Big Tobacco secrets are revealed in the research paper, Tobacco Company Strategies to Identify and Promote the Benefits of Nicotine. The new strategies are being used by Big Tobacco to emphasize the benefits of tobacco use.
Amid the growing concerns about the health and safety of a new generation of electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (NDSs), it is no surprise that Big Tobacco needs to act, especially considering their stake in the electronic device market.
To be fair, there is evidence to suggest that nicotine does have health benefits; it is currently being studied for relieving or preventing a variety of neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Tourette’s and schizophrenia. The first evidence of nicotine’s benefits came from a study published in 1966 by Harold Kahn, an epidemiologist at the National Institutes of Health. An overview of the early history about the benefits of nicotine can be read here.
Nicotine is the stimulant found in tobacco. It is the addictive substance, but not necessarily the harmful substance. The hazards associated with nicotine products are in the delivery method, generally when heating or combustion of tobacco leaves occurs. With the electronic devices, the harmful effects are thought to be in the flavorings used in the products to appeal to new users, most notably popcorn lung.
Pages 9-16 of A Practical Manual to the Tobacco Industry Documents is a fascinating summary of the secret documents; pages 16-60 is just a guide to navigating the vast library of once-secret documents; nearly seven million of them constituting over 50 million pages in total! Stay tuned for a different post summarizing the secret documents.
Here’s a peek: “We learnt from the documents that the tobacco companies used chemicals to increase the addictiveness of nicotine, chemicals to disguise the harsh taste of nicotine, chemicals to widen the lung passages for faster absorption of the smoke, chemicals mask the taste, chemicals to add flavour and sweetness. Sugar, cocoa, liquorice and chocolate especially appeal to young people beginning their experiments with smoking. To make smoke less objectionable to non-smokers, chemicals are added to mask smell, irritability and visibility of the smoke.” AND NONE OF THIS HAD TO BE CLEARED BY THE FDA
