Title 21Food and DrugsRelease 119-73

§387r Drug products used to treat tobacco dependence

Title 21 › Chapter CHAPTER 9— - FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IX— - TOBACCO PRODUCTS › § 387r

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must consider letting smoking-cessation products, including nicotine replacement, get fast-track review if an applicant asks. The Secretary must also consider allowing longer use of nicotine replacement products (like patches, gum, and lozenges) to treat tobacco dependence and review evidence for other uses, such as easing cravings or preventing relapse. Within 3 years after June 22, 2009, the Secretary must work with scientific and public health experts (including federal agencies, the Institute of Medicine, and the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco) and send Congress a report on how best to regulate and encourage new nicotine and non-nicotine treatments to achieve total abstinence, cut tobacco use, and reduce harm. The report must say how the FDA should share and coordinate information with NIH, CDC, and other agencies.

Full Legal Text

Title 21, §387r

Food and Drugs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary shall—
(1)at the request of the applicant, consider designating products for smoking cessation, including nicotine replacement products as fast track research and approval products within the meaning of section 356 of this title;
(2)consider approving the extended use of nicotine replacement products (such as nicotine patches, nicotine gum, and nicotine lozenges) for the treatment of tobacco dependence; and
(3)review and consider the evidence for additional indications for nicotine replacement products, such as for craving relief or relapse prevention.
(b)(1)Not later than 3 years after June 22, 2009, the Secretary, after consultation with recognized scientific, medical, and public health experts (including both Federal agencies and nongovernmental entities, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco), shall submit to the Congress a report that examines how best to regulate, promote, and encourage the development of innovative products and treatments (including nicotine-based and non-nicotine-based products and treatments) to better achieve, in a manner that best protects and promotes the public health—
(A)total abstinence from tobacco use;
(B)reductions in consumption of tobacco; and
(C)reductions in the harm associated with continued tobacco use.
(2)The report under paragraph (1) shall include the recommendations of the Secretary on how the Food and Drug Administration should coordinate and facilitate the exchange of information on such innovative products and treatments among relevant offices and centers within the Administration and within the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other relevant agencies.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Modification of Deadlines for Secretarial ActionWith respect to any time periods specified in an amendment by div. A of Pub. L. 111–31 that begin on June 22, 2009, within which the Secretary of Health and Human Services is required to carry out and complete specified activities, with certain limitations, the calculation of such time periods shall commence on the first day of the first fiscal quarter following the initial 2 consecutive fiscal quarters of fiscal year 2010 for which the Secretary has collected fees under section 387s of this title, and the Secretary may extend or reduce the duration of one or more such time periods, except that no such period shall be extended for more than 90 days, see section 6 of Pub. L. 111–31, set out as a note under section 387 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

21 U.S.C. § 387r

Title 21Food and Drugs

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73