Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the FDA expects to release advance notice this year on proposed rulemaking that may slash nicotine content in combustible cigarettes.

We’re taking steps to render combustible cigarettes minimally or non-addictive,” Gottlieb said in the text of a 3 November speech to the National Press Club in Washington, DC. “This could prevent future generations of kids from becoming addicted to cigarettes, the deadliest form of nicotine delivery. We’ve said our goal is to issue an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking related to the regulation of nicotine before the end of this year.”
FDA last summer announced it was reordering priorities in tobacco regulation to focus on nicotine. “The nicotine in cigarettes doesn’t directly cause tobacco related cancer, lung disease, or heart disease. But the powerfully addictive nature of the delivery of nicotine in combustible cigarettes makes tobacco use the leading cause of preventable death in the United States,” Gottlieb told the Press Club.
Nicotine delivery via non-combustible tobacco products could enable consumers to ingest it in a safer manner, Gottlieb said. “Our job is to make sure that, in fact, they do this — prior to marketing. That’s what we intend to do,” he said.