Tobacco Documents Online

One's '"revelation" of its "secret" "could: ~hange the tobacco industry forever" by. bringing upom the industry draconian regulatory or congressional action. 17. Defendants' accusations thet Philip, Morris "spikes" its tobacco during the manu,facturing process is entirely false. Philip Morri, s does not d~ that a~d, upon informstion and belief, neither do the other American cigarette manufacturers. 18. As set forth above, Day One on its programs re~erred to the process involved ~n creating reconstituted tobacco, the adding of tobacco extract, and the use of denatured alcohol as supposedly being ~mplicated in the "spiking" of cigarettes with nicotine: (a.) The productiom of reconstituted tobacco -- This process, which ~as been used th.roughout the cigarette manufacturing industry since World War II, involves the. utilization of the stem, portion o~ the tobacco, leaf as we~l as small pieces of the leaf itself broken off during the ste~uming process ~ create tobacco sheets. (The stem portion of the tobacco lea~ contains far less nicotine than the leaf materia~ itself -- approximately __% as much.) In order to p~ess these tobacco materials into sheets, it is -11-

necessary, first to extract from the tobacco materials solubles, ~ncluding nicotine, which would otherwise interfere with the sheet-making process. Th~s is accomplished by adding large quantities of water in order to. dissolve these solubles and separate them from the stem and lea£ materials. The stem and leaf materials, are then pulped and, using standard paper-making process, mil~ed out as sheets. At this point the solub~es (less potassium nitrate which has been removed, and plu~ certain f~avors no__t containi, ng any nicotine which have been added) are recombined with the sheets. This process is an entirely closed one: no nicotine whatsoever not found ~n the original material is ~ntroduced in the production of the reconstituted tobacco sheets. I~deed, the reconstituted tobacco~ shee~s contain approximately __%. less nicotin~ ~han the stem and ~eaf fragments which are used in the process because substantia~l nicotine is lost in the process and is not replaced. Upon emerging from the presses, ~he s~eets are chopped into small pieces and tra~nsported to the cigarette manufacturing plant to be blended with natural tobacco leaves in the production of -12-

cigarettes. Because, as set forth above, stems naturally contain only approximately __% of the nicotine contained in the lea~ port,on of the tobacco plant, and because, as further set forth above, substantia~ nicotine is lost in the reconstitution process, reconstituted tobacco sheets contain far less nicotine than natural tobacco leaf and the use of such reconstituted' tobacco sheet in. the ultimate tobacco blend serves sign.ificantly to lower the nicotine content o6 cigarettes. And contrary to Day One's claim, no "powerfu~l extract containing nicotine and flavor" or any other nicotine substance is added in the process. Nor is there anything at all "secret" about the reconstitution, process: it has long been widely used: in the industry and~ widely written, abou~ in the literature, [including in the Surgeon General's Report in __]. (, b.) Tobacco extract -- During the course of the c~garette manufacturing process, a. number of ~lavors are sprayed: onto the cut tobacco -- which consists of a blend of predominantly nataral leaf with some reconstituted ~obacco mixed in. The particular flavors used are -13-

(c) 4istinc~ive for each cigarette brand. Prior to the end: of 1993, with ~espect to a single flomes~ic brand only -- Merit Ultra, a 10%4- nicotine brand contain.ing __ mg nicotine per cigarette -- one such flavor used by Philip Morris was tobacco extract. The addition of tobacco extract flavoring to Meri~ Ultras resulted in an infin.itesimal increase in the amount of nicotine otherwise nat~.rally in the tobacco. Tobacco extract is not "nicotine rich". To the contrary, it contains, only [2.5] pare per million of nicotine or less than 1/3,000 o£ a percent by weight of the toDacco blend (cigarette tobacco blends contain 2 to 3% nicotine by weight). Philip Morri, s no longer uses any tobacco, extract ~n any of its domestic brands. And as before, t~e fact that ciqerett~ compa.nies have used tobacco extract during the manufacturing process of cigarettes has long been a matter of public record; it is no secret at all. Denetured Alcohol -- Certain flavors that are not soluble in water must be dissolved in alcohol in order to be sprayed onto the cut tobacco blend; during the cigarette manufact~[ing

