Public Policy Positions
Participating in the democratic process is vital to our business and to the many stakeholders with an interest in transforming this industry for the better – including our shareholders, employees, business partners, communities and adult consumers.
What We Believe
We advocate for harm reduction as the best policy framework to accelerate the U.S. toward a smoke-free future. In our view, regulation of this industry must be rooted in the settled science that smoke, not nicotine, causes almost all tobacco-related death and disease.1 Rather than limit adult consumer choice, policymakers should focus on providing adult tobacco consumers2 the information, choice and support they need to either quit or move to smoke-free products proven to be less harmful.3 We believe it’s only in regulated markets – not illicit markets – that regulators can hold all industry members accountable for driving down underage use.4
A smoke-free future can be achieved if the FDA adopts harm reduction as the proper framework of regulation, which would mean:
- authorizing a legal marketplace of smoke-free products to meet adult consumer demand;
- enforcing the law on any illicit market actors defying FDA authority;
- driving down underage use through active oversight of regulated industry;
- educating adult consumers on the benefits of FDA-authorized smoke-free products over cigarettes; and
- taking illicit markets seriously when considering any policies that limit, rather than expand, adult consumer choice.
Key Issues For Us
Here are our most important policy priorities, our rationale for engaging on these issues and specific examples of how we engaged on them in 2024.
1 FDA, "Nicotine: The Addictive Chemical in Tobacco Products."
3 Wackowski, Olivia, et al. Perceptions about levels of harmful chemicals in e-cigarettes relative to cigarettes, and associations with relative e-cigarette harm perceptions, e-cigarette use and interest. Addiction. 23 May 2023; Delnevo, Cristine, et al. Communication Between US Physicians and Patients Regarding Electronic Cigarette Use. JAMA. 15 April 2022.
4 National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2015). Understanding the U.S. illicit tobacco market: Characteristics, policy context, and lessons from international experiences. National Academies Press.