Nicotine is addictive. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated nicotine to be one of the 93 Harmful or Potentially Harmful Constituents (HPHCs) found in tobacco products and tobacco smoke due to its links to reproductive problems and addiction.
The FDA has also asserted that nicotine is delivered on a continuum of risk, with combustible products like cigarettes being the most harmful and lethal, and nicotine replacement therapies like gum and patches the least harmful.
“The regulatory framework for reducing harm from tobacco must include nicotine — the chemical responsible for addiction to tobacco products — as a centerpiece. Nicotine, though not benign, is not directly responsible for the tobacco-caused cancer, lung disease, and heart disease that kill hundreds of thousands of Americans each year. The FDA’s approach to reducing the devastating toll of tobacco use must be rooted in this foundational understanding: other chemical compounds in tobacco, and in the smoke created by combustion, are primarily to blame for such health harms.” — Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and FDA Director of Center for Tobacco Products Mitch Zeller
To be clear, the best choice any person can make is to refrain from consuming any tobacco or nicotine product. However, for adult smokers who have not successfully quit, having access to alternatives and accurate information about those alternatives is critically important.
Smoking of combustible cigarettes remains the leading cause of preventable disease and premature death in the United States. Despite progress made to help adult smokers quit and prevent non-smokers from starting, approximately 28.3 million Americans still smoke cigarettes. Half of those who continue to smoke will die from a smoking-related disease; and the World Health Organization estimates smoking kills 8 million people per year globally. In the U.S. alone, smoking is responsible for more than 490,000 deaths per year – 1,300 each day.
Accurate Information
Adult smokers are entitled to accurate information about the relative risks of nicotine products. Accurate communications are especially important given the significant misperceptions about the relative risk of tobacco products and ENDS, as well as misunderstandings about the role of nicotine. In the United States the FDA has a process for evaluating whether relative risk or exposure communications to consumers would be appropriate for the protection of public health. We defer to the FDA as the ultimate authority on this topic. We urge that appropriate communications to consumers be facilitated on the basis of sound science and evidence. We advise adult consumers to always review the advice and guidance of FDA, the Surgeon General, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when using nicotine-containing products.
JUUL products are for adult smokers who have not successfully quit. For those adults who do not use nicotine, they should not start. For adult smokers concerned about the health effects of nicotine use, the best thing to do is quit.
For further information on quitting smoking, please reference the following cessation resources provided by the National Cancer Institute (Smokefree.gov), U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Please note these references are included for information purposes only and do not imply any endorsement or approval of Juul Labs or its products by these entities.