Biden could ban menthol, reduce nicotine levels

According to a report published Monday, April 19 in the Wall Street Journal, the Biden administration is considering forcing tobacco companies to reduce nicotine levels in tobacco, as well as banning the sale of menthol cigarettes across the United States.[1].

In this context of potential regulation, the stock market values of tobacco multinationals have fallen sharply. The Marlboro producer in the United States, Altria, lost nearly 6 billion dollars in value on the same day, while the share price of British American Tobacco fell by 7.3% the following day.[2]Far from the official discourse of the cigarette manufacturers, this sharp stock market decline demonstrates that the profitability of tobacco companies remains incompatible with the imperatives of public health.

Reducing nicotine levels to reduce tobacco addiction

Reducing nicotine levels is said to be aimed at reducing the addictiveness of tobacco products. Studies funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health show that smokers are more likely to quit or switch to nicotine replacement therapy when cigarettes have residual nicotine levels. As the Wall Street Journal reports, reducing nicotine in cigarettes has been an option that the FDA has been studying since the 1990s. This reduction can technically be achieved in several ways, such as genetically modifying tobacco plants or removing nicotine from the tobacco leaf during the manufacturing process. The Tobacco Control Act, signed by Barack Obama in 2009 and giving the FDA the power to regulate the tobacco industry, at the same time authorized the agency to implement this nicotine reduction policy, provided that it is based on scientific evidence.

Menthol, a major health issue in the United States

On April 29, 2021, the FDA will also have to answer in court a Petition calling for a ban on menthol for tobacco products. In 2009, the agency, which had been able to ban tobacco flavors, had not been able to ban menthol products. In 2009, the Tobaco Control Act had specified that the FDA could only ban menthol products after having demonstrated their particular danger. In 2013, the Food and Drug Administration published a report concluding that menthol cigarettes reduce the chances of quitting smoking, and are associated with an increased risk to health. Finally, the agency showed that the menthol was a vector of initiation to smoking for the younger generations. We also know that menthol is a major factor in health inequality in the United States: particularly targeted by the industry for this type of product, almost 90% of African-American smokers consume menthol cigarettes, compared to less than 30% among white smokers[3].

An announcement that went down badly with cigarette manufacturers

For its part, the tobacco industry has made no secret of its opposition to these various announcements. A spokesperson for Altria warned the public authorities: "Any action taken by the FDA must be based on scientific evidence, and must take into account the real consequences of such decisions, such as the growth of illicit trade or the impact on hundreds of thousands of jobs," while a representative from Reynolds American Inc. promoted new tobacco and nicotine products as "the best tools to improve public health." The hostility of tobacco companies to these public health measures is easy to understand: menthols represent a third of the cigarette market in the United StatesThese announcements show that the tobacco industry, officially committed to the elimination of combustible cigarettes through its official discourse, is in fact fundamentally opposed to it.

[1] The Wall Street Journal, Biden Administration Considering Rule to Cut Nicotine in Cigarettes, 04/19/2021, (accessed 04/20/2021)

[2] Bloomberg, Tobacco Stocks Drop as US May Phase Out Addictive Cigarettes, 04/19/2021, (accessed 04/20/2021)

[3] Giovino GA, Villanti AC, Mowery PD, et al, Differential trends in cigarette smoking in the USA: is menthol slowing progress?, Tobacco Control 2015;24:28-37.

National Committee Against Smoking |