New proposed Food and Drug Administration rules could mark the biggest change to tobacco regulation since Congress mandated warning labels on cigarettes in 1970. The proposals would require tobacco companies to reduce the nicotine content in smoking products. The FDA would not specify how much the nicotine content would have to be reduced other than to say, “Significantly.” Advances in tobacco plant genetic modification have allowed scientists to lower nicotine content, as have leeching techniques, not unlike coffee decaffeination. Some question the potential effectiveness of the proposed changes, fearing that if nicotine is reduced significantly, long time adult smokers may seek black market alternatives to get their nicotine fix. As a part of the tobacco regulation proposal, the FDA also wants to further study smokeless alternatives, like nicotine patches and vaping. Critics maintain the FDA has been slow to realize the benefits of vaping and e-cigarettes. A British government study found an increase in vaping has been matched by a corresponding decrease in smoking. It also found strong evidence that vaping has been highly effective in helping people quit smoking. British researchers also found that e-cigarettes are 95 percent safer than smoking. While the FDA embarks on the vaping study, it has simultaneously launched an educational ad campaign to dissuade children and teens from vaping.