In a move anti-smoking activists say could save lives, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed cutting the amount of nicotine, the addictive substance in cigarettes and several other tobacco products, making it harder to hook new smokers — and easier for longtime smokers to quit.
If the rule becomes final, experts say the United States would become the first country in the world to limit nicotine, the addictive chemical found in tobacco.
Black people tend to smoke later in life but are more likely to die from smoke-related illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes than Hispanics and White people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
From 1980 to 2018, about 157,000 Black Americans have faced untimely deaths due complications from smoking menthol cigarettes.
In the Jan. 15 announcement, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf called the proposal an “immense opportunity” to tackle “the burden of tobacco-related disease.”
The FDA action “envisions a future where it would be less likely for young people to use cigarettes and more individuals who currently smoke could quit or switch to less harmful products,” he said in a prepared statement.
If finalized, he said, the FDA rule “could save many lives and dramatically reduce the burden of severe illness and disability, while also saving huge amounts of money” on the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses.
The change in tobacco nicotine levels in tobacco would help adult smokers switch to lower-risk alternatives and would make cigarettes less attractive to younger people, according to the FDA announcement Wednesday.
Youth are initially attracted to tobacco products due to flavors and industry marketing, but they become addicted because of the nicotine,” said Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association. “Reducing nicotine to non-addictive levels in combusted tobacco products would fulfill a major promise inherent in the Tobacco Control Act to save millions of lives.”
Nicotine addiction snags almost 20% of Americans — most of them before age 19 — including 11.8% Black Americans. Cigarettes and other products that burn processed tobacco also expose smokers to tar and other toxic chemicals linked to serious, potentially fatal disease. Many cigarette brands also use menthol, a controversial tobacco additive heavily marketed to Black smokers.
Before implementing the new rule, the FDA will request input on the proposal from the public and through its Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.
The agency’s goal is to see nicotine levels cut to a level in which they would be minimally addictive or completely non-addictive. The rule would affect cigarettes, loose pipe and cigarette tobacco and most cigars.
In 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Tobacco Control Act, which gave FDA the authority to reduce nicotine levels in tobacco products.
Smoking tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Estimates are that cigarette smoking alone kills nearly half a million people nationwide each year — including roughly 50,000 Black Americans who die from smoking-related diseases. In fact, Black people are more likely to die from smoking than whites.
The proposed rule would not ban cigarettes, other tobacco products or e-cigarettes. It also wouldn’t affect the use of menthol in any tobacco products. The FDA last year postponed banning the use of menthol in cigarettes, making it the only flavoring still being sold.
Rev. Kobi Little, president of the Baltimore Chapter of the NAACP, said he doesn’t agree with the opposition to the ban. In a statement emailed to the AFRO, Little addressed over-policing concerns in the Black community and how other solutions should be drawn to addressing the public health concerns.
“The threat of over-policing is not a sufficient reason to fail to address a pressing public health issue, nor is it sufficient reason to oppose the proposed ban on menthol tobacco products,” Little wrote.
“A ban on the commercial manufacture, mass sale and distribution of menthol tobacco products does not inherently mean that individual possession and personal use of menthol tobacco products is criminal or subject to enforcement actions.”
Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, said the nicotine proposal “outlines a plan to reduce the addictiveness of the deadliest consumer products on the market.
“Lowering nicotine levels will help millions of people quit smoking and prevent countless others from becoming addicted, sparing families nationwide from the devastating consequences of tobacco-related illnesses and death.”
This story originally appeared here.