Cigarettes pack more nicotine
Boston Globe
August 30, 2006

Even as measures to discourage smoking grew more stringent in recent years, a new report indicates that the nicotine content of cigarettes rose, making it tougher for smokers to quit.

From 1998 to 2004, the amount of nicotine that could be inhaled from cigarettes increased an average of 10 percent, the study by the state Department of Public Health found. Nicotine is the chemical that causes cigarettes to be addictive, and the study, released yesterday, found higher levels in all classes of cigarettes, including those branded "light."

During the past decade, aggressive campaigns across the nation have aimed to curb smoking, the leading cause of preventable deaths. Cities and states, including Massachusetts , have banned smoking in public places, and the price of cigarettes has soared. Still, smoking rates among US adults stubbornly persist above 20 percent.

"We in public health have tried to spend a lot of time figuring out why people don't stop smoking," said Lois Keithly , director of the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program . "It is more difficult to quit when there is a higher amount of nicotine in the cigarette."

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Veterans of the decades-long fight against the tobacco industry said the rising nicotine levels show that companies will adopt strategies to get smokers addicted -- and to keep them hooked. "I'm always shocked at the new things the industry does," said Richard Daynard , chairman of the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University . "This is sort of sleazy in a new and different way."

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