NICOTINE AND ADDICTION - THE BROWN-AND-WILLIAMSON DOCUMENTS

Objective.-To learn how nicotine has been regarded by a major tobacco company.Data Sources.-Documents from Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp oration (B&W), the British American Tobacco Company (BAT), and other t obacco interests provided by an anonymous source, obtained from Congre ss, and received from the private papers of a former BAT officer. Stud y Selection.-All available materials, including confidential reports r egarding research and internal memoranda exchanged between tobacco ind ustry lawyers. Conclusions.-During a period of 22 years (1962 to 1984) , employees of B&W and BAT conducted research and commented on the pha rmacology of nicotine. They consistently regarded nicotine as the phar macological agent that explained tobacco use, In the early part of the period under study, officials of the companies wrote about nicotine a ddiction explicitly. Inhalation of cigarette smoke by the consumer was recognized throughout the period as necessary for the normal function of a cigarette. The documents contain little indication that research was conducted on either the taste or the flavor of nicotine, The docu ments reveal an intention on the part of B&W and its corporate parent to affect the function of the body with nicotine.