by David A. Kessler

About the author: David A. Kessler is the commissioner of food and drugs for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the government agency that conducts research and develops standards on the safety of food, drugs, and health- related products.

Editor’s note: The following was excerpted from testimony delivered before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health and the Environment on June 21, 1994.

In my last appearance before this subcommittee on March 25, 1994,... I reviewed the evidence that supports the scientific consensus that nicotine is addictive. I also reviewed the evidence we had at that time on the ability of the tobacco industry to control nicotine levels, including numerous industry patents for technologies to manipulate and control nicotine content. I described activities...