FDA Proposes Nicotine Limits on Cigarettes; Millions Could Quit Smoking

Jan 15, 2025, 08:22 PM

Federal officials on Wednesday released a far-reaching proposal to make cigarettes less addictive by capping their nicotine content. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a new rule that would limit nicotine levels in cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products to minimally or nonaddictive levels. The agency says this initiative could prevent millions of premature deaths, avert 4.3 million deaths by the end of the century, and result in nearly 13 million people quitting smoking within one year after implementation. If finalized, the U.S. would be the first country to impose such a limit. However, the fate of the proposal rests with the incoming Trump administration, which is not expected to move forward with the idea. The proposal is an eleventh-hour effort from the Biden administration and aims to reduce smoking-related morbidity and mortality, but it will take years to go into effect, if it happens at all.