Hollings Horizons Winter/Spring 2026 - Magazine - Page 22
Research News
NICOTINE LIMITS
Hollings researcher co-leads
AACR subcommittee calling for
nicotine limits
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
has endorsed a proposed federal policy that would make
cigarettes far less addictive. The proposal by the Food and
Drug Administration sets a maximum nicotine product
standard, limiting nicotine levels in combustible cigarettes
and related tobacco products to 0.7 milligrams per gram
– about 95% less than what is currently allowed. That
reduction would make cigarettes minimally or nonaddictive,
striking at the chemical that keeps people hooked.
MUSC Hollings Cancer Center researcher Benjamin Toll,
Ph.D., director of the Tobacco Treatment Program, co-led
the development of the policy statement.
Experts estimate that 13 million Americans would quit
smoking in the first year if the policy passed, and millions of
lives would be saved in the decades ahead.
“We’re at a watershed moment in this country,” he said.
“Smoking causes such a high level of mortality and disease
burden that if we can remove the truly addictive chemical
and help millions quit, it would transform public health in a
way we’ve never seen before.”
“
If we can take the addictive
chemical out of cigarettes, it would
be transformative for cancer
prevention and for public health.
“
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Hollings Horizons Winter/Spring 2026
