President Biden's FDA is seeking to ban cigarettes with higher levels of nicotine. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
"Multiple administrations have acknowledged the immense opportunity that a proposal of this kind offers to address the burden of tobacco-related disease," said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. "Today’s proposal envisions a future where it would be less likely for young people to use cigarettes and more individuals who currently smoke could quit or switch to less harmful products. This action, if finalized, could save many lives and dramatically reduce the burden of severe illness and disability, while also saving huge amounts of money. I hope we can all agree that significantly reducing the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S. is an admirable goal we should all work toward."
The FDA's press release states that "the proposed rule would not ban cigarettes or any other tobacco products," and instead "cap the nicotine level at 0.7 milligrams per gram of tobacco in cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products, which is significantly lower than the average concentration in these products on the market today."
Fox News Digital reported earlier this month, when the rule cleared an FDA regulatory review, that if nicotine levels in cigarettes are lowered under federal regulation, experts say cartels running black market sales of cigarettes will likely benefit.
"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. It's going to keep America smoking, and it's going to make the streets more violent," Rich Marianos, former assistant director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the current chair of the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, told Fox News Digital earlier this month.
Marianos said that criminal groups would likely quickly catch on to the proposal if it takes effect and subsequently amplify their tobacco operations – which he says will serve as an economic boon for the criminals.
Americans who want to purchase cigarettes with higher levels of nicotine would then need to go through the illicit channels to obtain them, similar to buying "loosie" cigarettes on the streets of New York, putting average Americans at further criminal risk while also offering them cigarettes that are not regulated and originating from foreign nations.
BIDEN ADMIN FACING CONGRESSIONAL PROBE OVER PROPOSED BAN ON MENTHOL CIGARETTES
The Biden administration pushing the cigarette rule at the 11th hour of his administration comes after its previous effort to ban menthol cigarettes in what was described as a "critical" piece of President Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative. The administration announced last year, however, it was abruptly delaying such regulations as the public decried the move. A handful of groups argued that banning menthol unfairly targeted minority communities, while others argued the ban would open the floodgates to illicit menthol sales.
The Biden administration pushing the cigarette rule at the 11th hour of his administration comes after its previous effort to ban menthol cigarettes in what was described as a "critical" piece of President Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative. (Getty Images)
The FDA announced in 2022 plans for the proposed rule that would lower levels of nicotine so they are less addictive or non-addictive.
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"Lowering nicotine levels to minimally addictive or non-addictive levels would decrease the likelihood that future generations of young people become addicted to cigarettes and help more currently addicted smokers to quit," FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said at the time.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-plows-ahead-11th-hour-plan-effectively-ban-cigarettes