FDA chief speaks out against regulating nicotine content of cigarettes

The head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S., Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, says plans by the government to regulate the amount of tobacco in cigarettes runs the risk of backfiring.

Eschenbach says if the FDA reduces the nicotine levels in cigarettes, people will simply adjust their smoking habits to maintain current levels of the addictive nicotine, smoke more and inhale more deeply and it may do more harm than good.

Eschenbach who is a cancer surgeon believes the move would create a situation where public health would be radically worse and he says the FDA does not advocate such a position but aims to approve products that enhance health rather than destroy it.

Legislation was introduced by a group of bipartisan lawmakers last month that would give the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco, in part by reducing its nicotine content.

Von Eschenbach has repeatedly said that the issue of regulating tobacco is a complex one.

Smoking kills more than 400,000 Americans a year and he does not want the FDA to be in a position of determining that cigarettes are safe.

Although the FDA moved in 1996 to regulate tobacco, in 2000 the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had not authorized the agency to do so.