Weaponizing Poverty

Abstract

Based on case examples, the paper discusses how efforts to weaponize poverty, i.e., policies that use a low income population segment’s economic status as the fulcrum in an attempt to alter behavior, can and do backfire.

The paper was developed in response to the US Food and Drug Administration's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the use of menthol flavoring in cigarettes and addresses two questions.

(1) If menthol cigarettes could no longer be legally sold, is there evidence that illicit trade in menthol cigarettes would become a significant problem? If so what would be the impact of any such illicit trade on public health? How would any such illicit trade compare to the existing illicit trade in cigarettes?

(2) What additional information and research beyond that described in the evaluation is there on the potential impact of sale and distribution restrictions of menthol cigarettes on specific subpopulations, such as those based on racial, ethnic, socioeconomic status, and sexuality/gender identity?

Keywords: tobacco, cigarettes, menthol, FDA, regulation, black market, contraband, discrimination, social justice