Today’s Big Story

America Just Kinda Banned Cigarettes

A new rule by the FDA could change smoking as we know it

Nicotine levels in cigarettes sold in the U.S. would have to be drastically lowered under a proposal released Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration. If finalized, the change would mean that cigarettes would lose their ability to hook most people into addiction.

As The Atlantic points out, “no drug is quite like nicotine. When it hits your bloodstream, you’re sent on a ride of double euphoria: an immediate jolt of adrenaline, like a strong cup of coffee injected directly into your brain, along with the calming effect of a beer. Nicotine is what gets people hooked on cigarettes, despite their health risks and putrid smell.” And it’s, in essence, what cigarette companies are selling, and what they’ve always been selling. Without nicotine, a cigarette is just smoldering leaves wrapped in some fancy paper.

The average cigarette nowadays is estimated to have roughly 17 milligrams of the drug. Under the new regulation, that would fall to less than one milligram. If enacted—still a big if—it would decimate the demand for cigarettes more effectively than any public-service announcement ever could.

The idea behind the proposal is, of course, to make cigarettes nonaddictive. One recent study found that some young people begin feeling the symptoms of nicotine addiction within a matter of days after starting to smoke. In 2022, roughly half of adult smokers tried to quit, but fewer than 10% were ultimately successful.

“By reducing the nicotine level of cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products to a level low enough to no longer create or sustain addiction, the cycle of exposure to these toxic chemicals can be broken,” Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, told NBC News during a briefing with reporters.

The FDA’s proposal does not include e-cigarettes, other vape products, hookahs, smokeless tobacco products or nicotine replacement pouches. It’s focusing only on smoking because when tobacco is burned, it releases toxins known to cause cancer, heart disease and other chronic illnesses. According to the CDC, smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans each year.

L.A. Fire Updates

Crews improve containment on Palisades, Eaton fires as winds die down

The Santa Ana winds have died down across the Greater Los Angeles area, helping firefighters bring almost 40,000 acres of ongoing wildfires under control. As of Thursday evening, the blazes have killed at least 27 people and swept through residential communities, destroying more than 12,300 structures and forcing thousands of people to evacuate.

The causes of the fires remain unknown, but investigators are focusing on a specific scorched slope to discover the origins of the largest blaze, the Palisades Fire. Experts and arson investigators told CNN it could take months or even longer before they know precisely how the fires ignited. The Palisades Fire is around 27% contained, while the Eaton Fire is 55% contained. As firefighters continue to make progress on the fires burning in Southern California, the threat of landslides is becoming a growing risk in areas where vegetation was destroyed.

Some mandatory evacuation zones were opened to residents only on Thursday afternoon, but most L.A. County residents must wait at least another week before they can return to their houses to survey damage. EPA teams are now beginning household hazardous materials removal.

Biden Won’t Enforce TikTok Ban

That leaves the fate of the app in the hands of President-elect Trump

This TikTok situation is a mess. President Joe Biden told officials on Thursday that his administration won’t enforce a ban on the social media app that is set to take effect a day before he leaves office on Monday. That leaves the fate of the app in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump.

“Our position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership. Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement,” a White House official told ABC News in a statement. And the reality is that both presidents have limited options to put the ban on hold. The law states the president can grant a one-time extension delaying the ban for up to 90 days under three very specific conditions: TikTok must show it's on a “path to executing” a divesture from its Chinese owner; there must be “evidence of significant progress” toward a sale; and that progress must be sealed with “relevant binding legal agreements.”

Incoming President Donald Trump, who once tried to ban TikTok by executive order, has said he wants to “save” TikTok—potentially putting his Justice Department in the position of not enforcing a federal law. There is evidence of Trump’s ties to TikTok: the video app’s CEO Shou Zi Chew will be a guest of honor at his swearing-in, and the company is sponsoring an inauguration party for influencers.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Severance’ + a Ghia Le Spritz

If the image of Adam Scott frantically screaming “She’s ALIVE!” in the ending moments of Severance’s first-season finale is seared into the trauma center of your brain, you are very much not alone. It’s been almost three years since Seth Milchick tackled Dylan G. and cut the Overtime Contingency short, and the fate of our sweet, naïve innies has been hanging in the balance ever since, taking up space in our minds and hearts.

But now the Apple TV+ drama has finally returned and its makers seem to have used every second of that long absence productively. The season takes new turns while remaining the most ambitious, batty and all-out pleasurable show on TV, an M.C. Escher maze whose plot convolutions never get in the way of its voice, heart and sense of humor. The New York Times says it will “blow your mind” while other critics call it “gripping, mind-bending masterpiece.” So grab a drink and get ready to be entertained.

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