HOODWINKED BY TOBACCO

HOODWINK: Pronunciation: 'hud-"wi[ng]k: To take in by deceptive means; to cause to accept what is false, especially by trickery or misrepresentation; to betray, deceive, dupe, fool; to conceal one's true motives by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end.

The SECOND HOODWINK AWARD goes to the TOBACCO COMPANIES who have been adding nicotine to cigarettes in increasing amounts to cause smokers to smoke more.

Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on the planet. According to information published by the University of Minnesota, nicotine’s affect on the body is ounce for ounce, 1000 times greater than alcohol, at least 10 times greater than barbiturates, and 5-10 times more potent than even cocaine or morphine. There are a lot of substances and chemical compounds in a burning cigarette that cause cancer, heart disease, and lung disease, but there is only one ingredient that keeps a smoker coming back for more: NICOTINE.

A study released last month by the Harvard School of Public Health found that major cigarette manufacturers increased their nicotine content by 11% in the most popular brands of cigarettes during the past few years. Yet no one seems to protest. To this day, lawmakers from throughout the country have turned away from addressing this issue head-on. The tobacco companies know they have the political muscle in Congress and state legislatures to keep manufacturing cigarettes as they please – so long as they can afford the attorney fees, the lobbyists, and the multi-million dollar judgments occasionally awarded to plaintiffs. They know that they have the money to grossly outspend states like New Mexico in their battle to get people hooked on cigarettes and making it next to impossible for those heavy smokers to stop. They need to add nicotine to make sure their expenditures are more efficient and effective.

Congress has never had the stomach or courage to break ties with the Tobacco Lobby and pass legislation to grant the Food and Drug Administration authority over tobacco products. That is my impetus for introducing Senate Bill 166 this year in the New Mexico Legislature, requiring that by 2010 any cigarette sold in our state have only a non-addictive level of nicotine incapable of grabbing hold of a new generation of users. Clearly the tobacco companies are already in the business of controlling and increasing nicotine levels, so it seems only commonsense to require that they lower, rather than increase, this addictive component of cigarettes. Coupled with an effective quit program for current smokers, I believe this is the best, if not the only way, to put an end to tobacco addiction short of banning cigarette use altogether.

Of course, Senate Bill 166 has also been opposed by the Tobacco Lobby, with their arguments of our state losing tax revenue from the sale of cigarettes and the loss of some jobs of those that manufacture cigarettes in our state. They need to increase the sale of cigarettes to individuals who are hooked or soon to be hooked to make up for those who have quit or refuse to start. Their arguments have even convinced legislators to oppose this bill with opinions that it is an anti-business bill or in the words of a doctor/legislator, “passing this bill to stop cigarette addiction, is like banning intercourse to stop teen pregnancies.” It is this sort of opposition that continues to hoodwink the public into thinking that there must be a good reason for elected officials to oppose decreasing the amount of nicotine added to cigarettes.

The reality is that cigarettes currently cause one out of every five deaths in the United States. Medicaid throws away at least 15% of its annual budget annually on smoking-related disease. Social Security pays $2.6 billion annually for the 300,000 kids who lost a parent prematurely to tobacco. Businesses bear the cost of tobacco-related illness with lost productivity, higher insurance premiums and costly claims – according to the Center for Disease Control, resulting in a $3,391 price tag on each employee who smokes. It has been proven that smoking produces low birth weights in newborns as well as providing an unhealthy environment for the fetus. Suffering and misery follow the addiction of smokers.

Lives and a whole lot of money are at stake here, but each year, a new crop of soon-to-be life-long tobacco users start to crave a second cigarette – 900,000 newly addicted smokers each year in the U.S. to be exact. It’s time to break the cycle. Our kids and the citizens of our State deserve a fighting chance.

SENATOR JOSEPH J. CARRARO
MEMBER OF THE TOBACCO SETTLEMENT COMMITTEE

Contact:: Senator Joseph J. Carraro; 505-898-9369; joecarraro@aol.com