Since, I think, about 1913 (introduction of "Camel brand")practically all modern cigarettes have contained various pain-numbing or cough-suppressant drugs to fool children into believing tobacco is less dangerous than, say, cannabis. ("And they are mild!"-- Pall Mall, 1940's)

Richard Hurt's claim that clove cigarettes are more dangerous than other cigarettes is not based upon scientific evidence. Rather, he's grandstanding and fear mongering, and unwittingly duping the public to believe that the FDA has now made cigarettes less hazardous. As the one who successfully urged Senator Mike Enzi to offer the clove cigarette ban amendment to the FDA tobacco legislation in 2007, I'm appalled that anti tobacco extremists are using this as an opportunity to misinform the public.

What courage and scientific integrity Mr. Hurt must have to take such a bold stand on an issue that no longer matters since the product is now illegal.

In the mid-70s I read a report in U.S. News & World Report. In it were listed every brand of cigarette sold in the U.S. in the order of danger or harm done by each. Kool 100s & Marlboro 100s topped the list, followed by Kool & Marlboro regular length. At the very bottom of the list - just above the Doral, and other light cigarettes were all the non-filter brands (i.e. Camel, Winston, Pall Mall, Lucky Strike etc.). Hmmmm? I wondered why the filtered cigarettes were worse wasn't the filter introduced to protect smokers. I never got an answer to that, but I learned from another article in that magazine or another - at around the same time - that U.S. cigarettes were the most dangerous in the world due to U.S. tobacco companies use of chemical fertilizers that contain a radioactive isotope - with a half-life of over 100 years! - that was imparted to the tobacco leaves PERMANENTLY (ergo entering the lungs/bodies of those who smoked them). And THIS was a (or THE) primary cause of most cancer cases in smokers - NOT the tobacco. Due to the fact that producers of clove cigarette do NOT use chemical fertilizers (radioactive or not), as well as no saltpeter (a burning agent) to keep them burning when not being smoked, CLOVE CIGARETTES POSE MUCH LESS HEALTH RISK THAN ANY BRAND OF US CIGARETTES!!!