eli5: if cigarettes contain so many bad chemicals, then can’t we just take them out?

Question

my biology textbook says that there are over 60 carcinogens in cigarettes that cause cancer, but can’t we take them out? aren’t people just addicted to the nicotine? couldn’t we just put nicotine and some sort of smoke producing substance that isn’t a carcinogen and leave it at that

Edit: Thank you for the answers, everyone!

In: 43

Answer 1

Some of the things they add to cigarettes make the smoking experience better, which is important when you’re competing with dozens of other brands. Some chemicals make the smoke less harsh, others make the tobacco burn more evenly, etc.