The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), led at the time by then-Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, published a regulatory plan in July 2017 to reduce tobacco-related disease and death.
Gottlieb proudly announced that “envisioning a world where cigarettes would no longer create or sustain addiction, and where adults who still need or want nicotine could get it from alternative and less harmful sources, needs to be the cornerstone of our efforts.”
His plan was to encourage smokers to quit using combustible tobacco either through abstinence or by switching to reduced-risk nicotine products such as e-cigarettes or heated tobacco.
On one side of the equation was the intention to strike “an appropriate balance between regulation and encouraging development of innovative tobacco products that may be less dangerous than cigarettes,” while at the same time starting “a public dialogue about lowering nicotine levels in combustible cigarettes to non-addictive levels through achievable product standards.”.
Martin Cullip – Inside Sources – 2022-01-05.
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