They have also accused the tobacco industry of misleading the public by claiming low tar and light cigarettes are safer than they actually are.

The British Medical Association (BMA) and anti-smoking group ASH say reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes could stop a generation of adolescents becoming hooked on tobacco.

Their call comes as the government prepares to publish its long-awaited White Paper on tobacco.

Sir Alexander Macara, former chairman of the BMA council, said: "We are talking about a dramatic reduction in nicotine levels - far below the levels in so-called 'light' and 'mild' brands.

"Nicotine would be eliminated or reduced to non-addictive levels so that compensatory smoking would not occur.

"This change in cigarettes will help smokers break the habit by cutting their exposure to one of the most addictive poisons known to humanity."

Sir Alexander was speaking at a press conference held with the American Medical Association and ASH.

Additives

A report by the AMA, to be published by the British Medical Journal's Tobacco Control journal, calls for more accurate labelling of nicotine levels in tobacco products, more research into less addictive cigarettes and the reduction of nicotine levels over the next 10 years.

It claims manufacturers are putting additives like chocolate and menthol in their products.

It says the tobacco industry says these are innocent additives. But Cliff Douglas, a leading anti-tobacco lawyer in the US, says burned chocolate and cocoa produce theobromine which helps open the airways and menthol numbs the throat, easing inhalation of nicotine.

Smokers may be inhaling many additives with their smoke, claim medical experts

The BMA was one of a collection of anti-smoking organisations who wrote to public health minister Tessa Jowell expressing concern about additives in cigarettes and nicotine levels and calling for greater regulation of the tobacco industry by the UK government and the European Commission.

The Cancer Research Campaign, the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, British Heart Foundation, lobby group Action on Smoking, the Health Education Authority and the British Medical Association claim that legally manufacturers can add over 600 additives to their products.

They say that on their own the additives are not sinister, but that they cause other effects which add to the addictiveness and attraction of smoking.

For example, they claim sugar is being added to some brands to make them more attractive to children.

'Grossly misleading'

They also claim that the tobacco industry is 'grossly misleading' the public over low tar and light cigarettes by making them seem much safer than they are.

The organisations say that, despite public perceptions, low tar and light cigarettes often have similar levels of nicotine to normal cigarettes.

They believe the difference between the two types is mainly due to filter ventilation.

Moreover, they say current ways of measuring tar and nicotine levels ignore the fact that toxicity and cancer-causing levels vary with different brands of cigarettes and have increased over time.

"The published numbers, particularly for lower yielding brands, may be greatly understating tar exposure.

"We are concerned that consumers are being grossly misled and that smokers who may otherwise have given up smoking may be switching to these brands instead," said the organisations.

And they say many smokers who use low tar brands are actually compensating by having more cigarettes.

They say there is no evidence that low tar cigarettes are significantly less harmful than normal cigarettes.

Hypocrisy

Pro-smoking lobby group Forest accused anti-smoking groups of hypocrisy, saying they were calling for a ban on cigarette advertising but also wanted more information to be given about their products.

"Advertisements is one way of giving people information," said a spokesman. "Anti-smokers often want things both ways."

He added that the views about additives and low tar cigarettes were not new.

"They assume that the adult consumer is somehow ignorant and unaware of the product they are consuming. It is extremely patronising," he said.

And he claimed the tide was turning against the anti-smoking lobby because the public thought it was going too far.