Dr. Jeffrey Singer comments on recent push for the reduction of nicotine content in cigarettes from the Biden Administration:
Right before the end of the Biden Administration, the Biden FDA is launching a barrage of assaults on adult autonomy. First the FDA decided adults may no longer consume products with red dye No. 3. Now it proposes to order a reduction of the nicotine content of cigarettes to 0.7 mg /gram of filler (conventional cigarettes have 16.2–26.3 mg of nicotine/gram of filler). This effectively bans nicotine from cigarettes and amounts to de facto tobacco cigarette and cigar prohibition, reminiscent of the Volstead Act of 1919 (alcohol prohibition), which banned the production, sale, transportation, and possession of all products with greater than 0.5% alcohol. And, if after the comment period, the FDA follows through with the rule change, the nicotine ban will likely have similar effects and consequences.
Cato director of health policy studies Michael F. Cannon adds: ”Alcohol prohibitionists abandoned liberty but at least they followed the Constitution. Marijuana prohibitionists abandoned the Constitution but at least they went through Congress. Tobacco prohibitionists abandoned Congress and just took over the FDA.”
If you would like to speak to Dr. Jeffrey Singer or Michael Cannon about this, please do not hesitate to reach out, and find more of Dr. Singer’s work on the topic here: https://www.cato.org/blog/black-market-beckons-bidens-last-minute-move-nicotine
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