The US government is aiming to cut nicotine in cigarettes to “non-addictive” levels, hoping to push smokers toward potentially less harmful e-cigarettes.

In announcing its plan, the Food and Drug Administration said tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, causing more than 480,000 deaths every single year.

“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,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told NPR. “Unless we change course, 5.6m young people alive today will die prematurely later in life from tobacco use.”

This is the first time the government has sought to regulate the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. The FDA can neither reduce nicotine levels to zero, nor can it ban cigarettes.

During his Senate confirmation hearing in April to become FDA commissioner, Mr Gottlieb said some e-cigarettes may have the potential to wean smokers off combustible cigarettes and be less harmful.

Public health advocates continue to debate whether e-cigarettes represent a health risk or potential benefit. The FDA has given makers of this newer nicotine-delivery system more time to comply with a 2016 rule that gave the agency oversight over their products, meaning e-cigarettes can be on the market longer without being regulated.

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“While there's still much research to be done on these products and the risks that they may pose, they may also present benefits that we must consider,” Mr Gottlieb said.

Mr Gottlieb was expected by many to be friendly to the e-cigarette industry, as he previously held a financial interest in a so-called “vape” shop called Kure.