Healthier Tobacco?

I was reading about the recovery of tobacco farming in the U.S. Apparently tobacco acreage in the U.S. has increased 20% since 2005 due to increased tobacco exports.

This got me to wondering - why don't we have a healthier cigarette? Current tobacco smoke is loaded with carcinogens, many of which are "formed from natural components of the plant." Why haven't less carcinogenic tobacco plants been developed?

After looking on the web it seems efforts have been made but progress has been difficult. It actually seems like some progress was made (see XA project) using a catalyst to make the cigarette burn cleaner, but it was difficult to bring to market because the new healthier cigarette might open up the industry to more legal and regulatory scrutiny, and competitors might retaliate.

At the end of the PBS Nova article from above it's also mentioned that "Brown & Williamson and RJR are developing cigarettes that use a special tobacco with lower nitrosamine content. The tobacco is cured with a special process that inhibits the formation of nitrosamines." ... So I guess things are moving that direction after all.

Maybe one day we'll be able to eat a meal of fat free french fries and pizza, drink a sugar free coke, and when we're done light up a cancer free cigarette.