Anne Landman's Collection
Tar, Nicotine, and Cigarette Consumption
Abstract
This 1972 Philip Morris Research Center (PM) scientific report was used as a trial exhibit in Minnesota, Florida, Missouri and Texas, and in the Broin case (the flight attendants' suit for injuries due to secondhand smoke exposure in aircraft cabins). It describes experiments done at Philip Morris that showed the number of cigarettes smokers smoke can be manipulated by varying the nicotine levels in cigarettes. The report confirmed a theory that smokers develop a "daily nicotine intake quota" and that they "tend to modify their consumption rate in order to maintain their normal quota."
The report states:
"Cigarette consumption rate, i.e., number of cigarettes smoked per day, was found to vary as a function of the nicotine delivery of these cigarettes. Specifically, as nicotine increased, cigarette consumption rate decreased. This finding supports the notion that smokers develop a daily nicotine intake quota and that when smoking cigarettes differing in nicotine delivery from that which they are accustomed they tend to modify their consumption rate in order to maintain their normal quota."
Fields
- Quotes
Forty-nine smokers were required to smoke cigarettes which delivered three levels of nicotine (1.3, 1.8 and 2.2 mg) at each of three levels of tar...They smoked each in combination, except the low tar/high nicotine combination for 1 week...
Cigarette consumption rate, i.e., number of cigarettes smoked per day, was found to vary as a function of the nicotine delivery of these cigarettes. Specifically, as nicotine increased, cigarette consumption rate decreased. This finding supports the notion that smokers develop a daily nicotine intake quota and that when smoking cigarettes differing in nicotine delivery from that to which they are accustomed they tend to modify their consumption rate in order to maintain their normal quota.
- Company
- Philip Morris
- Author
- Dunn, William L., Jr., Ph.D. (PM Smoker Psychology Principal Scientist 1970s-80s)Principal scientist at PM during the 1970s and 1980s, nicknamed the "Nicotine Kid." Supervised Victor DeNoble, Paul Mele, Carolyn Levy and others. Led "smoker psychology" programs for PM.
- Schori, Tom R. (PM's Behavioral Research Scientist, 1974)Research Scientist involved in the Behavioral Research Program in 1974 at Philip Morris.
- Recipient
- Corporate recipient, Philip Morris
- Region
- United States
- Named Organization
- FTC, Federal Trade Commission
- Litigation
- Stmn/Produced
- Broi/Trial Exhibit P-0008
- Flag/Trial Exhibit P-0765
- Morm/Trial Exhibit
- Txag/Trial Exhibit P-765
- Stmn/Selected
- Named Person
- Emley
- Firth
- Glick
- Goldfare
- Jarvik
- Lucchesi
- Nakamura
- Newberger
- Schuster
- Type
- SCRT, SCIENTIFIC REPORT
- BIBL, BIBLIOGRAPHY
- CHAR, CHART/GRAPH
- Subject
- nicotine
- nicotine level
- nicotine manipulation
- addiction
Document Images
TAR', NICOTINE, AND CIGARETTE CONSUMPTION
T. R. SCHORI and W. L. DUNN, JR.
Phiilip Morri's Research Center
Richmond, Wiirgini'a
Forty-nine smokers were required to sm1oke-cigarettes
which delivered three levellls of'nicotine (1.3;.1.8; and
2.2 mg)' at each of three levels of -tar - (9.7, .1'16.6, and
the delivery levels of the cigarettes normaIly smoked by
andl high tar (19.8 mig) deliveries were -roughly comparablie to
191.8 mg) . They smioked~ each combi'nati!on; except the low tar/
h i gh rri coti ne combi nati on for 1 week :- -The1 ow ni coti ne ('1 .3
the participants iin the study.
Cigarette consumption rate, i.e., number of cigarettes
smokedl per day, was found to vary as a function of the
nicotine deli'very of' these cigarettes. -S'pecificaillly, as
nicotine increased, cigarette consumption-rate decreased.
9
T'hi s fi ndi ng supports the noti'on thait smokers d'evel op a dai ly
.ni'coti'ne i ntake quota and that when smoki ngi ci garettes d'i fferiing
in nicotine delivery from that to whichitheyt are accustomed
.they tend to-modify their~consumption-rate in order to maiintain
th,eiir normail -quota.-No, support was found for the anallogolus
-notion of -a, daily tar -intake quota, however.
