The Food and Drug Administration has proposed a rule to limit nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels six years after it first said it intended to do so and five days before President Biden leaves office.
FDA has proposed a rule that would limit the nicotine content of cigarettes to 0.7 milligrams per gram of tobacco, a level so low that smokers are not thought to be affected by its addictive properties. The limit would apply two years after the proposal is confirmed; if indeed it is confirmed at all.
Implementation of the rule will now fall to the Trump administration, leaving many to speculate that the rule is designed to put the new President in a difficult position when he gets into office. Altria and Reynolds – the two largest tobacco firms in the United States – have donated $1.5 million to the Trump inauguration fund.
“Today’s 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” claimed FDA Commissioner Robert Califf.
FDA claims that the policy will lead to 12.9 million Americans quitting smoking within a year, rising to over 19 million within five years.
But many in Washington were more skeptical. Lindsey Stroud, a Senior Fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, warned that the only real winners would be organised crime.
“FDA’s approach not only jeopardizes consumers seeking what was once a legal product but also threatens already-struggling state budgets that rely on revenue from state excise taxes on regulated tobacco products”.
The 12.9 million that FDA claim will quit in the first year includes those who will switch to safer nicotine products. But as Stroud points out, FDA has not exactly been forthcoming in approving these, meaning most remain in legal limbo.
“It is deeply ironic that the FDA has chosen to effectively ban the 660+ combustible cigarette products it authorized in 2023 while simultaneously denying hundreds of applications for safer cigarette alternatives”, she said.
FDA’s proposal will now be open to public comment until September. The agency is specifically interested in which products should be covered, the proposed limit to the nicotine level, the proposed two-year effective date and the potential for illicit trade.
