Nicotine Limits

The Trump administration has signaled that, at least as of now, it is not interested in new FDA regulations on tobacco products. None of these moves are permanent.

The half-page long bill would direct Hawaii’s Department of Health to create rules regarding nicotine limits. It’s the latest in a long list of anti-tobacco proposals that have been introduced in the state.

On Jan. 16, 2025, the comment period for the FDA’s proposed rule regarding nicotine limits will open, the next step in a process that started nearly seven years ago. As of now, “premium cigars” are exempt from the proposal, though flavored cigars and pipe tobacco are included.

Some thoughts on sausage-making, fear-mongering, and what it means for cigars.

There are just 40 days until the Trump administration takes over, meaning this is more a PR stunt than an actual attempt at getting the rule to become law. It’s unclear whether would apply to only cigarettes though it likely applies to other tobacco products except “premium cigars,” at least for now. Yes, it’s both complicated and also likely irrelevant.

A House of Representative Subcommittee voted, on party lines, to prevent the FDA from enacting the flavored cigar and menthol cigarette bans, as well as restrictions on nicotine limits, until after the agency adjust its policies regarding vaping products.

The White House says Joe Biden would veto a proposal from House Republicans that would prevent FDA from banning flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes.

The proposed language would block FDA from enacting three of its top anti-tobacco proposals.

Given previous statements from FDA, if the agency follows through with this timeline, flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes could be illegal by the end of 2024. That would assume no lawsuits challenging the proposed regulations, an almost certainty.

According to one White House agency, we should get a first look at how FDA plans on creating nicotine limits for cigarettes next year. As of now, it remains unclear whether this would affect premium cigars.

More than four years after it first formally announced the idea, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) appears set to take the next steps to introduce nicotine limits for cigarettes.