Subjective acceptabil'ityr' of the cigarettes also di.ffered
as a funiction of nicotine delivery with acceptability de-
creasing as nicotinle increased from that to whichithe smokers.
were accustomed'. - T'his suggests an i_nteresting plossi bill i ty.
The smokers may have smoked less not because of the increasedi
nicotine (nicoltinle intake hypothesiis) but rather because of
the decreased acceptability associated with increased nicotine
(acceptability hypothesis). Thus, while the data do support
thehypothesis of a nicotinie intake quota, they also provide
support for an equal'ly plausible alternative hypothesis.
Therefore, one should exercise caiuti'on in gieneral i ziing from
~~1 1 s Wa-4d a.
INTRQDUCTIONi
Why does the smoker continlue to smoke? It has frequently
been suggested that the habitual smoker continues to smoke
becauise of the pharmacological effects of the nicotine in the
ciigarettes. One persistent belief along this line is that the
smoker devel ops a, dai lly q;uota for ni coti ne (Newbergier, 1963)
and that when, he smokes ci'garettes del i veri ng more or less
i
nicotine than do those to which he i's accustomedi, hle will adjust
his consumption rate in order to, malintaiin his normal nicotine
intake. Various investilgators have attempte.d to test this bel'ief.
.
Lucchesi', Schuster, aindl Emley (1967), administered 22 mg
nicotine intravenously to five subjects one day andl an equi'vallent
amount of sailine on, another day. All subjects smoked signifficantly
fewer cig;arettes under the n1cotine condition. In a similar
investigationi(Jarvik, Glick, and Nakamura, 1970),, 17 subjects
were testedl on four consecuti ve days. On two of thie days they .
recei ved 10 mg ni cotine tartrate (50% n1cotine) oral ly; on the
other two days they received lactose. Again, sig!nificantly fewer
cigarettes were! smoked under the nicotine condition.
Gol dfarb, Jarvi'k and Gil'i ck (1970), requi red ten smokers to,
keepitrack of their smoking behavior for five weeks. For the
first and fifth weeks,, the subjects smoked' theiir regular cilgarettes.
For the secondl,, third', and fourth weeks, in random order, they 0,
smokedl experimental cigarettes whilch del i vered 0, 1.26, an,4 W
rV
2.25 mig nicotine. No significant difference was found in the ~
rates at whi ch, thie experimental ci garettes were smoked; thlis 1 aick 0
M
of si'gn,i'f'icant differences may have been due to the noxi'ousness
of the expertmental cigarettes employed -"'Bravos", a lettuce
cilgairette, to which nicotine was added. There is some evidence
for such a supposition. Commencing with thie first week on the'
experimental cigiarettes, overalll consumption rates dropped and
they continued to be 1ow even in the fifth week when the sub-
jects resumed, smoking thei r reg;ullair brands.
Fi rth (1971) requi red niine sub jects to smoke a d'i!fferent
variety of cigarettes for ain eight-hour period each day for
three days. These cigarettes delivered 1.0, 1'.4!, and 2.1 mg
nicotiine. He did'rrot hold tar constant, however, and their
corresponding tar deliveries were 14.6, 17.1 and'30.8 mg. This
investiigator found number of cigarettes smokedl to decrease as
nicotine increased'. From this he concluded that these smokers
had smoked less in an effort to maintain a coinstant nilcotine
intake. However, he did not consider the equally likel'y
possibillity that the smokers smoked fewer cigarettes in an
attempt to maintaiin a constaint tar intake.
The studies i'n which the subject received extra niicoti'ne
either orallly or by injlectioin resullted in, decreases in the
number of cigarettes smoked. Thi's does suiggest the notion that
the smoker may be smoking, less in order to maintain his normall
nicotine q~uota. The studies in which the smok r
reeeived
101
varyiing O
amounts of nicotine in the normal mode of administration, ii.e.,
by smoki'ng,, however, produced ambiguous results. The present
investigation was designed to make further observations oin the
inifl'uence of ci'garette hicotine (as welll as tar delli'very) on
cigarette' consumpti'ion rate.
