Mongo. :-)

A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.
- William Blake

[donco6]

15. I've cut way down, but . . . just . . . can't . . . seem . . .

to stop completely. It's an embarrassment to me.

[Moloch]

29. Two months as of today...

without a cigarette!

:party:

[Sonnabend]

31. Six weeks for me....

..after two bad chest colds. and a dressing down from my mother that would have made a Marine DI blush.:)

[UpInArms]

33. Welcome to DU, Sonnabend!

Congratulations on the not smoking :toast:

Glad to have you here :hi:

[Historic NY]

35. I am glad I quit in January...........

I smoked at least 35 years....went for laser acupuncture.

[Bassic]

38. Well, that explains a lot.

:mad:

[Robb]

41. Yay! More bang for your buck!

:hide:

[apnu]

42. Been quit for 2 years

Total cold turkey too. All it takes is willpower people, and you've got to be 'ready' to sum up that willpower. Quiting smoking is that simple.

Personally, I think all those quit smoking products (patch, drugs, inhalers) is just a racket to fleece more money out of smokers. And, I've heard rumored, most of those products are owned and produced by the tobacco industry. And they are designed to continue to string you along with chemicals to pollute yourself with. Disgusting.

[krispos42]

46. But it's not keeping up with the price increases!

I mean, the price of a pack has doubled or more, right? And only a 10% increase in nicotine? Once again, Republicans screwing the hard-working smokers of America. :sarcasm:

Well, in another decade people will only have to smoke one cigarette a day. It will cost them $5, but will last and last and last...