process. Because pure alcohol is subject to stringent and cumbersome regulations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Philip Morris ~and, upon information and belief, t~e other ~merican tobacco companies)i use alcohol which has beem d~natured w.ith minute amounts of nicotine to render it undrinkable. Such denatu.red alcohol ~s purchased by Philip. Morris from outside suppliers. The amount of nicotine contained in such denatured alcohol ~s minute -- on the order of i__l ~ per mill~on, or less than i/I,000 of a percent by weight of the tobacco blend. The flavors that are then dissolved in this denatured alcohol themselves contain n_Ro nicotine. The amount of additional nicotine ~hat resu~s from the spraying of the alcohol-dissolved flavors on the blended tobacco ~s again infinitesimal. A~d once again, there is nothing "secret" ~ere. It has long been a matter of public record that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has approved t~e use of nicotine i,n denatured alcoho~ for this purpose, see 27 Code of Federal Regulations § 2'~.38, and indeed, alcohol denatured with nicotine is the only form, -15-

of denatured alcohol approved by the federal government ~or use in the manufacture o~ cigarettes. 19. Thus, except for the [minute] [tra~e] amounts of nicotine involved in the processes described in Paragraph 15(c) above, Philip Morris adds no n~cotine whatsoever ~n, the process of manufacturing cigarettes. Indeed, between the arriva.l ef tobacco at p~aint~ff's plants and its departure from the plant as packaged cigarettes, there is a very substantia~ los~s in the percentage of nicotine in the tobacco. ~n addition, ~pon in~ormatien an~ belief, no other A~erican tobacco company adds any extraneous n~icot~ne ~uring the manufacturing processes described above except for the [minute] [trace] amounts of nicotine as described above in paragraph 15(b). and ~5(c). By no. stretch o~ the imagination do these processes involve the "artificial spiking" o~ cigarettes w~th nicotine "to keep people smoking". 20. The false a:sd defamatory statements contained~ i~ Day One's broadcasts were made knowingly, recklessly, and with malice. Among other things, defendants first published, and then ~ep~blis~ed these de~ama~ory accusations ~otwithstanding having, been expressly advised by members, of the tobacco industry incllu~ing Phil, ip Morris, of their falsity. ' -16-

21. These false and defamatory statements were broadcast and publishedl in and into the Commonwealth of Virginia and throughout the United States on. the ABC Telev.~sion Network, inc~uding~ being broa4cast on [£he ABe-owned station in Raleigh-Durham~ North Carolina and] the ABC affiliates in Richmond, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Other ABC publications o.~ defamatory statements 22. On February 25, 1994~, on the ABC-TV program World News Tonight, [aired from 6:30 - 7:00 p.m~. (EST).,] anchor Peter Jenning~ previewed Day One's ~alse and: defamatory purperted expose and promised viewers "a good deal more" "this Monday evening". Jennings introduced John. Martin, the ~eatured reporter on the February 28 and March 7 Day One programs: Peter ~ennings: The U.S. government is considering a major frontal assault on the tobacco industry. ~he commissioner of the Food~ and ~rug A~m~inistration sa~d today that he is looking~ into whether cigarettes might be regulate4 as an addictive ~rug. Here is what's changed. There is now evidence that cigarette manufacturers carefully manipulate the nicotine conten~ of their product to assure each cigarette packs a certa~n punch. T~e evidence has been uncovered by John Martin, who's been investigating the story for the ABC news program Day One. John Martin: The i~nvestigation found that tobacco compan.ies are adding to cigarettes, waste products fortified with an extract that contains nicotine. As a resalt, the companies are able to. manipulate ~he nicotine levels in cigarettes. The Surgeon general has determined tha~ nicotine is a highly addictive drug. A former R.J. Reyno3ds manager, who requested. anonymity, exp.lained why the companies con~ro~ the amount of n.icotine in~ cigarettes.

