Nicotine: The Addictive Chemical in Tobacco Products

Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical compound present in the tobacco plant. Tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah tobacco, and most e-cigarettes, contain nicotine.

How Could Lowering Nicotine Levels in Cigarettes Change the Future of Public Health?

FDA is working on a comprehensive plan that places nicotine—and the issue of addiction—at the center of the agency’s tobacco regulation efforts.

FDA Launches New Campaign: "The Real Cost" Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign

As part of FDA's ongoing efforts to protect youth from the dangers of tobacco use, the agency is expanding its successful youth tobacco prevention campaign, “The Real Cost,” to reach the more than 10 million youth ages 12-17 who have used e-cigarettes or are open to trying them.

Chemicals in Tobacco Products and Your Health

You probably know that cigarette smoking kills you. You probably know that cigarettes contain chemicals—a mix of over 7,000 chemicals, in fact—that can cause diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and COPD.

Quitting Smoking: Closer with Every Attempt

What keeps people smoking even when they know cigarettes are harmful to their health? Nicotine. Nicotine, the highly addictive drug present in tobacco products, is the main reason that people continue to use tobacco even when they want to quit.

Tips for Safe Disposal of E-Cigarettes and E-Liquid Waste

E-cigarettes, including rechargeable batteries and e-liquid cartridges, can pose a threat to human health and to the environment if they are not disposed of properly.

Teen E-Cigarette Prevention Materials for Educators: Questions and Answers on FDA’s Collaboration with Scholastic

In 2018, FDA began a collaboration with Scholastic to create educational resources for teachers to address the e-cigarette epidemic in schools. Hear questions and answers about this collaboration from key players at FDA and Scholastic.

Think E-Cigs Can’t Harm Teens’ Health?

The science says they can. The nicotine in e-cigarettes can change the young brain and get kids hooked.

Smoking: A Women’s Health Issue

While many Americans may know that smoking can cause cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, like lung cancer, they may not be aware that smoking can also negatively impact a woman’s reproductive health, as well as lead to cervical cancer.

Tobacco Use in the LGBT Community: A Public Health Issue

Cigarette smoking in the United States is responsible for 480,000 deaths per year, and certain populations are more likely to smoke than others. One population especially at risk for engaging in tobacco use is the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender LGBT community.

Tobacco Use in the Military: A Danger for Those Who Keep Us Safe

According to a 2018 analysis of 2010-2015 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, about 30 percent of veterans self-reported current (i.e., past 30-day) use of cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, roll-your-own, and/or pipe tobacco, with the majority of the users (21.6 percent) reporting current cigarette smoking.

How Smoking Affects Heart Health

Cigarette smoking is the chief cause of preventable disease and death in the United States and can harm nearly any part of the body.

Cigarette Smoking: A Risk Factor for Type 2 Diabetes

You may be aware that cigarettes increase a person’s risk of cancer, as well as diseases of the heart, lungs, and other organs. But you might not know that smoking is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

Keep Your Air Clear: How Tobacco Can Harm Your Lungs

Every organ in the human body serves an important purpose in keeping it running and in prime condition. Most healthy people are not cognizant of their organs—like lungs—on a daily basis, because they are able to breathe without difficulty and perform their daily tasks without major effort.

Q&A with CTP’s New Director of the Office of Regulations

Learn about May Nelson’s contributions to improve public health through tobacco regulation.

CTP Expands Hiring

Learn about the many types of opportunities available, our work culture, and the innovative ways that we recruit a diverse and qualified workforce.

The Freedom of Information Act

FOIA and CTP: Protecting Citizens’ “Right to Know” by Fostering CTP Transparency

Q&A with CTP’s Director of Compliance and Enforcement

Learn about the mission and accomplishments of CTP’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement from its Director, Ann Simoneau.

CTP’s Office of Small Business Assistance

Here, we introduce you to the Center for Tobacco Products’ Office of Small Business Assistance (OSBA), the resources it offers, and how you can reach out for help with more specific questions.

FDA Authorizes Modified Risk Tobacco Products

On October 22, 2019, FDA granted the first-ever modified risk orders to Swedish Match USA, Inc. for eight snus smokeless tobacco products.

Marketing ENDS as New Tobacco Products: A Guide for Manufacturers

While there are three main ways to bring a new tobacco product to market, a premarket tobacco application (PMTA) is the most likely pathway by which manufacturers of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) will apply to market their products.

Question and Answer with Matt Holman, Ph.D., Director of CTP's Office of Science

Matt Holman, Ph.D., Director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products’ (CTP) Office of Science, has over 17 years of experience working as a regulatory scientist, getting his start at FDA in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).

Questions and Answers on the National Youth Tobacco Survey: How We Collect and Analyze Data to Understand Youth Tobacco Use

A Conversation with Karen Cullen, Ph.D., A Scientist at the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products Who Leads the National Youth Tobacco Survey. 

PATH Study Findings Give Insight into Flavored Tobacco, Health Effects of E-Cigarettes, and Adult Use of Cigars and Hookah

The PATH Study strives to better understand what motivates youth and young adults to use tobacco.