ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 9, 1995 TAG: 9512110074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
A major cigarette maker concedes in an internal report that nicotine is chemically similar to cocaine and people smoke primarily to get the substance into their bodies, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The 15-page Philip Morris draft report likens nicotine to a drug in both its composition and effects on the brain, the newspaper said.
In calling nicotine a ``similar, organic chemical'' to such drugs as cocaine, morphine, quinine and atropine, the document states that ``while each of these substances can be used to affect human physiology, nicotine has a particularly broad range of influence.''
Steven Parrish, Philip Morris' top spokesman, told the newspaper that the document was written by a non-scientist and does not reflect the views of the company on nicotine or smoking.
The confidential internal report, which was undated, proposed a safer cigarette with the code name ``Table,'' the paper said. The newspaper quoted an unidentified company spokesman as saying that a task force working on Project Table disbanded in late 1992 after making a presentation to senior management.
The role of nicotine is central to attacks on the tobacco industry by federal regulators and states and individuals bringing lawsuits. Plaintiffs' attorneys and four state governments have filed lawsuits alleging tobacco companies have known for years that smoking is addictive but have hidden the information from the public.
The Food and Drug Administration also is trying to regulate cigarettes as drugs, arguing that cigarettes' main function is to supply nicotine to smokers. Government scientists have said nicotine is the addictive component in cigarettes, a claim that the tobacco industry rejects.
``This is one more example of what tobacco industry officials knew and said about nicotine before we did,'' FDA Commissioner David Kessler said in response to the newspaper's report.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB