FIVE FACTS ABOUT NICOTINE CUTTING IN THE U.S.

WASHINGTON • U.S. federal health officials took the first step Thursday to slash levels of addictive nicotine in cigarettes, an unprecedented move designed to help smokers quit and prevent future generations from getting hooked.

1 AS BIG A DROP AS 80%

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration floated the proposal last summer, but provided new details in a government filing on the potential impact of drastically cutting nicotine from cigarettes, by as much as 80 per cent. Currently, there are no limits on nicotine, which occurs naturally in tobacco plants. Under law, the FDA can regulate nicotine although it cannot remove it completely.

2 FIVE MILLION QUITTERS

Under one scenario, the FDA estimates the U.S. smoking rate could fall as low as 1.4 per cent by 2060, down from the 15 per cent of adults who smoke now. The agency also calculates that about five million more people would quit cigarettes within one year of implementing limits.

3 THE NEXT GENERATION

The greatest impact, though, would come from preventing young people from ever becoming addicted, the FDA says. Limiting nicotine “could help keep future generations of kids who experiment with cigarettes from making the deadly progression from experimentation to addiction,” said Mitch Zeller, the head of the FDA’s tobacco centre.

4 BREAKING THE HABIT

Key to FDA’s proposal: Nicotine is highly addictive, but not deadly. Instead, it’s the burning tobacco and other substances inhaled through smoking that cause cancer, heart disease and bronchitis. Smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year, despite decades of antismoking measures that have pushed the smoking rate to new lows.

5 A NINE-YEAR FIGHT

The FDA gained authority to regulate ingredients in cigarettes and other tobacco products in 2009. But the FDA’s regulatory efforts have been hampered for years by legal challenges by Big Tobacco companies. Cigarette makers generally have vowed to take part in the nicotine discussions, often emphasizing the long, complicated nature of creating new regulations.