News — The Biden administration may be moving forward with plans to lower the amount of nicotine in tobacco products. Faculty members Kevin Schroth and Melissa Mercincavage at the are available to speak about the FDA’s crucial role in tobacco and nicotine regulation.
The following quotes from Schroth and Mercincavage are available for pickup:
Schroth: The FDA deserves enormous credit for taking this important step. When Congress enacted the Tobacco Control Act in 2009, this is exactly the type of action that the FDA was empowered to pursue. Requiring cigarettes to contain non-addictive levels of nicotine can save many thousands of lives and end the tobacco epidemic as we know it. Moreover, this rule is based on sound science and solid legal grounds.
Critics will argue that this will unleash illicit markets. However, major tobacco manufacturers made 1.73 billion cigarettes in 2022. That supply and the distribution system that reaches every gas station and convenience store around the country will not support full nicotine cigarette sales if this rule goes into effect. Even when an illicit market for full nicotine cigarettes surfaces, it cannot reasonably be expected to reach existing customers efficiently. Even though some smokers will access full nicotine cigarettes, many people will move on to less harmful products and quit smoking. The rulemaking process takes several years to complete, and there could be obstacles along the way. I’m hopeful that the FDA continues to pursue this important measure.
Mercincavage: One concern expressed over a proposed rule to lower nicotine in tobacco is that people might smoke more to try to make up for the reduced nicotine levels since that’s exactly what happened with “light” cigarettes; however, studies have clearly shown that this type of “compensatory smoking” isn’t possible with very low nicotine cigarettes because they contain such little nicotine. This low level of nicotine is what allows people to lessen their dependence on nicotine and then begin to smoke less.
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