Using Product Standards to Render the Most Harmful Tobacco Products Minimally Addictive: Maximum Nicotine Level, Non-Nicotine Constituents, and Scope

Abstract

In the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in March 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration expressed interest in developing a tobacco product standard that would limit nicotine levels in cigarettes to make them minimally addictive.1 This commentary highlights evidence relevant to the nicotine level that would most benefit public health, the scope of products to which maximum nicotine level product standard should apply, and whether other constituent standards are necessary to meaningfully minimize addictiveness.