Posted on 04/19/2021 12:47:25 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
Subheading: Policy could be paired with proposal to ban menthols; FDA must decide whether to pursue menthol ban by April 29
The Biden administration is considering requiring tobacco companies to reduce the nicotine levels in all cigarettes sold in the U.S. to levels at which they are no longer addictive, according to people familiar with the matter.
Administration officials are considering the policy as they approach a deadline for declaring the administration’s intentions on another tobacco question: whether or not to ban menthol cigarettes.
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Nicotine itself doesn’t cause cancer, heart disease or lung disease, according to the FDA. But it hooks people on cigarettes, which are linked to 480,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.
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Lowering nicotine in cigarettes has been a subject of discussion inside the FDA since the 1990s. It can be done in different ways, such as genetically modifying tobacco plants or stripping nicotine from the leaf in the manufacturing process. In 2009, the Tobacco Control Act authorized the FDA to mandate such a change, stipulating that the policy be based on scientific evidence.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
My wife and I were visiting the Seattle area and noticed an interesting cultural shift. Back in the 70’s, you smelled cigarette smoke pretty much everywhere you went.
Now you smell marijuana smoke pretty much everywhere you go.
On a completely unrelated note, what is that form of government where the businesses are privately owned, but the government gets to tell you exactly what, where, and how you can make and sell your products?
It’s not Capitalism...but I just can’t think of the name for that time of government. Oh well, it’ll come to me later.
Now back to your regular programming.
Ha ha ha - the government is going to maximize the take from their addicts.
Cut the nicotine, so they can sell more units - at the same price and the usual ever-increasing taxation levels - PER UNIT!
If they were serious about this, they would just ban the sale of this crap. They could give a d*mn about the millions that will be dying of this filth in the decades to come, just as they don’t really give a d*mn about all the ones who’ve already died from tobacco-related causes.
Just keep squeezing the addicts for the money - they’ll pay it because they have to!
That’s ............... well, you know....................
I’ve never been a smoker but I don’t recall tobacco being dangerous, or as dangerous, way back when my grandpa and great-grandpa were rolling their own.
My .02 says that it’s the sprays, herbicides, fertilizers, etc. and all of the dangerous chemicals they put on them now that causes the health issues.
Some of my fondest memories from when I was little was helping my grandpa roll his smokes. I got to lick the papers. I loved the smell of fresh tobacco.
No doubt, many will just smoke more cigarettes to get the nicotine they crave.
Reducing nicotine content will boost sales. If a smokers nicotine “fix” is satisfied by one cigarette every half hour then a reduction in the level of nicotine will cause the smoker to require more cigarettes to satisfy his needs.
Buy tobacco company stock if this happens.
We are in a full blown COMMUNIST DICTATORSHIP!
They want everyone to buy weed instead.
So now smokers will have to puff lots and lots more cigs, with all that smoke and carcinogens, etc., trying to get their fix. AND expose the rest of us to 2nd hand smoke.
Easier to paint the filter with nicotine, so they only need to suck or lick, an even-unlighted cig.
And if they don’t have to light it, forest fire damage is lessened also.
Quick, cigarette sales are slipping... First we’ll ban any vaping supplies from being sent in the mail (even if entirely unrelated to nicotine), strong arm the other shipping companies into duplicating it (yet somehow delivering alcohol is okay...) and finally, mandate nicotine levels in cigarettes be manipulated.
It’s all about the taxes, not about anyone’s health.
Bottom line.
I thought that from the beginning, and suggested to my smoking BIL that he shift to E-cigs. He largely has.
But then there was a problem with vaping additives (vitamin E oil I believe) causing a serious chemical pneumonia in some vapers. So, it's good to check the safety of the entire product, and not make assumptions.
But, yeah, they should be promoting the heck out of E-cigs, advertising that nicotine is cool, but cigarettes aren't.
I think Altria was thinking that way when they made a big investment in Juul. But then the government noticed that something like half of the high school students were vaping, and that Juul was really promoting to that group. Juul got scared stiff, but huge cautions on everything, and toned down their advertising so much that you hardly hear of them.
Don't the States have an interest here? Didn't they get something like a half-trillion dollars in long-term bonds and subsidies in the tobacco settlement? The tobacco companies should have realized that honest politicians--those who stay bought--are rare, and that they had only bought a temporary peace.
More packs sold, more tax revenue. Typical liberal solution, worsens the problem, benefits the tax coffers.
Nicotine may be the least harmful ingredient in cigarette smoke.
These people are morons.
That is actually next.
“Sugar is an addictive drug! Unlike cannabis!”
I don't know about Communist, but we certainly have bureaucratic and legal tyranny, with laws being rapidly passed and selectively enforced.
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