The Biden administration is moving forward with plans to mandate lower nicotine levels in cigarettes in the final days of President Biden’s term, according to a new report, which critics say could cause Americans to smoke more and fuel organized crime cartels.
The plan, which is touted as a way to reduce the ability of cigarettes to hook casual users, cleared a regulatory review last week by the Food and Drug Administration, the agency told Fox News.
But opponents argue that the change could cause current smokers to use more cigarettes to compensate for the lower nicotine levels, negatively impacting their health, and that the plan could open an opportunity for black-market sales of standard-strength cigarettes.
Biden’s ban is a gift with a bow and balloons to organized crime cartels with it, whether it’s cartels, Chinese organized crime, or Russian mafia,” Rich Marianos, a former assistant director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told Fox News.
“It’s going to keep America smoking, and it’s going to make the streets more violent,” Marianos said.
It’s unclear if the FDA will issue a proposed rule outlining the looming regulation before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.
Plans for the reform were announced in 2022 and the formal proposed rule had been expected in 2023. It’s unclear what accounts for the delay, though the FDA similarly has been slow to implement a ban on menthol cigarettes, which also was unveiled in 2022.
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