MIETHO©'S
For a period of efght weeks subjects smoked a different
experimental cigarette each week.- These cigarettes d'elivered'-
roughly 1.3, 1.8 and 2.2 mig of nicotine at each of three levels
of' tar (9. 7, 16.6, andi 19. 8 mg) . The re was no l ow..tar/'hi gh
.
n1cotiine ci'garette, however. Nicotinie and tar deli'lveries were
determinedlby the stai~dard machine-smokinigimethod employed
by the Federal Trade Commi ssi oni.
The experimental cigarettes were all modifications of a
standard fi 1 ter ti pped ci garette whi ch del i vered 19.8 mg tar
and 1.3 mg nicotine; these cigairettes were designed such that
in terms of parameters other than tar andi nicotine diel'ivery
they were as similar as possible. The order in which a subject
smoked the experimentall cigarettes was dieterminedi in a q,uasi-
random fashiion. At the start of the test, a subject was given
a set of wriitten instructions. At the start of each week he was.
given seven cigarette evaluation forms and cigarettes tollast
a week (at least a carton). The subject was free to smoke as-
many or as few ci garettes as he desi redl wi th the cons traint
that he woul d onily smoke thie ci g,arettes wi th whi ch he had been
provided. If he ran short of cigarettes diuring the week, his
supplly was replenished upon request.
Subjects were required to carefully keep track of their
smoki'ng behavior. Each day they evalluated the cfgarettes
whi ch they had been smoki ng that day, in terms of sub jectiive
acceptability. This evaluation was done by making checks on
~:. .
a
niine-point scale printed, on the evaluiation forms (see Appendix A).
This scale ran from "worst I ever smoked" to "the best I ever
smoked". ual!ues of 1 to 9 were assigned to the ratings. Thie
subject was also requi red to ind'icate on, his- evall uation form
the number of' ci garettes smoked that day. Every morning, except
Saturday and Sunday, each subj'ect deposi ted hiis eval uation formi
from the previous day in a receptacle proivfidedi for that purpose.
The eval uati on. forms for Saturday andl Sunday were turned in on
Monday morning.
At the end of the eight week testing periiod, there was a
score for each measure, i, e. , sub jectiive *acceptab,iil i ty and number
of ci garettes smoked', for each, day of the week for eaich of the
eight experimental cigarettes for each subject. Scores for the
low tar/high nicotine'condition were extrapolated from the othe r
scores.
Sub jects
Subjects were 34 males anid 15 femailes ranging, im age from
18 to 55. All were smokers whohad smoked continuously for at least
the last year and had smoked at least 3'0 cigarettes pier day.
They were paid for theiir participation.
Data Analysi's
The suimjective arceptabililty and' cigarette consumption rate
(niuimber of ci garettes smoked per day) data were analyzed by means
of separate three-way analyses of variance in whiich tar dlelivery,
nicotine delivery, and days of the week were treated as factors.
subjective acceptabillity were found as a function of tar,
nicotirne, and the tar X nicotinie iinteracti'on. None of the other
effects were si gni fi camt.
In this analysis, siignif'icant differences (p<.05) in
In Fi gure 1, cigarette acceptabi l iity at each of the three
levells of nicotine is shown plotted as a functiioni of tar deliivery.
Imspecti on of thii s fi gure reveal s that 1 ow ni coti ne, hi gh tar
resulted in greatest acceptaitiil i ty; whereas, at medilum and hi'gh
~
nicotilne, medium tar resul!ted in, greatest acceptabiTity. Low tar
resulted in least acceptability at all lieveTs of nicotine. At
al l levels of tar, low ni cotine resul ted' in greatest acceptabi l i ty
while high nicotine resulted in least acceptabili'lty.
RESULTS
Figure 1 about here.
Cigarette Consumption Rate Data
Stgnif'i'cant differences (p<.015), in cigarette consumption rate
(number of cigarettes smoked per day) were found to exist as a
function of' both the niicotine- and days of the week effect. None
of the other effects were si gniffi cant, however.
In Figure 2, ci'garette consumpiti'oni rate i's plotted as a
function of nicotine delivery while in Fiigure 3 it is plotted as a
function of the day of the week.
