00:12:24.760The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes and move smokers toward potentially less harmful e-cigarettes
00:12:32.440in a major regulatory shift announced on Friday that sent tobacco stocks plunging.
00:12:38.120FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb outlined a package of measures the agency plans to explore,
00:12:44.020embracing the idea that e-cigarettes may benefit public health by reducing smoking rates.
00:12:49.240Quote, nicotine itself is not responsible for the cancer.
00:12:52.880The lung disease and heart disease that kill hundreds of thousands of Americans each year, he said.
00:12:59.300It's the other chemical compounds in the tobacco and in the smoke created by setting tobacco on fire that directly cause illness of death.