Biden plan introduce new rules slashing amount of nicotine in cigarettes to ‘nonaddictive’ levels 

The Biden administration is planning to push a policy that would require tobacco companies to reduce the level of nicotine in cigarettes sold in the U.S. 

The policy would see the amount of nicotine reduced to ‘nonaddictive levels’.

Although it would likely not come into force for several years, the move would likely disrupt the entire tobacco industry.

Smokers needn’t be too concerned in the short terms with a number of hurdles still to be passed.

The Food and Drug Administration first needs to outline the proposed new rules before inviting comments from the public. Then final rules would be published.

Tobacco manufacturers selling cigarettes in U.S. could be required to lessen the amount of nicotine to nonaddictive levels until plans put forward by the Biden Administration

Even then, tobacco companies would be able to sue likely delaying any implementation of the policy reports the Wall Street Journal. 

The administration had been weighing whether to push ahead with the policy as part of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative which hopes to reduce deaths from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years. 

The move would be the biggest step by the government to curb smoking since 1998 when tobacco companies paid more than $200 billion to help states pay for healthcare. 

New restrictions on marketing were also agreed at the time including a ban on free samples and billboard advertising. 

The policy would be a step in President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot plan. Launched in February, the plan is to reduce the cancer death rate for Americans by at least 50 percent in the next 25 years

The FDA describes nicotine as ‘an addictive chemical found in cigarettes and other tobacco products.’

Although nicotine is addictive and gets people hooked on cigarettes, the chemical itself does not cause cancer, heart disease or lung disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention blames other harmful compounds in cigarette smoke that are linked with more than 480,000 deaths in the U.S. each year,

The CDC calculates there to be 30.8 million smokers in the nation – about 12.5%. The numbers rose slightly in 2020 during the pandemic. 

The amount of nicotine in cigarettes can be reduced through various methods including an adjustment in the blend of tobacco leaves or by using different types of paper or filters. 

The CDC calculates there to be 30.8 million smokers in the nation – about 12.5%

One company is even said to be able to reduce the amount of nicotine in its tobacco leaves by 95% through genetic engineering compared to a typical tobacco plant.

FDA officials say reducing nicotine in cigarettes to very low levels would prevent future generations from becoming addicted to cigarettes, and make it easier for those currently smoking to quit the habit.

A reduction in nicotine in cigarettes was initially pursued by the Trump Administration in 2017 but by 2019 officials dropped the plans. 

The New England Journal of Medicine estimates that a reduction in nicotine levels would see an additional 5 million adult smokers to quit within a year of it being implemented.

‘If it works, it will save more lives than anything else the FDA could do.’ said the FDA’s commissioner, Robert Califf.

Move would likely be a blow to the tobacco industry but could see around five million people quit within a year of its implementation