--- title: FDA Wants Cigarettes to Have Less Nicotine description: The Food and Drug Administration announced a new regulatory plan that puts nicotine levels at the forefront of tobacco regulation. canonical: https://time.com/4878641/fda-cigarettes-nicotine/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-28T18:27:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:46:57.311Z article:section: Health og:title: The FDA Wants Cigarettes to Have Less Nicotine og:description: "Unless we change course, 5.6 million young people alive today will die" og:url: https://time.com/4878641/fda-cigarettes-nicotine/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc84139bf04659161/6988d7970a4a22750d9cf3df/gettyimages-527876190.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5300 og:image:height: 2981 og:image:alt: Smokers To Pay More For Cigarettes As Tobacco Tax Increases og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The FDA Wants Cigarettes to Have Less Nicotine twitter:description: "Unless we change course, 5.6 million young people alive today will die" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc84139bf04659161/6988d7970a4a22750d9cf3df/gettyimages-527876190.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The FDA Wants Cigarettes to Have Less Nicotine > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=febe93b7-2a39-4ad9-8824-9d023a101401&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 28, 2017 6:27 PM UTC  A man holds a cigarette on May 4, 2016 in Sydney, New South Wales. A man holds a cigarette on May 4, 2016 in Sydney, New South Wales. Ryan Pierse—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 28, 2017 6:27 PM UTC The Food and Drug Administration wants to [reduce the levels of nicotine in cigarettes](https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm568923.htm) to “non-addictive levels” as part of a new effort to help Americans kick their tobacco habit. NPR [reports](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/28/540012363/fda-proposes-cutting-nicotine-amounts-in-cigarettes) the move represents the first time the FDA is targeting nicotine levels. “Because nicotine lives at the core of both the problem and the solution to the question of addiction, addressing the addictive levels of nicotine in combustible cigarettes must be part of the FDA’s strategy for addressing the devastating, addiction crisis that is threatening American families,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a [statement. ](https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm568923.htm) The FDA says the new approach is about protecting the millions of young people who could be at risk for tobacco-related deaths later in their lives. “Unless we change course, 5.6 million young people alive today will die prematurely later in life from tobacco use,” Gottlieb said. The agency is also giving makers of newly regulated products like pipes, cigars, hookahs, and [electronic cigarettes](http://time.com/tag/electronic-cigarettes/) more time to submit them for review. Makers of e-cigarettes will have until 2022 to submit their applications. The FDA will also be seeking public input on the use of kid-friendly flavors in e-cigarettes and cigars. Tobacco companies took a hit on the stock market when the FDA plan was announced. Reuters reports the world’s largest companies were set to see their [market value fall by $60 billion](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fda-tobacco-regulation-idUSKBN1AD1VW). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4878641/fda-cigarettes-nicotine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4878641/fda-cigarettes-nicotine/"},"headline":"The FDA Wants Cigarettes to Have Less Nicotine","datePublished":"2017-07-28T18:27:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:46:57.311Z","description":"“Unless we change course, 5.6 million young people alive today will die prematurely later in life from tobacco use\"","url":"https://time.com/4878641/fda-cigarettes-nicotine/","keywords":["Drugs","tobacco","FDA","Food and Drug Administration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc84139bf04659161/6988d7970a4a22750d9cf3df/gettyimages-527876190.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc84139bf04659161/6988d7970a4a22750d9cf3df/gettyimages-527876190.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Smokers To Pay More For Cigarettes As Tobacco Tax Increases","caption":"Smokers To Pay More For Cigarettes As Tobacco Tax Increases","creditText":"Ryan Pierse—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drugs/","name":"Drugs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4878641/fda-cigarettes-nicotine/","name":"The FDA Wants Cigarettes to Have Less Nicotine"}}]}] ```