Nicotine is addictive and can be harmful, but it is not the primary cause of the harms associated with smoking combustible cigarettes. It is the toxicants in the smoke produced when tobacco leaves are burned (i.e., combusted) that are responsible for the vast majority of smoking-related death and disease.
As the FDA has explained, nicotine, while not benign, is delivered on a continuum of risk, with combustible products like cigarettes being the most harmful and lethal, and nicotine replacement therapies like gum and patches the least harmful.
To be clear, the best choice any person can make is to refrain from consuming any tobacco or nicotine product. However, for adults who smoke and have not successfully quit, having access to smokefree alternatives and accurate information about those alternatives is critically important.
Smoking of combustible cigarettes remains the leading cause of preventable disease and premature death in the United States. Despite progress made to help adults quit and prevent non-smokers from starting, approximately 28.3 million Americans still smoke cigarettes. Half of those who continue to smoke will die from a smoking-related disease; and the World Health Organization estimates smoking kills 8 million people per year globally. In the U.S. alone, smoking is responsible for more than 490,000 deaths per year – 1,300 each day.
With more innovative smokefree alternatives to cigarettes than ever before, there is an historic opportunity to make the combustible cigarette obsolete and end the unnecessary premature death and pervasive chronic illnesses caused by cigarette use.
Accurate Relative Risk Information
Adults who smoke are entitled to accurate information about the relative risks of nicotine products. Accurate communications are especially important given the significant misperceptions about the relative risk of tobacco products and vapor products, as well as misunderstandings about the role of nicotine. In the United States the FDA has a process for evaluating whether manufacturers can communicate relative risk or exposure claims to consumers. We defer to the FDA as the ultimate authority on this topic. We urge public health authorities to convey appropriate communications to consumers on the basis of sound science and evidence. For more information on FDA’s guidance, please visit FDA’s website.
For further information on quitting smoking, please reference the following cessation resources provided by the National Cancer Institute (Smokefree.gov), U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.