An expert has recently raised concerns that the Biden-Harris administration’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is implementing a new rule that would prohibit most cigarettes currently on store shelves while mandating lower nicotine levels. This expert believes such a move would serve as a “gift” to drug cartels and other criminal enterprises 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, conveyed to Fox News, “Biden’s ban is a present wrapped with a bow for organized crime cartels, whether they are from Mexico, China, or Russia. It will perpetuate smoking in America and escalate violence on the streets.”
Marianos cautioned Fox News that should the Biden-Harris administration reduce the legal nicotine levels in cigarettes and other tobacco products, there could be a significant surge in illegal tobacco trafficking across the United States.
“This decision is being forced upon the public without any consideration or preparation. There has been no consultation with law enforcement or health professionals,” Marianos stated. “No one has discussed the potential unintended consequences of such a misguided choice, which I firmly believe it is—a misguided choice.”
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Marianos elaborated to Fox News that Mexican drug cartels could replicate their methods for smuggling fentanyl and other illegal drugs by trafficking in illegal tobacco products across the southern border. He also pointed out that Chinese and Russian criminal organizations are already established in the U.S. and could exploit the increased black market opportunities stemming from stricter tobacco regulations.
According to Fox News, the FDA confirmed on Monday that the Tobacco Product Standard of Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products has completed the regulatory review process as of January 3; however, the new regulation has yet to be finalized.
“The proposed rule, ‘Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products,’ is reflected in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) ROCIS system as having completed the regulatory review on January 3,” an FDA spokesperson stated.
The FDA spokesperson added, “As previously indicated, a proposed product standard aimed at establishing a maximum nicotine level to decrease the addictiveness of cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products, once finalized, is expected to be one of the most significant population-level initiatives in the history of U.S. tobacco regulation. At this point, the FDA cannot provide further comments until it is officially published.”