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1 October 16, 2019 Dear Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, We write today in opposition to House Resolution 2339, legislation that would ban menthol cigarettes and almost all currently available e-cigarettes on the market. Sponsored by Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Rep. Donna E. Shalala (D-Fla.), this legislation would create a massive new black market for the sale of nicotine products, kill more than 300,000 jobs, and exacerbate the recent issue of deaths and illnesses caused by illegal THC and marijuana sales. By banning all menthol cigarettes, this legislation goes far beyond the limitations imposed upon the tobacco industry in the 2009-passed Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. A menthol ban would create a massive new black market and fund criminal enterprises globally. Between 8.5% and 20% of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. are done so illegally, producing an estimated 5 to 10 billion dollars annually for underground criminal enterprises. This revenue has been used to fund organized crime and terror organizations including Hamas and Hezbollah. Black market transactions and the illicit trade of cigarettes avoid state and federal age to purchase restrictions and a growing black market could actually make it easier for minors to acquire cigarettes, which could increase youth smoking rates rather than reduce them. Additionally, these unregulated cigarette sales are not subject to the quality and content controls used by licensed manufacturers, facilitating the potential use of higher levels of nicotine, tar, and other dangerous additives. A menthol cigarette ban would disproportionately target minority groups without a scientific basis for doing so. Although menthol cigarettes represent roughly 35% of the U.S. market according to the FDA, people who smoke in minority communities use menthol cigarettes at much higher rates. Among African Americans who smoke, 85.8% use menthol cigarettes. The trend holds for other minority communities including Hispanics (46%), Asians (39%), and members of the LGBT community (36.3%). This compares to a usage rate of only 28.7% by white smokers. Banning menthol cigarettes would criminalize the sale of a product disproportionately used by minority groups over a single, non- dangerous ingredient that the FDA acknowledges “is not associated with an increase in disease risk to the user” when compared to traditional tobacco cigarettes. Such a move would erode the confidence of minority populations in Congress, the criminal justice system, and law enforcement. Advocates like Rev. Al Sharpton and Dr. Benjamin F Chavis Jr. along with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Agents all oppose a menthol ban and share these concerns. Despite their smaller market share, menthol cigarettes still have a major impact on the economy. An analysis by Dunham and Associates found that menthol cigarettes contribute 79,135 direct jobs, 66,465 supplier jobs, and 74,026 indirect jobs, for a total of 219,636 total jobs in the economy. This ranges across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including both urban and rural communities, and it includes both high and low skill labor. These employed individuals and the consumers of these products aren’t the only ones being hurt. Menthol cigarettes create a total economic output of $53 billion. These funds pay wages, keep small business afloat, and stimulate growth across the country and they will be lost with prohibition. A menthol ban would contradict and disrupt free market solutions that are already effectively reducing overall smoking rates. Smoking rates are declining among both teens and adults, with only

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Page 1: cigarettes and almost all currently available e-cigarettes on the … · 2020-01-01 · 2 2.7% of adolescents reporting smoking cigarettes in 2018, down from 3.2% in 2017 according

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October16,2019

DearMembersoftheHouseEnergyandCommerceCommittee,WewritetodayinoppositiontoHouseResolution2339,legislationthatwouldbanmentholcigarettesandalmostallcurrentlyavailablee-cigarettesonthemarket.SponsoredbyChairmanFrankPallone,Jr.(D-N.J.)andRep.DonnaE.Shalala(D-Fla.),thislegislationwouldcreateamassivenewblackmarketforthesaleofnicotineproducts,killmorethan300,000jobs,andexacerbatetherecentissueofdeathsandillnessescausedbyillegalTHCandmarijuanasales.Bybanningallmentholcigarettes,thislegislationgoesfarbeyondthelimitationsimposeduponthetobaccoindustryinthe2009-passedFamilySmokingPreventionandTobaccoControlAct.Amentholbanwouldcreateamassivenewblackmarketandfundcriminalenterprisesglobally.Between8.5%and20%ofallcigarettessoldintheU.S.aredonesoillegally,producinganestimated5to10billiondollarsannuallyforundergroundcriminalenterprises.ThisrevenuehasbeenusedtofundorganizedcrimeandterrororganizationsincludingHamasandHezbollah.Blackmarkettransactionsandtheillicittradeofcigarettesavoidstateandfederalagetopurchaserestrictionsandagrowingblackmarketcouldactuallymakeiteasierforminorstoacquirecigarettes,whichcouldincreaseyouthsmokingratesratherthanreducethem.Additionally,theseunregulatedcigarettesalesarenotsubjecttothequalityandcontentcontrolsusedbylicensedmanufacturers,facilitatingthepotentialuseofhigherlevelsofnicotine,tar,andotherdangerousadditives.Amentholcigarettebanwoulddisproportionatelytargetminoritygroupswithoutascientificbasisfordoingso.Althoughmentholcigarettesrepresentroughly35%oftheU.S.marketaccordingtotheFDA,peoplewhosmokeinminoritycommunitiesusementholcigarettesatmuchhigherrates.AmongAfricanAmericanswhosmoke,85.8%usementholcigarettes.ThetrendholdsforotherminoritycommunitiesincludingHispanics(46%),Asians(39%),andmembersoftheLGBTcommunity(36.3%).Thiscomparestoausagerateofonly28.7%bywhitesmokers.Banningmentholcigaretteswouldcriminalizethesaleofaproductdisproportionatelyusedbyminoritygroupsoverasingle,non-dangerousingredientthattheFDAacknowledges“isnotassociatedwithanincreaseindiseaserisktotheuser”whencomparedtotraditionaltobaccocigarettes.SuchamovewoulderodetheconfidenceofminoritypopulationsinCongress,thecriminaljusticesystem,andlawenforcement.AdvocateslikeRev.AlSharptonandDr.BenjaminFChavisJr.alongwiththeNationalOrganizationofBlackLawEnforcementAgentsallopposeamentholbanandsharetheseconcerns.Despitetheirsmallermarketshare,mentholcigarettesstillhaveamajorimpactontheeconomy.AnanalysisbyDunhamandAssociatesfoundthatmentholcigarettescontribute79,135directjobs,66,465supplierjobs,and74,026indirectjobs,foratotalof219,636totaljobsintheeconomy.Thisrangesacrossthepublic,private,andnonprofitsectors,includingbothurbanandruralcommunities,anditincludesbothhighandlowskilllabor.Theseemployedindividualsandtheconsumersoftheseproductsaren’ttheonlyonesbeinghurt.Mentholcigarettescreateatotaleconomicoutputof$53billion.Thesefundspaywages,keepsmallbusinessafloat,andstimulategrowthacrossthecountryandtheywillbelostwithprohibition.Amentholbanwouldcontradictanddisruptfreemarketsolutionsthatarealreadyeffectivelyreducingoverallsmokingrates.Smokingratesaredecliningamongbothteensandadults,withonly

