TUESDAY, Dec. 17, 2019 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved the sale of two reduced-nicotine cigarettes.
Moonlight and Moonlight Menthol cigarettes were given the green light because they contain much less nicotine than traditional cigarettes and they could help adult smokers kick the habit, the FDA said. But the agency noted that its review of the reduced-nicotine cigarettes concluded that nonsmokers, including youth, are unlikely to start using these cigarettes. People who experiment with them are also less likely to become addicted than people who experiment with conventional cigarettes.
On average, conventional cigarettes made in the United States have a nicotine content of 10 to 14 mg per cigarette compared with 0.2 to 0.7 mg per cigarette in the two newly approved cigarettes. Both are marketed by 22nd Century Group.
In its announcement Tuesday, the FDA emphasized that despite this approval, there are no safe tobacco products and people who do not use tobacco products should not start. “Conventional cigarettes are designed to create and sustain addiction to nicotine,” Mitch Zeller, J.D., director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement. “In announcing the FDA’s comprehensive plan to regulate tobacco and nicotine in July 2017, we noted our commitment to taking actions that will allow more addicted smokers to reduce their dependence and decrease the likelihood that future generations will become addicted to cigarettes.”
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