{"id":11053,"date":"2023-11-02T01:47:10","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T01:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/02\/conservative-group-unleashes-6-figure-ad-campaign-targeting-bidens-menthol-cigarette-ban\/"},"modified":"2023-11-02T01:47:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T01:47:10","slug":"conservative-group-unleashes-6-figure-ad-campaign-targeting-bidens-menthol-cigarette-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/02\/conservative-group-unleashes-6-figure-ad-campaign-targeting-bidens-menthol-cigarette-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservative group unleashes 6-figure ad campaign targeting Biden\u2019s menthol cigarette ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

FIRST ON FOX:<\/strong> Conservative advocacy group Building Americas Future is launching a six-figure ad buy across multiple 2024 swing states and congressional districts over the Biden administration\u2019s proposed menthol cigarette ban.<\/p>\n

According to Building Americas Future\u2019s ad campaign, the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s (FDA) actions restricting menthol cigarette sales would jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenue nationwide. Overall, a Tax Foundation analysis conducted in 2022 said the restriction would cost the federal government $1.9 billion and state governments a total of $4.7 billion, given the high tax rates on cigarettes.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sadly, it appears the menthol\u2010\u200bban train has already left the station,\u2019 Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the free market Cato Institute, wrote in a report on Oct. 17. \u2018This means more business opportunities for purveyors of black market products \u2014 ranging from illicit drugs to cigars and cigarettes. And if history teaches us anything, we can expect to witness many harmful unintended consequences.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Prohibition fuels an underground market where peaceful, voluntary transactions become crimes. It gives law enforcement another reason to interact with non\u2010\u200bviolent people who commit these victimless crimes,\u2019 Singer added in comments submitted to the FDA months earlier. \u2018With menthol cigarettes more popular among Blacks and Hispanics, expect police to focus their attention on minority communities.\u2019<\/p>\n

The ad buy specifically targets New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Hampshire\u2019s 5th congressional district, Colorado\u2019s 8th congressional district, Pennslyvania\u2019s 7th and 8th congressional districts, Ohio\u2019s 13th congressional district and Connecticut\u2019s 5th congressional district.<\/p>\n

According to the Tax Foundation analysis from last year, swing states Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio would see revenues decline by an estimated $123 million, $219 million, $165 million and $227 million, respectively.<\/p>\n

The average pack of cigarettes in the U.S. faces $1.91 in state taxes and $1.01 in federal taxes. Additionally, every state continues to receive funds from the Master Settlement Agreement \u2014 a 1998 settlement between the states and nation\u2019s four largest tobacco companies to resolve dozens of health-related lawsuits and reduce youth smoking \u2014 which, the Tax Foundation concluded, translates to about $0.75 per pack in 2022.<\/p>\n

In April 2022, the FDA issued product standards to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and prohibit all characterizing flavors other than tobacco in cigars. The agency said the move would reduce disease and death from tobacco product use by reducing youth experimentation and addiction, and increasing the number of smokers that quit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,\u2019 Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said at the time. \u2018Additionally, the proposed rules represent an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tobacco smoking remains the lead cause of preventable death nationwide, according to the FDA. In proposing the rules, the FDA cited its congressional authority to adopt tobacco product standards.<\/p>\n

Last month, the FDA sent the proposed regulations to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review, a final step in finalizing and eventually implementing the menthol cigarette ban. Brian King, the director of the FDA\u2019s Center for Tobacco Products, previously told Fox News Digital that the move means the proposal reached its \u2018final step of review for regulatory documents.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018This administration would make criminals of law-abiding citizens while granting actual felons early release and encouraging illicit drug use,\u2019 Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News Digital on July 14. \u2018No wonder Americans have lost faith in an administration that\u2019s less interested in public safety than targeting political enemies.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018My general perspective would be that as adults, people can make their own choices, and what the government\u2019s job to do is to ensure that we have a market that is open and that products are available that are regulated to make sure that everyone is safe,\u2019 Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., added at the time. \u2018At the federal level, I believe that it\u2019s our job to kind of stay out of that and let states take their own action and manage their own choices.\u2019<\/p>\n

Additionally, groups representing small businesses like the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association have also criticized the proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, proponents of the proposed actions said it could lead to reduced tobacco use and ensure positive health outcomes.<\/p>\n

\u2018Once finalized, rules to end the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars rule will be the most significant actions that the FDA\u2019s Center for Tobacco Products has taken in its 14-year history. The American Lung Association is eager for these lifesaving rules to be implemented and urges the White House to finalize these rules before the end of the year,\u2019 American Lung Association CEO and President Harold Wimmer said last month.<\/p>\n

\u2018The science and data are clear. Ending the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars will save lives,\u2019 Wimmer continued. \u2018It will also help reduce the unjust disparities in tobacco use caused by the tobacco companies targeting certain communities with menthol cigarettes.\u2019<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, a group of 311 faith leaders sent a letter to President Biden, saying the FDA finalizing the regulations was a \u2018moral imperative.\u2019<\/p>\n

The NAACP, 100 Black Men of America Inc., U.S. Conference of Mayors and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids have also signaled support for the FDA\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n

The FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital\u2019s Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FIRST ON FOX: Conservative advocacy group Building Americas Future is launching a six-figure ad buy across multiple 2024 swing states and congressional districts over the Biden administration\u2019s proposed menthol cigarette ban. According to Building Americas Future\u2019s ad campaign, the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s (FDA) actions restricting menthol cigarette sales would jeopardize hundreds of millions of <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":11054,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}