By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Shares of Altria (NYSE:MO) and British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) were trading lower in Tuesday’s premarket after a report said that the Biden administration was considering steps that would wean consumers off cigarettes and make it difficult for companies to market them.
Altria was down over 2%, BAT was down nearly 7% and Imperial Brands (LON:IMB) fell 6%.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the Biden administration is weighing whether to move forward with a plan for nicotine reduction in all cigarettes, or impose a menthol ban, or both.
The Food and Drug Administration must respond in court by April 29 to a citizens’ petition to ban menthols by disclosing whether the agency intends to pursue such a policy, WSJ said.
A policy requiring lower nicotine content would lower the chemical in cigarettes to non-addictive or minimally addictive levels, aiming to push millions of smokers to either quit or switch to less harmful alternatives.
A ban on menthol, often marketed by cigarette makers as a less harmful option to the regular product, would aim to curb smoking initiation among the young.