摘要：Knowledge of current public opinion is important as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) applies the best scientific evidence available to tobacco product regulation. Based on a nationally representative survey of the US adult population, we report 43% support for banning of cigarettes, 65% for reducing nicotine, and 77% for reducing nicotine if such an action could cause fewer children to become addicted to cigarettes. The FDA should consider protecting children by removing all but nonaddictive cigarettes from the marketplace. Whereas the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) new authority to regulate tobacco products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act 1 (FSPTCA) precludes the outright banning of cigarettes, the law does allow the FDA to ban ingredients in cigarettes that encourage youth initiation for the protection of public health. Flavored cigarettes have been banned, and the FDA is considering banning menthol. Furthermore, the FSPTCA allows the FDA to reduce nicotine in cigarettes, the primary substance that leads to addiction. Reduction of nicotine in cigarettes to nonaddictive levels could directly improve public health by preventing initiation and increasing cessation and is a feasible strategy according to Benowitz and Henningfield. 2 The Act assigns responsibility to the Tobacco Product Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) to make recommendations to the Secretary regarding the effects of altering nicotine yields of cigarettes, and whether a biological threshold level exists below which a tobacco product does not produce dependence. Knowledge of public opinion is essential in policymaking as demonstrated by wide variation in responses to prior bans, such as prohibition. We report the current public opinion of smokers and nonsmokers regarding the possibilities of banning cigarettes or reducing nicotine to nonaddictive levels. This information is valuable to the FDA as it applies the best scientific evidence available to tobacco product regulation within a highly politicized environment.
