Biden Administration Targets Removal of Most Nicotine from Cigarettes | Hacker News Reader

Biden Administration Targets Removal of Most Nicotine from Cigarettes

wsj.com

3 pointsnobody999911 comments

These kinds of things often end up with unintended consequences, as others have said, people may just end up smoking more.

Scotland recently introduced a minimum alcohol pricing policy and it seems the affect this has had on alcohol consumption has been negligable since some people have just spent less on food to compensate.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/07/minimum-alco...

See also: FDA to order Juul e-cigarettes off U.S. market (wsj.com)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31835843

Submitted by kgwgk | 3 hours ago | 141 points | 241 comments

This is just as wrong as the "war on some drugs."

What I (or anyone else) do with my body is my business, unless it negatively impacts others (e.g., driving while impaired, infecting others with disease, etc.).

To those who would argue that this is a net good, consider that cigarettes (and vapes) are nicotine delivery systems.

As such, reducing the nicotine in cigarettes would likely lead to more smoking as smokers need more cigarettes to obtain the same amount of nicotine.

That would increase secondhand smoke exposure and, arguably, result in more exposure to harmful combustion products by those who aren't smoking.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

This might be a dumb question, but what it the purpose of a cigarette that doesn't contain nicotine? I thought that cigarettes were primarily a nicotine-delivery platform.

Maybe something similar to alcohol free alcohol?

Today's non-alcoholic beers offer a pretty good sensory experience.

Sometimes I go to happy hour and have a Heineken NA.

Agreed. Athletic Brews are nice.

I could sorta understand nicotine-free cigars or something. Cigars are mostly consumed by people who at least claim to really enjoy them.

My experience with smokers, though, is that mostly none of them really enjoy it, they just need their fix.

I assume... That the plan is to make cigarettes less addictive over time by reducing the nicotine level. Then people who start smoking will be less addicted and have less reason to continue. Also it would encourage people to vape more. On the other hand it would also mean people who insist on smoking smoke more to get the same nicotine...

I got curious about the ornamental tobacco plants growing in the garden and dried out a few leaves and smoked them.

These didn't seem to be psychoactive at all but the flavor was great.

Archive link: https://archive.ph/3DYEE

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