FDA moves to cut nicotine from cigarettes, in plan first floated under Trump

The Food and Drug Administration is moving to cut out addictive nicotine from cigarettes, according to a long-awaited proposed regulation released Wednesday.

The rule aims to force the nearly 12% of Americans still using combustible tobacco products to switch to less dangerous alternatives, like vaping electronic cigarettes or using nicotine lozenges, while ending rates of youth starting to smoke traditional cigarettes.

"The proposed product standard would limit the addictiveness of the most toxic and widely used tobacco products, which would have significant public health benefits for all age groups," the agency wrote in the proposed rule.