FDA’s Proposed Rule to Limit Nicotine in Cigarettes Would Save Millions of Lives – It Should be Finalized and Implemented

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a proposed rule to limit nicotine levels in cigarettes and other combusted (smoked) tobacco products to minimally addictive or non-addictive levels, advancing a policy first proposed in July 2017 during the first Trump Administration.

This is a truly game-changing proposal that would accelerate declines in smoking and save millions of lives from cancer, cardiovascular disease and other tobacco-related diseases if it is implemented. The FDA estimates that the proposed rule would prevent 48 million youth and young adults from becoming smokers this century, prompt 19.5 million smokers to quit within five years and save 4.3 million lives by the end of this century. Given these enormous benefits, we urge the incoming Trump Administration to move forward in finalizing and implementing this rule. Few actions would do more to fight chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease that greatly undermine health in the United States, and that the incoming Administration has indicated should be a priority to address.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable, premature death in the U.S., killing nearly half a million American each year, costing the nation over $241 billion annually in healthcare expenses and causing nearly a third of all deaths from cancer and cardiovascular disease.

For more information, see our fact sheet on reducing nicotine in cigarettes.