A Hail Mary toss of proposed tobacco regulation from the outgoing administration has the potential to make smoking nearly or totally nonaddictive, experts say.
So this is already a known thing the tobacco companies use
They gradually make their cigarettes stronger, over the course of a couple years. During this time smokers will tend to stick with their habits instead of reducing the number of cigs they smoke. Thus, they gradually build higher tolerance.
Then, companies gradually reduce their nicotine levels, again over a couple years. During this time, smokers tend to increase their consumption to maintain the nicotine level they’re used to, because otherwise they start getting mild withdrawal symptoms.
Then, once they’ve formed a new habit of smoking more often, the cycle repeats, thus getting them used to ever higher and higher levels.
Notice it doesn’t really matter where the nicotine cap is placed. What we actually need is for the nicotine content to be listed on the box. Companies then wouldn’t be able to get away with reducing it because people would see that their cigarettes are weaker
Tips are the top, trash is the bottom. Cigs are mostly trash (low nicotine) with some mids (average nicotine).
Now, there’s an absolute shit ton of processing before it gets to consumer, but just fucking with that ratio changes the nicotine level. But it’s not like any company is doing that nationally.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more than normal variation.
But that’s why it’s so hard to mark the nicotine level, and why this hypothetical legislation would be hard to implement.
Like, I didn’t get into all that because not everyone grew up on a tobacco farm, but there’s just a lot wrong with this which is why I wrote it off as a feel-good idea that will never materialize.
Edit:
Or maybe they have intentionally manipulated nicotine levels…
So this is already a known thing the tobacco companies use
They gradually make their cigarettes stronger, over the course of a couple years. During this time smokers will tend to stick with their habits instead of reducing the number of cigs they smoke. Thus, they gradually build higher tolerance.
Then, companies gradually reduce their nicotine levels, again over a couple years. During this time, smokers tend to increase their consumption to maintain the nicotine level they’re used to, because otherwise they start getting mild withdrawal symptoms.
Then, once they’ve formed a new habit of smoking more often, the cycle repeats, thus getting them used to ever higher and higher levels.
Notice it doesn’t really matter where the nicotine cap is placed. What we actually need is for the nicotine content to be listed on the box. Companies then wouldn’t be able to get away with reducing it because people would see that their cigarettes are weaker
There’s lots of tricks to use.
There’s three grades of tobacco:
Tips
Mids
Trash
Tips are the top, trash is the bottom. Cigs are mostly trash (low nicotine) with some mids (average nicotine).
Now, there’s an absolute shit ton of processing before it gets to consumer, but just fucking with that ratio changes the nicotine level. But it’s not like any company is doing that nationally.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more than normal variation.
But that’s why it’s so hard to mark the nicotine level, and why this hypothetical legislation would be hard to implement.
Like, I didn’t get into all that because not everyone grew up on a tobacco farm, but there’s just a lot wrong with this which is why I wrote it off as a feel-good idea that will never materialize.
Edit:
Or maybe they have intentionally manipulated nicotine levels…
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/other-tobacco-products/low-nicotine-cigarettes.html