Dr. Tracy Smith: Reducing the Harms from Tobacco Through Nicotine Regulation

Abstract

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease, and combustible tobacco use is responsible for the vast majority of these harms. Regulating tobacco to reduce reinforcement from cigarettes is likely to result in the greatest public health gains. Dr. Smith will present data from animal studies, human-lab experiments, and clinical trials testing the impact of nicotine regulation on nicotine reinforcement and smoking behavior. These data show that a mandated reduction in the nicotine content of cigarettes is likely to reduce reinforcement value and reduce the number of cigarettes smoked per day, without resulting in compensatory smoking. Thoughtful regulation of non-combusted tobacco products, like e-cigarettes, is also needed to prevent uptake among youth while continuing to allow appealing substitutes for people who currently smoke cigarettes. Dr. Smith will present preliminary data assessing the ability of e-cigarettes to promote switching away from cigarettes among adults and explore product-level factors that may promote switching.