Nicotine increasing in cigarettes

BOSTON - Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say they have confirmed a study by the state that found nicotine levels in cigarettes increased from 1997 until 2005.

The analysis, based on data submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health by cigarette manufacturers, found that increases in smoke nicotine yield per cigarette averaged 1.6 percent each year, for a total of about 11 percent over a seven-year period.

“Cigarettes are finely tuned drug delivery devices, designed to perpetuate a tobacco pandemic,” said Howard Koh, an associate dean for public health practice who worked on the analysis. “Yet precise information about these products remains shrouded in secrecy, hidden from the public.”