From: Motley Fool
The agency looks like it’s prepping for new regulations it will introduce.
Rich Duprey
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may be ready to drop the hammer on tobacco companies by forcing them to produce cigarettes with virtually no nicotine. Although the agency has been mulling whether to impose a strict new limit, no new pronouncements have been issued. However, an agency staffer recently gave a presentation that suggests the FDA could be readying a decision with potentially severe consequences for Big Tobacco.
Readying a response
Tobacco companies say manufacturing cigarettes with extremely low nicotine levels could result in significant negative impacts, including massive job losses, closed businesses, and lost tax revenue. Giants like Altria (NYSE:MO) and British American Tobacco also contend there is no science to back up the position that the dramatically lower nicotine levels the FDA is considering are even effective, let alone commercially viable.
