ADDICTION

[25] Of all the diseases associated with smoking, addiction is perhaps the one that receives the least attention. But President Clinton declared nicotine an addictive drug last August. In March, the Liggett Group, makers of Chesterfield and Lark brand cigarettes, admitted that cigarettes were addictive and cause cancer and agreed to pay about $750 million total to 22 states that had filed suit to force tobacco companies to pay for Medicaid for smoking-related illnesses.

[26] Scott Harshbarger, the Massachusetts attorney general and president of the National Association of Attorneys General, told reporters that the Liggett deal "will produce information that indicates major tobacco companies were fully aware that the product they were selling is addictive, that the product they were selling had great impact on public health".

[27] Other tobacco companies are clearly none too keen on the Liggett deal. For them, nicotine remains what they call a harmless flavor enhancement.

烟瘾

[25]在所有和吸烟有关的疾病中，也许人们最容易忽略的就是吸烟上瘾。然而，去年8月，克林顿总统宣布尼古丁为使人上瘾的麻醉药物。今年（指2000--编者注）3月，生产切斯特菲尔德和云雀牌香烟的利格特集团承认吸烟使人上瘾并会引发癌症，并且同意向22个州支付总额为7．5亿美元的赔偿金，这22个州提起了诉讼，要求烟草公司向治疗与吸烟有关的疾病的医疗补助制度进行赔偿。

[26]马萨诸塞州首席检察官、全美首席检察官协会会长斯哥特·哈什伯杰对记者说，对利格特集团的处理“将带来这样一个信息，那就是，大烟草公司充分意识到了他们出售的产品会使人上瘾，他们出售的产品对大众的健康影响极大”。

[27]很显然，其他烟草公司中没有一家对利格特集团的处理感兴趣。对他们来说，尼古丁仍然是他们所称的无害的提味剂。