The Secret and Soul of Marlboro

Phillip Morris and the Origins, Spread, and Denial of Nicotine Freebasing

Bibliographic Data

ID11032883
AuthorsTerrell Stevenson (Terrell Stevenson is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Robert N. Proctor is with the Department of History, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.), Robert N Proctor (0000-0002-8910-5647, Terrell Stevenson is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Robert N. Proctor is with the Department of History, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.)
Year2008
Volume98
Issue7
Pages1184-1194
Publication date2008-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2007.121657
PMID18511721
PMCIDPMC2424107
OpenAlexW1965464025
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited6

Philip Morris and other tobacco companies have been using ammonia in their manufacturing for more than half a century, and for a variety of purposes: to highlight certain flavors, to expand or “puff up” the volume of tobacco, to prepare reconstituted tobacco sheet (“recon”), to denicotinize (reduce the amount of nicotine in) tobacco, and to remove carcinogens. By the early 1960s, however, Philip Morris had also begun using ammonia to “freebase” the nicotine in cigarette smoke, creating low-yield (reduced-tar or -nicotine) cigarettes that still had the nicotine kick necessary to keep customers “satisfied” (i.e., addicted). We show that Philip Morris discovered the virtues of freebasing while analyzing the impact of the ammoniated recon used in Marlboro cigarettes. We also show how Marlboro’s commercial success catalyzed efforts by the rest of the tobacco industry to discover its “secret,” eventually identified as ammonia technology, and how Philip Morris later exploited the myriad uses of ammonia (e.g., for flavoring and expanding tobacco volume) to defend itself against charges of manipulating the nicotine deliveries of its cigarettes

Business · Cigarette smoke · Environmental health · Nicotine · Political science · Psychiatry · Secondhand smoke · tar (computing) · Tobacco industry · Tobacco smoke · Yield (engineering) · Computer Science · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Law · Materials Science · Medicine · Smoking Behavior and Cessation · Wine Industry and Tourism

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