An anonymous smoker at 4th Street Live in Louisville, Kentucky.
Jahi Chikwendu | Washington Post | Getty Images
The Biden administration is expected to formally propose limits on nicotine in cigarettes in its final days in office. It would be a last-ditch move to push back against the tobacco industry after President Joe Biden failed to finalize his long-standing promise to ban menthol cigarettes.
The proposal, which could be announced as early as Monday, would not include tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement patches and lozenges.
“This is a compliment from the Biden administration to advance meaningful proposals, or at least reinvigorate proposals during this administration’s waning days,” said Erica Seward, vice president of national advocacy for the American Lung Association. .
Although the toxins released from combustible cigarettes are responsible for chronic illnesses and deaths associated with smoking, it’s the nicotine that gets people hooked in the first place and then keeps coming back.
The exact details of the proposal to cap nicotine levels have not been made public. However, studies suggest that levels may need to be reduced by up to 95% to minimize or eliminate dependence.
“This is a historic action by the FDA that could have significant public health implications,” said Dr. Rose Marie Robertson, scientific and medical director of the American Heart Association.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States, killing more than 480,000 people each year.
Almost all smokers started smoking when they were teenagers. Making tobacco less addictive would save millions of lives, Seward said.
A 2018 study from the Food and Drug Administration estimated that capping nicotine would reduce the number of people addicted to smoking by 16 million people by 2060. Research predicts that number will rise to 33.1 million by 2100.
Even if the Biden administration releases the proposed rules next week, it will likely still take years to finalize them.
Limiting nicotine in cigarettes would be a “game changer,” Yolonda C. Richardson, president and CEO of the Tobacco Free Kids Campaign, said in a statement to NBC News. . “There are few efforts that will be more effective in combating chronic diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease, which are a major threat to America’s health, and the diseases that the next administration has signaled should be priorities.”
The FDA, which has the power to regulate tobacco, first publicly discussed plans to limit nicotine levels during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term.
In 2017, then-FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb announced a “comprehensive plan” that included ideas to “regulate nicotine in combustible cigarettes and make them minimally addictive or non-toxic.” I got on track.
This was aimed at steering adult smokers towards non-flammable products such as e-cigarettes. The 2017 plan also included regulating e-cigarette flavors and potentially banning menthol products. Although the federal ban on most flavors went into effect in 2020, menthol is still on the market.
Gottlieb said in an interview this week that addressing smoking rates must become a “top priority” in efforts to improve public health and reduce chronic disease.
“There’s probably nothing more we can do than dramatically reduce smoking rates in this country,” he said.