U.S. flag An official website of the United States government

On Oct. 1, 2024, the FDA began implementing a reorganization impacting many parts of the agency. We are in the process of updating FDA.gov content to reflect these changes.

  1. Home
  2. Tobacco Products
  3. Public Health Education
  4. Health Effects of Tobacco Use
  5. Nicotine Is Why Tobacco Products Are Addictive
  1. Health Effects of Tobacco Use

Nicotine Is Why Tobacco Products Are Addictive

 


On this page:


Why Are Cigarettes, E-Cigs, and Other Tobacco Products So Hard to Quit? 

Nicotine. Tobacco products are addictive because they contain nicotine. Nicotine keeps people using tobacco products, even when they want to stop. 


What Is Nicotine?

Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical compound present in a tobacco plant. All tobacco products contain nicotine, including cigarettes, non-combusted cigarettes (commonly referred to as “heat-not-burn tobacco products” or “heated tobacco products”), cigars, smokeless tobacco (such as dip, snuff, snus, and chewing tobacco), hookah tobacco, and most e-cigarettes.

Using any tobacco product can lead to nicotine addiction. This is because nicotine can change the way the brain works, causing cravings for more of it. 

Some tobacco products, like cigarettes, are designed to deliver nicotine to the brain within seconds,1 making it easier to become dependent on nicotine and more difficult to quit. While nicotine naturally occurs in the tobacco plant itself, some tobacco products contain additives that may make it easier for your body to absorb more nicotine.2 


What Makes Tobacco Use Harmful? 

Nicotine is what keeps people using tobacco products. However, it’s the thousands of chemicals contained in tobacco and tobacco smoke that make tobacco use so deadly. Some of these chemicals, known to cause lung damage, are also found in some e-cigarette aerosols. 

This toxic mix of chemicals—not nicotine—cause the serious health effects among those who use tobacco products, including fatal lung diseases, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancer.3 

Tobacco products containing nicotine pose different levels of health risk to adult users. Combustible products, or products that burn tobacco, are the most harmful. An example of a combustible product is cigarettes, which deliver more than 7,000 chemicals1 along with nicotine that makes it hard to quit.

FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), such as gums and lozenges, are the least harmful. Noncombustible products, such as heat-not-burn tobacco products, smokeless tobacco, and e-cigarettes, fall somewhere in between combustible products and NRTs. 

If you’re an adult who currently doesn’t use tobacco products, we strongly encourage you to stay tobacco-free. If you’re an adult who currently uses tobacco products, there are resources to help you quit

To learn about the additional harms tobacco can have on young people and their developing brains, read “Why Can’t My Teen Quit Smoking or Vaping?” 


What Are Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRTs) and How Can They Help? 

FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapies, also known as NRTs, are safe and effective products that contain nicotine and are designed to help adults quit smoking by delivering small amounts of nicotine to the brain without the toxic chemicals found in cigarette smoke. 

NRTs such as nicotine skin patches, gum, and lozenges can help you through the early part of quitting by relieving cravings and lessening nicotine withdrawal symptoms. When used properly, NRTs are a safe and effective way to help quit smoking and can double the chances of successfully quitting cigarettes.4 

While there are no FDA-approved NRTs for youth use, talk to your health care provider about treatment options for youth.


Are E-Cigarettes a Lower-Risk Alternative to Cigarettes?

While e-cigarettes can generally be a lower-risk alternative for adults who smoke cigarettes, the use of e-cigarettes is not risk-free. These products deliver harmful chemicals and contain nicotine, which is highly addictive. Moreover, given the harmful chemicals found in e-cigarettes, further high-quality research on both short- and long-term health outcomes is needed.

Given that there is no safe tobacco product, youth and adults who do not use tobacco products should not start using e-cigarettes.

For adults who smoke, switching completely from cigarettes to e-cigarettes may reduce exposure to many harmful chemicals present in cigarettes. However, it is important that they switch completely from cigarettes to e-cigarettes to get the full health benefit. Long periods of dual use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes can result in harms to health similar to, or in addition to, the harms from exclusive use of cigarettes.

To date, FDA has authorized 34 tobacco- and menthol-flavored e-cigarette products and devices. These products have undergone rigorous scientific review, including toxicologic assessments, and have been found by FDA to meet the statutory public health standard.

Learn more at FDA’s “Facts About E-Cigarettes” webpage.


Is Nicotine Hazardous Waste?

Yes. Nicotine, including nicotine salt, is listed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an acute hazardous waste.6


Why Can’t My Teen Quit Smoking or Vaping? 

Because their brains are still developing, young people have a higher risk of becoming addicted to the nicotine in tobacco products than adults. 

Many teens don’t understand how easy it is to become addicted to tobacco products. The younger a person is when they start using tobacco, the more likely they are to become addicted.7 

Nicotine exposure during adolescence can disrupt normal brain development.7

Because of nicotine’s powerfully addictive nature and major effects on the developing brain, no tobacco products are safe for youth to use.


Free Posters and Fact Sheets

The Tobacco Education Resource Library, run by the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, provides free print materials and web content aimed at communicating the dangers of tobacco use. In the FDA Tobacco Education Resource Library, you can order and download print materials, such as:

 

Will Smoking or Using Tobacco Products Containing Nicotine Hurt My Baby? 

Nicotine can cross the placenta when a pregnant person uses tobacco products. This can negatively impact the baby, including, but not limited to: premature labor; low birth weight; respiratory failure at birth; and even sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).3, 8, 9, 10 

People who use tobacco products can experience negative health effects on their reproductive health, their pregnancies, and their babies. If you use tobacco products and are considering having a child, consult your doctor and learn more about how you can quit smoking. 


Is FDA Lowering the Levels of Nicotine in Cigarettes? 

Mitch Zeller speaking at TEDx MidAtlantic March 2019

Former Center Director Mitch Zeller’s presentation on “The Past, Present, and Future of Nicotine Addiction.”

Watch >>

Lowering nicotine in cigarettes to a minimally or non-addictive level through the creation of a potential nicotine product standard could decrease the chances that future generations become addicted to cigarettes, and could make it easier for more currently addicted smokers to quit. 

On March 15, 2018, FDA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public comment on issues and questions related to such a potential nicotine product standard. FDA is constantly gathering new evidence and considering evolving data regarding tobacco products and use, and continues to consider a product standard that would require manufacturers to limit the amount of nicotine in cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products to a level that would render them minimally addictive or non-addictive for most people. On June 21, 2022, the potential nicotine product standard was included in the Spring 2022 Unified Agenda.




Subscribe to CTPConnect

Get regular updates on the health effects of tobacco, public health educational resources, and highlights on current tobacco issues and regulations.

Back to Top