The Escalating Threat – The Growing Push For State Level Nicotine Restrictions & Generational Tobacco Bans

Cigar Rights of America (CRA) has been hard at work fighting against Generational Tobacco Ban (GTB) policies since they were first introduced at the state level in 2023. While GTB proposals continue to gain traction through normalization and introduction in states across the country, the expansion of these initiatives along with more restrictive regulatory proposals reflects a broader acceptance of extreme regulatory policies being pushed by anti-tobacco advocates. Last week, these extreme measures took another step forward when SB 1165 was introduced in Hawaii’s legislature – this bill would establish state-level limits on nicotine content in tobacco products. This introduction represents a watershed moment in tobacco control policy. This first-of-its-kind state legislation could set a precedent for other states to follow, potentially at an even faster pace than GTB policies.

While these initial efforts are unlikely to succeed, it is critical to remember that it was only three years between the first municipal indoor smoking ban and a federal ban on smoking on flights, demonstrating how quickly anti-smoking legislation can propagate. 

The Rapid Rise of Tobacco Free Generation Policies

The GTB concept, which aims to prohibit the sale of tobacco products to individuals born after a certain date, first gained traction in the United States when Brookline, Massachusetts became the first place in the world to introduce and adopt the policy in 2020. Hawaii and California became the first two states to introduce statewide GTB bills in 2023. This was quickly followed by Nevada, and then Tennessee in early 2024 While Brookline’s implementation of the GTB was delayed by litigation, it was successfully implemented in March 2024. From there, in less than a year’s time two bills were introduced in the Massachusett’s General Court to take the policy statewide. The movement from municipal to state-level consideration has occurred in a remarkably compressed timeframe, suggesting an accelerated path for future tobacco control measures.

Nicotine Limits in Combustible Tobacco Products

Another emerging trend in tobacco control is the focus on reducing nicotine levels in combustible tobacco products. In January 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a rule that would require tobacco manufacturers to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes and certain other combustible tobacco products to minimally or non-addictive levels. While the proposed rule is focused on moving people away from addiction to combustible tobacco products, the FDA’s proposed rule has also raised concerns about potential unintended consequences such as the consumption of unregulated and illicit products to obtain higher nicotine levels.

Thanks to the work of CRA leading the fight in federal court against the FDA’s regulation of premium cigars, premium cigars are carved out from the proposed federal regulation. However, the first state level nicotine limit law has just been introduced in Hawaii (SB 116), and does not contain the same protections for premium cigars. 

While federal tobacco control initiatives often dominate public attention, state-level policies may actually pose a more significant threat to the tobacco industry for several reasons. Unlike federal regulation under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&CA), which prohibits de facto tobacco bans, states face no such restrictions. This legal environment provides states with broader latitude to implement more aggressive control measures. State legislatures can move with significantly greater speed than the federal government. While federal regulatory changes often involve years of deliberation and legal challenges, states can enact sweeping changes within a single legislative session or push the decision down to municipal boards of health. This agility makes state-level threats more immediate and harder to counter.

It is through this lens that the state nicotine legislation is so concerning. The potential rapid spread of nicotine limit regulations have the ability to outpace the implementation of GTB policies for several key reasons. First, the mere existence of GTB policies has already shifted the Overton window, broadening public and legislative acceptance of increasingly stringent tobacco control measures. As a result, policies that once seemed extreme are now viewed as more reasonable and as a result, become more achievable. Additionally, nicotine limits may be perceived as a more moderate and less intrusive alternative compared to the outright prohibition of tobacco sales for future generations. This perception makes them more palatable to both policymakers and the public. Furthermore, the technical and regulatory nature of nicotine limits may encounter less public resistance, as they are often framed within the context of public health and scientific justification rather than outright bans, which can trigger stronger opposition and debate.

However, the impact of nicotine limits could be more severe than GTB policies, particularly for the premium cigar industry. Invariably, the industry would face an effective immediate ban under strict nicotine limits because these proposals would focus on nicotine levels in the cigar, not the amount absorbed by the human body. 

While premium cigars have high levels of nicotine on net due to the volume of tobacco in them, the fermentation process during production and their consumption patterns results in far less nicotine becoming bioavailable in the consumer. Further, because of premium cigars’ all-natural ingredients, and the high degree of chemical processing or genetic manipulation needed to create low nicotine products, there isn’t a plausible way for premium cigars to comply with this type of regulation.  

Conclusion

Emerging trends in tobacco control in the United States reflect a growing momentum towards comprehensive strategies to reduce tobacco use and protect public health. Nicotine-free generation policies and nicotine limits in combustible tobacco products represent significant departures from traditional approaches, aiming to prevent future generations from enjoying premium cigars because of overly-expansive legislation. The interplay between state and federal regulations adds another layer of complexity to this landscape, with states often taking the lead in implementing novel tobacco-control measures which tend to spread extremely quickly. CRA will remain committed to fighting for your right to enjoy premium cigars across the states and on Capitol Hill.