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The introduction of low-nicotine cigarettes has been proposed as a potential method to reduce cigarette use; however, no significant clinical trial to date has provided evidence to support this hypothesis. A recent study published in The Lancet Regional Health compares the effects of low-nicotine cigarettes in a setting where regular cigarettes and non-combusted alternative nicotine delivery systems (ANDS) are freely available. Study: Reduced nicotine in cigarettes in a marketplace with alternative nicotine systems: randomized clinical trial.

Image Credit: Clari Massimilliano / Shutterstock.com Reducing the nicotine content in cigarettes to very low levels could make them less addictive for smokers. Previous studies have demonstrated that this type of reduction from the standard 16 mg/g content of nicotine to 2.



4 mg/g is associated with fewer cigarettes smoked daily. By reducing dependence on cigarettes and the satisfaction obtained from smoking, the addictiveness of cigarettes will subsequently decline. In fact, nicotine reduction to 0.

4 mg/g, which is the nicotine concentration in very low nicotine content cigarettes (VLNC), is associated with more frequent efforts to quit, smoke-free days, and a higher proportion of successful quitters as compared to the use of regular nicotine content (NNC) cigarettes. Previously, an abrupt shift to VLNC was associated with a significant increase in these beneficial health effects compared to attempts to gradually reduce NNC cigarette use.

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