The Biden administration is considering a revival of former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s plan to reduce nicotine in cigarettes, according to the Wall Street Journal. The White House and FDA must also decide soon whether to ban menthol flavoring in cigarettes.
Proposing either policy would almost certainly lead to years of legal challenges from the tobacco industry. Meanwhile, anti-nicotine activists will be busy fighting to eliminate the alternative product most attractive for smokers to migrate to: flavored e-cigarettes.
In the end, all three policy choices—banning menthol cigarettes and flavored vapes, and reducing nicotine in cigarettes—would create black markets. An illicit market in high-nicotine cigarettes could be big enough to attract and revitalize major organized crime syndicates.
News of the potential actions by the Biden White House drove cigarette stocks down Monday afternoon, with Marlboro manufacturer Altria’s value declining more than six percent.
Jim McDonald – Vaping360 – 2021-04-20.
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