InspectTon of Fi gure 2 reveal s that as ni cotine diel ivery
increased ciigarette eonsumption decreased. From Rigure 3' tt can be
seen that rate of cilgairette consumption tended' to be somewhat higher
on weekends. ,
Figure 2 & 3 about here
DISCUSSION
A persistent belief among investigators and' laymen alike
is that smokers develiop a dalily nicotine intake quota; thus when
smoki ng ci garettes whi ch del iiver di fferen t amounts of ni coti ne,
than do those to wh1ch they are! accustome,dl they tend tomo~di fythiei!r cigarette consumption
rate ini order to maintain their
quloitas. Thiis investigation found some support for thi's belief.
It should be recalled, that the smokers in this i'nvesti-
g,ation ordlinarily smoked cigarettes with dielli'veriles roughly
equivalent to the high tar and low nicotine used'in thiis study.
Furthermore, the best selling cigarettes currently on the markett
also have deliveries comparable to the high tar aind' low nicotine
u s e d'.
Ci'ga.rette consumption rai±p,, i.e.'; number of cigarettes smoked
per day, was foundi to be influenced by ni'cotiine de1 i very leve1.
In parti cul ar, consuimpti on rate became iincreasi ngly smaillller as
ni'cotiine delivery_became inicreasingly higher than that to whi'lch
the smokers were accustomed. Thi's is conigiruent with the noti'on
of a daily niicotinie initake quota.
The effect of nicotine dellivery on subjective acceptability
of thie ci giarettes was straiightforward. Low, ni coti'ne resuTted in
highest acceptability whlile hilgh nicotine resulted in the lowest
acceptabi 1 i ty. The decl ine in both sub jecti've acceptaibiil i ty and
cigarette consumption rate wilthi increases iin nilcotine raises an,
iinteresting question. W'ere fewer cigarettes smoked because of
.r
theincrease ininicotine or because of the decrease in accepta-
biTi'ty which accompanied.the increase in nicotine? Two alternalte
but not excl usi,ve hypotheses can be formul ated' to expl ai'n the
observed relati'onship: '
1. Cigarette consumption rate is an inverse function, of
the avai'lable nicotine levell. (Nicotine Intake Quota
Hypothesis)'
2. Cigarette c
qnsumpti'on rate i's a direct function of
~
subjecti ve acceptabi 1 iity rati ng. (Acceptabi] i ty
Hypotrhes i s )'
Days, that is, day of the week also affected ciigarette con-
sumption rate wilth the smokers tending to smoke somewhat more
cigarettes on the weekend thain on weekdays. Tar deli'very level
was not found to influence cigarette consuimiption rate; thus no
evi'dence was foundi to support the notion of a daily "tar intake
quota" . Although thle present data provide support for the hypo-
thesis of a nicotine iintake quota, they also prov'ide support
for an equally plausible hypothesis (the acceptability hypo-
thes i s). Therefore, one shoul d be very cauti ous in gieneral'i zi ng
from this data.
REFERENCES
Fi rth, C. Di. The effect of varying the niicotiine content of
ci'gairettes on human smokiing behavi or. Psychopharmacol oigi a
(Berlie), 1970, 19, 18'8-192.
G'ol!dfarb, T. L., Jarviik, M. E.,& G1 i ck, S. D. Cigarette
nicotine content as a determinanit of humain smoking,
behavior. Psychopharmacol ogi'a (Berl.), 1970, 17, 891-93.
Jarvi'k, MI. E.,, Gli ck, S. D., and Nakamiural, R. K. Inhi bi'ti on
of cigarette smoking by orally aidmin~istered nicoti'ne.
Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 1970, 11 (4),
574-576.
Luc.chiesi, B. R'., Schuster, C. R'., and Emley, G. S. The role of'
ni'cotilne as a determinant of cigarette smoking frequency
i'n man with observations of certain cardh'ovascullar effects
associlated wiith the tobacco allkaloiid. Clinical PharmacoTogy
and Therapeutics, 1967, 8 (6), 78!9-796.
Neuberger, M. B. Smoke Screen: Tobacco anid thie Pubil i'c W'el fare.
Eniglewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hal1i, Inc., 1963..
