Ideas worth spreading

The past, present and future of nicotine addiction

2,370,782 views |

Mitch Zeller |

TEDxMidAtlantic

• March 2019

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, killing more people each year than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murder and suicide combined. Follow health policy expert Mitch Zeller into the murky depths of the tobacco industry as he details the sordid history of nicotine addiction -- and invites us to imagine a world where policy change helps stop people from becoming addicted in the first place.

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, killing more people each year than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murder and suicide combined. Follow health policy expert Mitch Zeller into the murky depths of the tobacco industry as he details the sordid history of nicotine addiction -- and invites us to imagine a world where policy change helps stop people from becoming addicted in the first place.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxMidAtlantic, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Learn more about the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) and its mission to protect Americans from tobacco-related death and disease.

About the speaker

Mitch Zeller

Health policy expert

See speaker profile

Mitch Zeller leads the US Food and Drug Administration's efforts to reduce disease and death from tobacco use and bring previously unavailable information about its dangers to light.

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Youth Tobacco Use: Results from the National Youth Tobacco Survey

FDA and CDC releases yearly findings from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS). The NYTS report examines youth behaviors and use of various tobacco products in the US market.

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FDA and Scholastic developed an educational program to help students understand the dangers of e-cigarette use. This co-branded effort provides high school teachers and school administrators resources to inform students on the health risks of vaping.

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The Exchange Lab

The Exchange Lab is an online repository that provides free, science-based tobacco use prevention and retailer education materials, along with web content that communicates the harms of tobacco use.

Benjamin Apelberg | New England Journal of Medicine, 2018 | Article

"Potential Public Health Effects of Reducing Nicotine Levels in Cigarettes in the United States"

Scott Gottlieb, M.D. and Mitchell Zeller, J.D. | New England Journal of Medicine, 2017 | Article

"A Nicotine-Focused Framework for Public Health"

Michael Fiore and Timothy Baker | New England Journal of Medicine, 2015 | Article

"Reduced-Nicotine Cigarettes — A Promising Regulatory Pathway"

US Food and Drug Administration | Explore

"Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act - An Overview"

Charles Evans, Jr. | 2011 | Watch

Addiction Incorporated

David Kessler | PublicAffairs, 2001 | Book

A Question of Intent: A Great American Battle with a Deadly Industry

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxMidAtlantic, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Learn more about the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) and its mission to protect Americans from tobacco-related death and disease.