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Cite as: 529 U. S. 120 (2000)

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Breyer, J., dissenting

pajamas to recognize that the chemical nicotine, an impor-
tant tobacco ingredient, meets this test.

Although I now oversimplify, the FDA has determined
that once nicotine enters the body, the blood carries it almost
immediately to the brain. See 61 Fed. Reg. 44698–44699
(1966). Nicotine then binds to receptors on the surface of
brain cells, setting off a series of chemical reactions that
alter one’s mood and produce feelings of sedation and stimu-
lation. See id., at 44699, 44739. Nicotine also increases the
number of nicotinic receptors on the brain’s surface, and al-
ters its normal electrical activity. See id., at 44739. And
nicotine stimulates the transmission of a natural chemical
that “rewards” the body with pleasurable sensations (dopa-
mine), causing nicotine addiction. See id., at 44700, 44721–
44722. The upshot is that nicotine stabilizes mood, sup-
presses appetite, tranquilizes, and satisﬁes a physical craving
that nicotine itself has helped to create—all through chemical
action within the body after being metabolized.

This physiology—and not simply smoker psychology—
helps to explain why as many as 75% of adult smokers be-
lieve that smoking “reduce[s] nervous irritation,” 60 Fed.
Reg. 41579 (1995); why 73% of young people (10- to 22-year-
olds) who begin smoking say they do so for “relaxation,” 61
Fed. Reg. 44814 (1996); and why less than 3% of smokers
succeed in quitting each year, although 70% want to quit, id.,
at 44704. That chemistry also helps to explain the Surgeon
General’s ﬁndings that smokers believe “smoking [makes
them] feel better” and smoke more “in situations involving
negative mood.”
Id., at 44814. And, for present purposes,
that chemistry demonstrates that nicotine affects the “struc-
ture” and “function” of the body in a manner that is quite simi-
lar to the effects of other regulated substances. See id., at
44667 (FDA regulates Valium, NoDoz, weight-loss products).
Indeed, addiction, sedation, stimulation, and weight loss are
precisely the kinds of product effects that the FDA typically
reviews and controls. And, since the nicotine in cigarettes