FDA Aims to Reduce Nicotine in Cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced their goal to reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes for the first time in its history in an attempt to curb addiction (Chappell, 2017).

After the announcement, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb stated, “The overwhelming amount of death and disease attributable to tobacco is caused by addiction to cigarettes—the only legal consumer product that, when used as intended, will kill half of all long-term users. Unless we change course, 5.6 million young people alive today will die prematurely later in life from tobacco use” (Chappell, 2017).

The effects of the FDA’s proposal were seen immediately. Big Tobacco’s stocks fell significantly, and “cigar, pipe tobacco, and hookah tobacco will have to submit product review applications by August 8, 2021 if they want to continue marketing and selling in the United States” (Bryan, 2017).

“Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, causing more than 480,000 deaths every single year,” the FDA said in their announcement (Chappell, 2017). Beyond causing lung issues, there are studies showing that smoking “can change a smoker’s DNA (making them more prone to cancer), doubles the risk of alcoholic relapse, and even hurt your job prospects” (Bryan, 2017).

References

Bryan, L. (2017). Major blow dealt to Big Tobacco by FDA. Retrieved from https://www.thefix.com/major-blow-dealt-big-tobacco-fda

Chappell, B. (2017). FDA proposes reducing nicotine in cigarettes. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/28/540012363/fda-proposes-cutting-nicotine-amounts-in-cigarettes