FDA to seek drastic cut in cigarettes' nicotine content

President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday announced it would develop a policy requiring cigarette makers to reduce nicotine to non-addictive levels -- a move that would substantially cut nicotine levels in cigarettes and deal a powerful blow to the tobacco industry.

If successful, the new US. standard could save millions of lives by the end of the century and shape a future in which cigarettes are no longer responsible for addiction and debilitating disease.

The initiative requires the Food and Drug Administration to develop and then publish a rule that would likely be contested by industry.