Page 2: cigarettes and almost all currently available e-cigarettes on the … · 2020-01-01 · 2 2.7% of adolescents reporting smoking cigarettes in 2018, down from 3.2% in 2017 according

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2.7%ofadolescentsreportingsmokingcigarettesin2018,downfrom3.2%in2017accordingtotheNationalSurveyonDrugUseandHealth.The2018MonitoringtheFuturesurveyindicatedasimilardeclineintheuseofcigarettes,downfrom5.4%in2017to4.6%among8th,10th,and12thgraders(manyofwhomcanlegallysmoke).Amongadults,smokingratesareatarecordlow14%,a67%declinesince1965,whentheNationalHealthInterviewSurveyfirstbegantrackingthefigureand42.4%ofadultssmoked.Agreatervarietyoftobacco-alternativeslikeelectroniccigarettes,whichhavethepotentialtobesignificantlylessharmful,haveplayedalargeroleinthesemorerecentdeclines.Abanonmentholcigaretteswillforcetobaccocompaniestoshiftresourcesawayfrominvestmentsinnot-yethighlyprofitablenewgenerationreducedriskproductsandfocustowardmakingadjustmentstocomplywithprohibitionratherthantowardinnovationandthepromotionofalternatives.H.R.2339alsotakesaimatelectroniccigarettesandnicotinevaporproductsbybanningallflavoredproductsonthemarket.Over10,000smallmom-and-popvapeshopscompriseanoverwhelmingpercentageoftheindustrythatselltheseproductsandtheyrepresentthefastest-growingretailsegmentofthepasttenyears,arecentLaborDepartmentanalysisshows.AWellsFargoanalysisestimatesthatthecommerciale-cigaretteandvaporproductindustryisexpectedtobea$10billionindustrybynextyear,agrowthtrajectorythathassignificantlyreducedcombustiblecigarettesalesacrossthecountry.PriortotheriseofJUULin2018,morethan80%ofadultvapersusedfruit,dessert,andsweetflavorstostayawayfromcigarettes.Tobaccoandmenthole-cigaretteflavorsrankedasthefifthandsixthmostpopularflavorbeforeonecompanydominatedthetraditionalconveniencestoremarket.Eliminatingallbutoneortwooftheseoptionsforadultswoulddestroythousandsofsmallbusinesses,forcemanyadultvaperstoreturntosmoking,andforcesometoseekoutevenmoreproductsontheblackmarket,thesourceofrecentdeathsandillnessesnationally.InmanyDemocrat-runstateslikeCalifornia,Oregon,andWashingtonyoucanpurchaseflavoredmarijuanaedibleswithnameslike“MangoMauiWowieFruit”and“OrangeCreamsicleCreampop”andyetmanyofthestaunchdefendersofliberalizedmarijuanapoliciesinthesestatesopposeallowingadultsmokerstheabilitytouseflavorednicotinee-cigarettestoquitsmoking.Theirhypocriticalsupportforconsumerfreedomintheirownstateswhilepushingprohibitionelsewhereisbaffling.BoththeFDAandCentersforDiseaseControlandPreventionnowacknowledgethattherecentdeathsandrespiratoryandlungillnessesassociatedwithvapinghavelargelybeencausedbytheillicitmarijuanaandTHCmarket.Insteadoftargetinglegalnicotineproducts,Congressshouldfocusitsattentiononcrackingdownondrugdealersthatarepoisoningconsumerswithdangerous,unregulated,andcounterfeitproductsproducedinbasementsandbackalleys.Ifimplemented,H.R.2339wouldcreatethelargestandmostdangerousblackmarketinAmericasincethe1920’sandexacerbatetherecentillnessesanddeathsthathaveresultedfromanundergroundTHCandmarijuanamarketnationally.Weurgeyoutorejectthislegislationandprotecttherightsofadultconsumersandbusinessesinstead.Sincerely,AmericansforTaxReformCompetitiveEnterpriseInstituteConsumerChoiceCenterCouncilforCitizensAgainstGovernmentWasteFreedomWorksHeritageActionIndependentWomen’sForumTaxpayersProtectionAllianceReasonFoundation


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