Harm Reduction Opportunity

Despite smoking rates declining to historical lows in the United States¹, millions of adults continue to smoke. While the best choice for adults who smoke is to quit, there are millions who can’t or won’t quit. That’s why we believe we must complement traditional strategies of decreasing initiation and increasing cessation with harm reduction strategies focused on transitioning adults who smoke to innovative smoke-free products authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

By focusing on transitioning adults who smoke to FDA authorized, smoke-free alternatives, like modern oral nicotine pouches, e-vapor products, heated tobacco products, and smokeless tobacco, we can dramatically reduce the harm associated with tobacco products.

FDA and other public health authorities agree that there is a broad "continuum of risk" among tobacco products, with combustible cigarettes at the highest end of that spectrum and complete cessation at the lowest end. ^2-6

While there may be differences in risk profiles between specific smoke-free products, it will take years of epidemiology to quantify those differences.

The body of evidence, does however, indicate a profound risk differential between combustible and smoke-free product categories as a whole. Data suggest that a two dimensional "Risk Cliff" model is a useful description of the relative risk between combusted and smoke-free products.

With millions of adults who smoke interested in smoke-free products, they deserve to have access to a portfolio of FDA authorized products. In fact, our research estimates that 53 percent of adult tobacco consumers ages 21+ are interested in completely switching from cigarettes to a smoke-free tobacco product.⁷ A growing body of evidence shows that smoke-free products are an effective way to help adults who smoke transition away from cigarettes and may be more effective than traditional NRTs.^8-12

At Altria, we are focused on advancing a harm reduction strategy for the millions of adults who smoke. Through our rigorous scientific framework, we are developing the science and evidence to bring FDA-authorized smoke-free products for adults who smoke.