Biden admin working to effectively ban cigarettes in 11th hour proposal a 'gift' to cartels, expert

[mountaineer]

Biden admin working to effectively ban cigarettes in 11th hour proposal a 'gift' to cartels, expert says
Lowering nicotine levels in cigarettes would be a 'a gift with a bow and balloons to organized crime cartels,' former ATF official says
By Emma Colton Fox News
Published January 7, 2025 9:22am EST

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving forward with a regulatory rule in the final days of the Biden administration that would effectively ban cigarettes currently on the market in favor of products with lower nicotine levels, which could end up boosting business for cartels operating on the black market, an expert tells Fox News Digital.

"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 of the proposal.

The FDA confirmed to Fox Digital on Monday that as of Jan. 3, the Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products had completed a regulatory review, but that the proposed rule has not yet been finalized. ...

Lowering the levels of nicotine in commonly purchased cigarettes and other tobacco products would open the floodgates to the illicit trafficking of tobacco products into the U.S., Marianos told Fox News Digital.

"This decision is being thrown down the public's throat without one ounce of thought and preparation. Nobody sat down with law enforcement, nobody sat down with any doctors, No one sat down with any regulators to find out, ‘Hey, look, what are the unintended ramifications of such a poor choice,’ and that's what I'm going to call it, a poor choice," Marianos said.  ...

[libertybele]

What'll Joe think of next??

[SZonian]

But weed and shrooms are just fine...

[libertybele]

But weed and shrooms are just fine...

The larger problem with the cartel is fentanyl --  maybe ole Joe could do something about that in his 11th hour.

[Wingnut]

They tried to ban Salem and Newports.  How'd that work out. 

[andy58-in-nh]

They tried to ban Salem and Newports.  How'd that work out.

More black men just voted for Trump than for any other Republican in recent memory. That's how that worked out.

[jmyrlefuller]

I can't help thinking... one of the weird correlations of the last few decades is that the more taxes and bans there have been on cigarette smoking, the higher the obesity rate has risen. Tobacco smoke is a known stimulant.

So it's telling that it's now, only after we have semaglutide drugs coming onto the market making weight loss so much easier, that we now are taking another crack at smoking bans.

Good luck enforcing that on reservations, by the way.

[rangerrebew]

 Biden admin working to effectively ban cigarettes in 11th hour proposal a 'gift' to cartels, expert says
Story by Emma Colton • 21h


The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving forward with a regulatory rule in the final days of the Biden administration that would effectively ban cigarettes currently on the market in favor of products with lower nicotine levels, which could end up boosting business for cartels operating on the black market, an expert tells Fox News Digital.
 
"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 of the proposal.

The FDA confirmed to Fox Digital on Monday that as of Jan. 3, the Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products had completed a regulatory review, but that the proposed rule has not yet been finalized.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/biden-admin-working-to-effectively-ban-cigarettes-in-11th-hour-proposal-a-gift-to-cartels-expert-says/ar-AA1x6YGv?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=4f09b072109e43ac83a57243dea72093&ei=132

[rangerrebew]

GO FOR IT!!!!!  It will be a gift to republicans too!

[DCPatriot]

My brother from Western New York (Village of Hamburg) is arriving in Maryland this morning, but says he's first stopping in Leesburg, Virginia to buy cigarettes...

...because they're $150. @ carton in NY State!!

I remember vending machines in the 60's when they were 27 cents @pack.  Put in 30 cents and there were 3 pennies tucked inside the cellophane wrapper.

The Democrats say the price increases are for...WAIT FOR IT...schools and roads. 

[mountaineer]

Somehow - and this is just speculation, mind you - I suspect the Indian tribes will be exempted from any and all such regulation.

[mystery-ak]

Biden Pursues Lame-Duck War on Nicotine as Tobacco Users Flocked to Trump

Sean Moran 8 Jan 2025

The Biden administration has pushed a regulation that would effectively ban cigarettes on the market as tobacco users have flocked to Trump during the 2024 presidential election.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is finalizing a rule that would lower the levels of nicotine to lower the potential addictiveness of the tobacco products.

While Biden administrators believe it may attempt to reduce tobacco use, others believe that it may only boost criminals’ money by incentivizing a black market for 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. It’s going to keep America smoking, and it’s going to make the streets more violent,” Rich Marianos, the former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, said about the proposal.

The forthcoming regulation also raises questions about how it could potentially harm Democrats’ electoral chances, given that tobacco users flocked to Trump during the presidential election.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/01/08/biden-pursues-lame-duck-war-on-nicotine-as-tobacco-users-flocked-to-trump/

[Elderberry]

American Military News by  Timothy Frudd 1/7/2025

An expert recently warned that the Biden-Harris administration’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advancing a new rule that would ban most cigarettes currently available in stores and would require cigarettes to feature lower nicotine levels, which he believes would be a “gift” to drug cartels and other criminal organizations controlling the black market.

Rich Marianos, chairman of the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network and former assistant director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told Fox News, “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.”

Marianos warned Fox News that if the Biden-Harris administration lowers the legal level of nicotine in cigarettes and other tobacco products, illegal tobacco trafficking will likely skyrocket in the United States.

“This decision is being thrown down the public’s throat without one ounce of thought and preparation. Nobody sat down with law enforcement, nobody sat down with any doctors,” Marianos said. “No one sat down with any regulators to find out, ‘Hey, look, what are the unintended ramifications of such a poor choice,’ and that’s what I’m going to call it, a poor choice.”

More: https://americanmilitarynews.com/2025/01/biden-harris-admin-expected-to-issue-cigarette-ban/

[Smokin Joe]

DO the Democrats really want to face the 20% or so of the electorate that smokes having a nicotine fit?
The founders fought over tea, another brown plant leaf product...

[jmyrlefuller]

DO the Democrats really want to face the 20% or so of the electorate that smokes having a nicotine fit?
The founders fought over tea, another brown plant leaf product...

Yes. They want the plebs rioting, as an excuse for the next lockdown.