The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has come up with a targeted plan to reduce nicotine in cigarettes to make them less addictive, according to a news release July 28.

The FDA plans to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes to non-addictive levels and encourage alternative, less-harmful tobacco products in a “multi-year roadmap,” which is intended as a corollary to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

Read: E-Cigarettes Users More Likely To Quit Smoking, Study Finds

Passed in 2009, the act gives the FDA authority to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes. According to the news release, the FDA contended that nicotine is most harmful when it is consumed through combustible cigarettes.

“The overwhelming amount of death and disease attributable to tobacco is caused by addiction to cigarettes – the only legal consumer product that, when used as intended, will kill half of all long-term users,” Scott Gottlieb, the FDA commissioner, said.

“Unless we change course, 5.6 million young people alive today will die prematurely later in life from tobacco use. Envisioning a world where cigarettes would no longer create or sustain addiction, and where adults who still need or want nicotine could get it from alternative and less harmful sources, needs to be the cornerstone of our efforts – and we believe it’s vital that we pursue this common ground,” he pointed out.

The statement also announced the FDA was delaying the implementation of strict regulation of e-cigarettes and cigars in an effort to provide smokers with a less harmful nicotine delivery system.

Health professionals skeptical about the approach felt that powerful tobacco company lobbyists could derail the effort and take advantage of the delay in regulation.

“The only actual thing that is happening right away is the delay,” pointed Dave Dobbins, CEO of Truth Initiative – a non-profit organisation dedicated to combating tobacco use.

“There’s no excuse for not regulating those products as quickly as possible,” he added, the Washington Post reported.

Mathew Myers, the president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, however, called the new approach “bold and comprehensive,” but said the regulation delay for e-cigarettes was "a serious error," CBC News reported.

Robert West, a professor of health psychology at University College London, said the idea of gradually reducing nicotine from cigarettes looked attractive on the surface but may not work out, the Guardian reported.

“Unless nicotine is pretty much eliminated quickly and comprehensively in all available tobacco products – which seems unlikely – it runs a serious risk of making things worse as smokers smoke cigarettes harder in order to get the nicotine they need, leading to more exposure to the harmful tar,” he said.

Read: World No Tobacco Day 2017 Quotes: 10 Motivational Sayings That Will Help You Quit Smoking

This effort is designed to combat the fact that every day 2,500 young people smoke their first cigarette, with 90 percent of adult smokers having their first cigarette before the age of 18. Lower nicotine levels would make it easier to quit and reduce the likelihood of getting addicted.

Responsible for 480,000 deaths a year in the U.S. alone, tobacco remains the number one cause of preventable diseases and deaths in the country. Its monetary toll is thought to be about $300 billion a year including health care costs and lost productivity.

The announcement took a toll on traditional cigarette companies’ stocks, according to reports by CBC News and the Washington Post.

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