Breaking the strong draw of nicotine

Millions of smokers could be forced to face the agony of nicotine withdrawal as the F.D.A. weighs in calling for a drastic reduction in the addictive appeal of cigarettes.

At some point in the next few years, the 30 million smokers in the United States may wake up one day to find that cigarettes sold at gas stations, convenience stores, and smokehouses contain such minute amounts of nicotine that they cannot get their usual dose when they light up.

Would smokers be plunged into the agonizing pangs of nicotine withdrawal and seek their favorite full-nicotine brand in illicit markets, or would they turn to vaping, nicotine gum and other less harmful ways to get that rush of anxiety relief?

Such scenarios moved closer to the realm of possibility in June, when the Food and Drug Administration said it would move toward a reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes to reduce the health effects of an addiction that claims 480,000 lives a year.

The agency set in May next its timetable for the introduction of a fully developed proposal. But many experts hope regulators will champion an immediate 95% reduction in nicotine levels - the amount of federally funded studies have determined it's most effective in helping smokers quit. p>

It could be years before a new policy takes effect, if it survives tobacco industry opposition. Even so, health experts say any effort to reduce nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels would be a drastic experiment, one that has never been implemented by any other country.

The science of nicotine addiction has come a long way since 1964, when a report by the US Surgeon General first linked smoking and cancer and heart disease, although it will take another two decades for the mechanisms of nicotine addiction to be understood and widely accepted.

Tobacco contains more than 7 000 chemicals, many of which are harmful when burned and inhaled, but it's nicotine that keeps smokers craving more. Nicotine stimulates a rush of adrenaline in the brain while indirectly producing a surge of dopamine, the chemical that promotes feelings of contentment and relaxation. The effects, however, are short-lived, which is why heavy smokers need to re-inject a dozen or more times a day.

Eric Donny , a tobacco expert at Wake La Forest University School of Medicine who has conducted experiments with low-nicotine cigarettes, says many scientists have come to embrace a 95% reduction in nicotine levels as the ideal for help subjects to smoke less. Anything higher, he said, can encourage participants to engage in what's called compensatory smoking — by inhaling more deeply or smoking more frequently.

Studies he and other scientists conducted recently used genetically modified tobacco bred to express less nicotine; getting nicotine to zero is not an option under the Tobacco Control Act, a