Menthol Cigarettes Set to Be Banned by the Biden Administration

Start saying goodbye to menthol cigarettes.  The Biden administration has moved to ban the sales of menthols and flavored cigars, although it most likely would not take effect until 2024.  A third of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. are menthols with $20 billion in annual sales and 18.6 million Americans who smoke them.  We have already seen signals that at least one tobacco company plans to sue over the order.  Menthols have been seen as especially dangerous to minorities who smoke them in greater numbers and also harder to quit.  Jennifer Maloney, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more.

Next, social media influencers are being given free or discounted beauty procedures in exchange for posts and some are beginning to regret it.  Surgeons, clinics and med spas cannot advertise through official channels on platforms like TikTok, but they have gravitated toward exchanges with influencers to target larger and younger audiences.  For the influencers themselves, they say it can be addictive starting with fillers and Botox and progressing into other surgical procedures, all in the bid to look perfect because of social media pressures.  Kat Tenbarge, tech and culture reporter at NBC News, joins us for what to know.

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