R.J. Reynolds Manager (Unident~fied)~: They put nicotine in the form of tobacco extract, into the produc£ to keep the consumer happy. Martin: They're fortifying the product wi, th. nicotine, is that correct? RJR Manager: The waste filler: Yes, they are. (.Emphasis added.). 23. On Februa:ry 25, 1994~, on, the ABC-TV program "20/2'0", aired ~rom I0::00 - II:00 p.m,. (EST)., co-hos~ Hugh Downs i~troduced Forrest Sawyer, the host of Day One: Forrest Sawyer: You'll be surprised when you lea~rn wha.t tobacco companies are doing with. the nicotine in your ciga~rette. Representative Mike Synar (Democrat, Oklahoma): They can doctor it, they can alter it, and they can literally j~eopardize the health of the American public withou~ having any consequence. Forrest Sawyer: A "Day One" investigation Monday. Downs: '"Day One" Mondays at eight. (Emphasis added.) 24.. On February 28, 1994, the ABC-TV program World News Tonight, aired from 6:30 - 7:00 p.m,. (EST), was once again the vehicle for attracting an audience to that evening's Day One prog:ram. Jennings introduced John Martin.: John Mart~n: The "Day One" investigation shews tobacco companies manipulate nicotine, strongly suggesting they want smokers to get the drug in controlled dDses. The FDA said Fr~da~ this may be just the evidence it needs to regulate cigarettes. On Wall Street today, four major tobacco company -18-

s~ocks a~l Lost value. RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris were the two most heavily traded stocks o~ all those bought and sold. (Emphasis added.) 25. On March 9, 1994, on the ABC-TV program "Nightline", hosted~ by Ted Koppel from 11:30 p.m. to 12:08 a.m. (EST), additiona~l false and: defamatory statements were made and endorsed by defendants as follows: ~a) Bury: An investiqation by the ABC News Broadcast Day One found that ciqarette compani, es carefully control the amount of nicotine in their ciqarettes, by addinq precise amounts of tobacco extract which contains nicotine. (b) Un.identified Former RJR Manager: They put nicotine in the ~orm of tobacco extract into a product to keep the consuger happy. (.c) cliff Douglas (~American Cancer Society): Th__~e public doesn't know that the industry manipulates nicotine -- it takes out, puts it back in, uses it as. if it were suqar beinq pu~ in candy. ~d) Ted Koppel: Our sister-program, Day One a couple days ago, did a report on the tobacco, industry and the revelation of that proqram -- and that is that you folks have actually been add~nq nicotine to the product, to the tobacco as a means of causinq people ~o become more add~icted to the product. (e) Matthew Myers ~Coalition on Smoking or Health): The recent ABC Da~ One ~eport revealed substantial new information, that, combimed wit~ FDA's own invest~qation, has brouqh£ the who}e issue into a new. focus. We now know that the tobacco industry consciously man,ipulates the level of nicotine in tobacco products to insure that they're addictive. (.f) Bury: The revelation that ciqarette companies manipulate the nicotine in their products has led FDA Commissioner Kessler to conclude t~at cigarette -19-

manu,fac~urers may in£ead that their products contain ni, cotine to saZisfy an addiction, on the part of some of their customers. (Emphasis added.) 26. The statements detailed ~n Paragraphs 22 through 25 were false and: 4efamatory; were of and concerning plaintiffs; were intended: to be understood to mean and were understood to mean tha~ during the manufacturing process. Philip Morris and other cigarette manufacturers spike their cigarettes by adding, signfficant and extraneous nicot£ne to their product, and that the magnitude and seriousness of this offense was such that Day One's "revelation" of its "secret" wou~d be "just the evidence [the FDA] needs to regulate cigarettes" and wou~id subject the ~ndustry to draconian regulatory or congressional action. 27. These false and defamatory statements were made ~nowi~g~y, recklessly and with me~ice. Among other th.ings, defendants published and republished t~ese statements notwithsta.mdiRg having been expressly advised by members of the tobacco industry, ~ncluding Philip Morris, of their falsity. 28. These false and defamatory statements were broadcast and pub~i~shed in and into the Commonwealth. ~f Virginia and throughout the United States on the ABC Television ~etwork, including being broadcast on, [~he ABC-owned station in -20~