President Joe Biden’s administration is indefinitely delaying a plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a decision that is certain to infuriate anti-smoking advocates but could avoid a political backlash from Black voters in November. In a statement Friday, Biden’s top health official gave no timeline for issuing the rule, saying only that the administration would take more time to consider feedback, including from civil rights groups.
Quick Read
- Indefinite Delay: The Biden administration has indefinitely postponed plans to ban menthol cigarettes, citing the need for further discussion and feedback, especially from civil rights groups.
- Political Considerations: The delay avoids potential political backlash from Black voters ahead of November elections, reflecting the sensitive balance between public health initiatives and electoral dynamics.
- Stakeholder Opposition: The decision follows extensive consultations with various stakeholders, including civil rights organizers and small business owners, many of whom have financial connections to the tobacco industry.
- Health Implications: Health advocates, including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the NAACP, support the ban, arguing it would prevent hundreds of thousands of smoking-related deaths, particularly among Black Americans.
- Tobacco Industry Influence: Previous attempts to enact the ban have been thwarted by tobacco industry lobbying and political priorities. This is another instance where industry influence is evident.
- FDA’s Role: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has pursued menthol cigarette regulation for over a decade but has yet to finalize any rule despite evidencing that menthol makes smoking more appealing and harder to quit.
- Public Health Data: About 80% of Black smokers prefer menthol cigarettes, which are known to mask the harshness of smoke, thus facilitating addiction and making cessation more challenging.
- Civil Rights Concerns: Some civil rights leaders, like Rev. Al Sharpton, argue that banning menthol cigarettes could lead to an illegal market and increased police encounters in Black communities.
- Enforcement Focus: The FDA has clarified that any enforcement of a future ban would target manufacturers and sellers, not individual smokers.
- Continued Legal Action: The delay has prompted legal action from several anti-smoking groups seeking to compel the administration to implement the ban.
The Associated Press has the story:
Biden admin indefinitely postpones rule that would have banned menthol-flavored cigarettes
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP) —
President Joe Biden’s administration is indefinitely delaying a plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a decision that is certain to infuriate anti-smoking advocates but could avoid a political backlash from Black voters in November. In a statement Friday, Biden’s top health official gave no timeline for issuing the rule, saying only that the administration would take more time to consider feedback, including from civil rights groups.
“It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.
The White House has held dozens of meetings in recent months with groups opposing the ban, including civil rights organizers, law enforcement officials and small business owners. Most of groups have financial ties to tobacco companies.
The announcement is another setback for Food and Drug Administration officials, who drafted the ban and predicted it would prevent hundreds of thousands of smoking-related deaths over 40 years. The agency has worked toward banning menthol across multiple administrations for more than a decade without ever finalizing a rule.
“This decision prioritizes politics over lives, especially Black lives,” said Yolanda Richardson of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in an emailed statement. “It is especially disturbing to see the administration parrot the false claims of the tobacco industry about support from the civil rights community.”
Richardson noted that the ban is supported by groups including the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus.
Previous FDA efforts on menthol have been derailed by tobacco industry pushback or competing political priorities. With both Biden and former President Donald Trump vying for the support of Black voters, the ban’s potential impact has been scrutinized by Republicans and Democrats heading into the fall election.
Anti-smoking advocates have been pushing the FDA to eliminate the flavor since the agency gained authority to regulate certain tobacco ingredients in 2009. Menthol is the only cigarette flavor that wasn’t banned under that law, a carveout negotiated by industry allies in Congress. But the law instructed the FDA to continue studying the issue.
More than 11% of U.S. adults smoke, with rates roughly even between white and Black people. But about 80% of Black smokers smoke menthol, which the FDA says masks the harshness of smoking, making it easier to start and harder to quit. Most teenagers who smoke cigarettes also smoke menthols.
The FDA released its draft of the proposed ban in 2022. Officials under Biden initially targeted last August to finalize the rule. Late last year, White House officials said they would take until March to review the measure. When that deadline passed last month, several anti-smoking groups filed a lawsuit to force its release.
“We are disappointed with the action of the Biden administration, which has caved in to the scare tactics of the tobacco industry,” said Dr. Mark Mitchell of the National Medical Association, an African American physician group that is suing the administration.
Separately, Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders have warned that a menthol ban would create an illegal market for the cigarettes in Black communities and invite more confrontations with police.
The FDA and health advocates have long rejected such concerns, noting FDA’s enforcement of the rule would only apply to companies that make or sell cigarettes, not to individuals.
An FDA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
Smoking can cause cancer, strokes and heart attacks and is blamed for 480,000 deaths each year in the U.S., including 45,000 among Black Americans.
