Tobacco firms could be forced to slash the amount of nicotine in US cigarettes, under radical plans from the Food and Drug Administration.
Proposals announced yesterday would see the amount of nicotine people get from most existing cigarettes cut by a third, from about 1.5 milligrams of nicotine down to between 0.3 to 0.5 milligrams per cigarette. It鈥檚 the nicotine in cigarettes that make them addictive, and according to one analysis, this change would cause .
The FDA is now seeking feedback on this plan,聽but critics are warning this could lead to a lucrative black market for higher-nicotine cigarettes. 鈥淚t carries a serious risk of unintended consequences,鈥� says Deborah Arnott of UK campaign group .
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The idea of forcing tobacco firms to lower the amount of nicotine in their cigarettes as a way of making them less addictive has been mooted for years. But studies have shown that when given tobacco with only a little less nicotine, smokers instinctively get more from each cigarette by inhaling more deeply or covering air holes with their fingers.
鈥淧eople smoke in such a way that lets them reach the blood level of nicotine they want,鈥� says of University College London.
