The Impact of Reducing Nicotine Content on Adolescent Cigarette Smoking and Nicotine Exposure: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

The US Food and Drug Administration may enact a reduced-nicotine product standard that would affect all commercially-available cigarettes. One important population affected by this policy would be adolescents who smoke. This study, the first clinical trial of very low nicotine content (VLNC) cigarettes in adolescents, demonstrates that adolescents switched to VLNC cigarettes for three weeks reduced their cigarettes smoked per day relative to the normal-nicotine cigarette control group, without leading to increased respiratory symptoms or increased withdrawal. Biomarkers indicated use of other sources of nicotine, suggesting that such a policy will need to consider approaches to assist in transitioning away from smoking.