Landmark Proposal: FDA Wants Big Tobacco to Lower Nicotine Levels in Cigarettes

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced a first-of-its-kind proposed rule which would require the tobacco industry to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes.

“By reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes and certain other combustible tobacco products, the FDA would take a major step to protect public health from an industry whose addictive products kill nearly half a million people in this country every year. The proposal outlines a plan to reduce the addictiveness of the deadliest consumer products on the market. Lowering nicotine levels will help millions of people quit smoking and prevent countless others from becoming addicted, sparing families nationwide from the devastating consequences of tobacco-related illnesses and death,” commented Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association (AHA) in a press release.

Cigarettes contain more than 7,000 chemical components, and have been linked to heart disease and cancer. Overall, smoking has led to addiction and death in millions of people over decades.

“This proposed action would be one of the most significant in FDA history to curb tobacco use. According to the FDA’s estimates, reducing nicotine levels to minimally addictive or non-addictive levels in cigarettes could prompt 12.9 million people to quit smoking within the first year and 19.5 million to quit within five years. It could also prevent more than 48 million youth and young adults from becoming regular smokers and save 4.3 million lives by the end of this century,” said Brown.

Brown added that, “We look forward to reviewing and providing feedback on FDA’s proposal, including expanding the rule to include all combustible tobacco products. We will continue to work closely with the agency toward the goal of making this policy a reality, despite certain opposition from the tobacco industry and its allies, who don’t want anything to slow the sale of these addictive and deadly products.”