Ending tobacco-caused mortality and morbidity: the case for performance standards for tobacco products

The US Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provide us with powerful tools to reduce the death and disease caused by the use of tobacco products. One tool that can contribute substantially toward this goal is the authority to establish performance standards for tobacco products. Conjointly with reducing levels of nicotine in cigarettes, performance and quality control standards need to be established for non-combusted tobacco products. Performance standards and incentives should be provided so that tobacco companies are compelled to manufacture and market products with very low or almost non-existent toxicity (eg, nicotine-only products).