Tobacco companies provided a clear picture of their profit-making conscience in their efforts over the years to hook women on smoking.

And, that conscience is not something they can brag about.

A report by Harvard University researchers who examined more than 7 million documents made public following the 1998 settlement between tobacco companies and 46 states reveals numerous ideas concocted by tobacco executives to bring more women aboard the smoking bandwagon.

One idea floated was to make a longer, slimmer cigarette that offered the false promise of a "healthier" product. Other internal studies by the companies were focused on adding appetite suppressants to cigarettes.

In 1980, R.J. Reynolds Co. considered creating a cigarette with a "unique flavor that decreases a smoker's appetite, including brandy, chocolate, chocolate mint, cinnamon, spearmint and honey."

The basis for such ideas was to give women the illusion that they could puff their way into a better life. Meanwhile, a 1982 report from British-American Tobacco Co. said women buy cigarettes to help them "cope with neuroticism."

Carrie Carpenter, the study's lead author, said, "Women should know how far the tobacco industry went to exploit them."

Carpenter said the research found 320 documents that focused on women's smoking patterns.

This evidence of how much tobacco companies truly "care" about their customers should provide a big incentive for women - and men - who want to kick the smoking habit but have had difficulty doing so.