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The Regulatory Archipelago: How Fragmented Governance Creates Nicotine Policy Chaos
Nicotine is regulated by a patchwork of agencies—FDA, FTC, ATF, state governments, international bodies. The fragmentation creates gaps, overlaps, and contradictions. The regulatory archipelago serves no one well.
The FDA regulates nicotine as a tobacco product. The FTC regulates nicotine advertising. The ATF regulates some nicotine products (cigars). State governments regulate retail, taxation, and enforcement. International bodies (WHO, FCTC) set norms. **The result: a regulatory archipelago—fragmented, overlapping, and contradictory. No single agency has a comprehensive view of the nicotine consumer. No single framework coordinates the regulatory response. The archipelago is not a system. It's an accident of history.**
