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Each year, 480,000 people die prematurely from a smoking-attributed disease, making tobacco use the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Nearly all these adverse health effects are ultimately the result of addiction to the nicotine in combusted tobacco products, leading to repeated exposure to toxicants from those products. Nicotine is powerfully addictive. The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that 87 percent of adult smokers start smoking before age 18, and half of adult smokers become addicted before age 18. This proposed rule is a tobacco product standard that would establish a maximum nicotine level in cigarettes and certain finished tobacco products. Because tobacco-related harms primarily result from addiction to products that repeatedly expose users to toxins, FDA would take this action to reduce addictiveness to certain tobacco products, thus giving addicted users a greater ability to quit. This product standard would also help to prevent experimenters (mainly youth) from initiating regular use, and, therefore, from becoming regular smokers. The proposed product standard is anticipated to benefit the population as a whole while also advancing health equity by addressing disparities associated with cigarette smoking, dependence, and cessation.