Australia watching closely as US declares war on big tobacco

The Albanese government says it is carefully watching a major move from US President Joe Biden to reduce nicotine to non-addictive levels.

The Albanese government says it is carefully watching a major move from US President Joe Biden to reduce nicotine to non-addictive levels in a bid to stop people getting hooked.

If successful in its aims, the new US standard could save millions of lives by the end of the century, and shape a future where cigarettes are no longer responsible for addiction and debilitating disease.

The move has been noticed by the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler, whose office said it is going to watch what happens with the move carefully — adding that Labor had a “proud history” of making smoking reforms.

“The Government continues to examine a range of tobacco control measures, supported by evidence, that impact on both the supply and demand for tobacco, consistent with the obligations under the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,” a spokeswoman said. “This includes continuing to monitor international developments regarding the regulation of nicotine content in tobacco products.

“The Labor Party has a proud history of implementing world leading anti-smoking policies including plain packaging laws which has seen a steep reduction in tobacco consumption since 2012.”

Research has found that Australian brands of cigarettes have lower puff counts than the US brands with similar tar yields but higher tar and nicotine per puff.

In the US, the initiative faces a big uphill battle as it requires the Food and Drug Administration to develop and then publish a rule which will likely be contested by industry.

“Nicotine is powerfully addictive,” said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf in a statement. “Making cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products minimally addictive or non-addictive would help save lives.”

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The US is seeking to drastically cut nicotine content in cigarettes.

The process is expected to take several years and could be delayed or derailed by litigation, or reversed by a future administration sympathetic to the tobacco lobby.

Nicotine is the “feel good” chemical that hooks people to cigarettes, chewing tobacco, vaping devices and other tobacco products.

“Addiction to nicotine in combusted products is the main driver of sustained use of these products,” the FDA added in its statement.

Thousands of other chemicals contained in tobacco and its smoke are responsible for diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes and more.

Though smoking is less prevalent in the United States than in Europe — and it is even less popular in Australia — and has been declining for years, it is still responsible for 480,000 deaths a year in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some 12.5 per cent of all US adults are current cigarette smokers, according to the FDA.

Proposal limiting nicotine levels is backed by research

The announcement was welcomed by tobacco control groups.

“The American Lung Association is pleased to hear that a proposal is coming to reduce the levels of addictive nicotine in cigarettes,” said the group’s CEO Harold Wimmer.

“Reducing nicotine to non-addictive levels in cigarettes is an important step forward for public health, and we urge FDA to extend this proposal to include all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.”

Reducing the nicotine content of cigarettes has been a topic under discussion for years among US authorities.

The FDA funded a randomised trial published in 2018 that found “reduced-nicotine cigarettes versus standard-nicotine cigarettes reduced nicotine exposure and dependence and the number of cigarettes smoked.”

The ultimate goal is to make it easier for tobacco users to quit.

Another FDA-funded study found that if a nicotine reduction policy were enacted in 2020, it could result in more than 33 million people not becoming regular smokers, and prevent more than eight million deaths from tobacco-related illnesses by 2100.

The tobacco industry rejects these studies and says people would in fact smoke more.

Biden has made a “cancer moonshot” a centrepiece of his agenda and nicotine-reduction policy would fit within its goals, at minimal cost.

— with AFP