Tobacco Companies Have Changed Cigarettes to Make Them More Addictive: Report

Tobacco companies have made design changes to cigarettes to make them more addictive and more attractive to children, according to a new report by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

The report concludes cigarettes are more harmful today than 50 years ago, when the first Surgeon General report linked tobacco to health risks, according to ABC News. The group is calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to more closely regulate cigarettes’ design and ingredients.

The group lists nine design choices and chemical additions that lure young people to start smoking, and make it harder for them to quit. These include making cigarettes more addictive by increasing nicotine levels and enhancing the impact of nicotine, and adding flavorings such as licorice and chocolate to make cigarettes more attractive to children.

According to the report, cigarettes have increased levels of a type of cancer-causing substance called nitrosamines. They also have added ventilated filters, which allow smokers to inhale more deeply, drawing these substances into the lungs.

“For decades, the tobacco industry had complete control over how cigarettes were made, and they responded by making a deadly and addictive product even worse,” Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a news release. “Now that it has the authority to regulate tobacco products, the FDA must require changes in these products to reduce the death and disease they cause. Decisions about how tobacco products are made and what is in them must now be based on protecting public health, not tobacco industry profits.”