Expert warns that Biden admin's 11th hour proposal to ban cigarettes could benefit cartels.

The FDA is set to implement a regulatory rule in the remaining days of the Biden administration that would effectively prohibit the sale of cigarettes currently available, potentially increasing the profits of black-market cartels, according to an expert interviewed by Planet Chronicle Digital.

The proposed ban on Biden is a gift to organized crime cartels, including Chinese organized crime and Russian mafia, and will keep America smoking and make the streets more violent, according to 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, who spoke to Planet Chronicle Digital.

On Monday, the FDA informed Fox Digital that the Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products had undergone a regulatory review, but the final rule has not yet been finalized.

"The FDA spokesman stated that the proposed rule, "Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products," has completed regulatory review in the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) ROCIS system on January 3. The FDA previously stated that a finalized product standard to establish a maximum nicotine level to reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products is estimated to be among the most impactful population-level actions in the history of U.S. tobacco product regulation. Currently, the FDA cannot provide any further comment until the rule is published."

The White House did not respond to Fox New Digital's inquiry about concerns over the proposal's implementation.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, signed by President Barack Obama in 2009, gave the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products. Since then, the agency has been working to reduce nicotine levels, including in July 2017 when FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced that the agency would require tobacco companies to drastically cut nicotine in cigarettes to help adult smokers quit.

The FDA under the Biden administration declared plans for a proposed rule in 2022 to reduce nicotine levels to make them less addictive or non-addictive.

At the time, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf stated that reducing nicotine levels to the point of being minimally addictive or non-addictive would decrease the likelihood that future generations of young people would become addicted to cigarettes and help more currently addicted smokers to quit.

If the levels of nicotine in popular cigarettes and tobacco products are reduced, it will increase the illegal trafficking of these products in the U.S., according to Marianos, as stated on Planet Chronicle Digital.

Marianos stated that the decision was being forced upon the public without any thought or preparation. No consultations were held with law enforcement, doctors, or regulators to consider the unintended consequences of the decision, which he referred to as a poor choice.

Mexican cartels are well-positioned to smuggle illegal tobacco across the border, as they have done with substances such as fentanyl that have caused widespread harm in the U.S. Chinese criminal organizations have highly sophisticated counterfeit operations that extend from baby formula to cigarettes, and Russian organized crime groups have established a presence in cities across the nation, including in bodegas and other stores that sell tobacco products.

If the proposal takes effect, criminal groups are likely to quickly catch on and amplify their tobacco operations, which Marianos says will serve as an economic boon for the criminals.

To acquire cigarettes with higher nicotine levels, Americans would have to resort to illegal channels, similar to purchasing "loosie" cigarettes in New York, putting them at greater risk of criminal activity while also obtaining cigarettes that are unregulated and from foreign sources.

Both Democrats and Republicans have warned that tobacco trafficking in the U.S. poses a grave national security threat and has already established a presence.

In 2015, the State Department reported that terrorist groups and criminal networks have utilized tobacco trafficking operations to fund other criminal activities, such as money laundering, bulk cash smuggling, and human trafficking, weapons, drugs, antiquities, diamonds, and counterfeit goods. Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.; and then-Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., wrote a 2023 letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, expressing their concerns about the issue.

"American national security and public health are at risk from Mexican TCOs involved in narcotics and fentanyl trafficking, as well as tobacco smuggling activities."

Marianos stated that reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes would not only have a criminal impact on America and its citizens but also undermine the objective of helping smokers quit smoking, resulting in an increase in smoking behavior.

The speaker stated that reducing nicotine levels would lead to an increase in smoking, as people would smoke more to satisfy their cravings. He pointed out that this contradicts the goal of reducing smoking and making the country safer. He also mentioned that he had observed workers taking smoke breaks in alleys to get their nicotine fix, which would decrease work productivity.

The Biden administration had planned to ban menthol cigarettes as part of its Cancer Moonshot initiative, but later delayed the regulations due to public backlash. Some groups claimed that the ban would disproportionately affect minority communities, while others argued that it would pave the way for illegal menthol sales.