Nicotine cuts aim to push smokers more towards e-cigarettes
WASHINGTON The United States government has proposed cutting nicotine in cigarettes to ‘‘nonaddictive’’ levels, in a major regulatory shift designed to move smokers toward potentially less harmful e-cigarettes.
Shares in major tobacco companies in the US and Britain slumped in heavy trading volume after the proposal was unveiled yesterday by the head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with the world’s biggest producers losing about US$26 billion (NZ$34.5b) of market value.
‘‘Nicotine itself is not responsible for the cancer, the lung disease and heart disease that kill hundreds of thousands of Americans each year,’’ FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said. ‘‘It’s the other chemical compounds in tobacco and in the smoke created by setting tobacco on fire that directly cause illness and death.’’
The FDA cannot reduce nicotine levels to zero, nor can it ban cigarettes. But Gottlieb said the agency would study regulating nicotine levels with a view towards the ‘‘FDA’s potential to render cigarettes minimally addictive or non-addictive’’.
The move shakes up a debate among public health advocates as to whether e-cigarettes represent a health risk or potential benefit.
‘‘While there’s still much research to be done on these products and the risks that they may pose, they may also present benefits that we must consider,’’ Gottlieb said.
Gottlieb, a cancer survivor and physician who was confirmed as FDA commissioner in May, was expected to be friendly towards the e-cigarette industry, since he previously held a financial interest in a so-called ‘‘vape’’ shop.
During an April hearing on whether to advance his nomination for the FDA position, he said some e-cigarettes could have the potential to wean smokers off combustible cigarettes and be less harmful.
Most big tobacco makers have long seen the writing on the wall and have invested in e-cigarettes and other alternative nicotine delivery systems, potentially mitigating the blow from any decline in cigarette sales. Reuters REUTERS