The goal is to keep nicotine to non-addictive levels
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a new rule to limit the addictiveness of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The agency plans to lower the amount of nicotine in these products, ultimately helping curb consumers habits and prioritize their health. With the ruling, the FDA hopes that smokers looking to quit will have an easier time, and non-smokers wont be tempted to start.
Multiple administrations have acknowledged the immense opportunity that a proposal of this kind offers to address the burden of tobacco-related disease, said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D.
Todays proposal envisions a future where it would be less likely for young people to use cigarettes and more individuals who currently smoke could quit or switch to less harmful products. This action, if finalized, could save many lives and dramatically reduce the burden of severe illness and disability, while also saving huge amounts of money. I hope we can all agree that significantly reducing the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S. is an admirable goal we should all work toward.
What this would mean
The FDA explained in its proposal that nicotine wont be banned under the ruling. Instead, any tobacco-based products sold in the U.S. would be made with significantly less nicotine than is currently being used.
Under the rule, tobacco products would be capped at 0.7 mg of nicotine. By comparison, most standard cigarettes currently contain an average of 10-12 mg of nicotine.
Here are the products that would be affected by the ruling:
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Cigarettes
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Cigars little cigars, cigarillos, and most large cigars
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Roll-your-own tobacco
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Pipe tobacco
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Cigarette tobacco
Here are the products that would not be affected by the ruling:
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E-cigarettes
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Nicotine pouches
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Noncombusted cigarettes heated tobacco products that meet the definition of a cigarette
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Waterpipe tobacco (hookah)
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Smokeless tobacco products
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Premium cigars
Long-term health benefits
As part of the proposal, the FDA also utilized its population health model to determine how this rule would affect consumers health over the long-term.
They estimate that within five years of the ruling being finalized, 19.5 million people who smoke cigarettes would stop doing so. After just one year, its estimated that nearly 13 million smokers would quit.
In the next 35 years, the FDA estimates that nearly two million tobacco-related deaths could be prevented. By the year 2100, the agency estimates that the ruling would prevent roughly 48 million young adults from ever smoking cigarettes.
Today, were taking a critical step in the rulemaking process by providing the public with a proposal they can review and engage on, said Brian King, Ph.D., M.P.H, director of the FDAs Center for Tobacco Products.
This proposal allows for the start of an important conversation about how we meaningfully tackle one of the deadliest consumer products in history and profoundly change the landscape of tobacco product use in the United States.
Consumers are able to voice their opinions on the ruling now through September 15, 2025. More information on how to do so is available on the FDAs website.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2025-01-15 23:53:36
