Biden administration delays plan to ban menthol cigarettes once more

For the second time in current months, the Joe Biden White Home has delayed a sweeping plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a call that’s sure to infuriate anti-smoking advocates however may keep away from angering Black voters forward of November elections.

In a press release on Friday, the president’s high well being official gave no timeline for issuing the rule, saying solely that the administration would take extra time to think about suggestions, together with from civil rights teams.

“It’s clear that there are nonetheless extra conversations to have, and that may take considerably extra time,” mentioned the well being and human companies (HHS) secretary, Xavier Becerra, in a press release.

The White Home has held dozens of conferences in current months with teams opposing the ban, together with civil rights organizers, regulation enforcement officers and small enterprise homeowners.

The announcement is one other setback for the well being officers on the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA), who drafted the ban and predicted it could forestall tons of of hundreds of smoking-related deaths over 40 years. The company has labored towards banning menthol throughout a number of administrations for greater than a decade with out ever finalizing a rule.

Earlier FDA efforts on menthol have been derailed by tobacco business pushback or competing political priorities. With each Biden and former president Donald Trump vying for the assist of Black voters, the potential impression of the choice has been scrutinized by Republicans and Democrats heading into November’s election.

Anti-smoking advocates have been pushing the FDA to get rid of the flavour for the reason that company gained authority to control sure tobacco elements in 2009. Menthol is the one cigarette taste that wasn’t banned beneath that regulation, a carveout negotiated by business allies in Congress. However the regulation instructed the FDA to review the difficulty.

Greater than 11% of US adults smoke, with charges roughly even between white and Black individuals. However about 80% of Black people who smoke smoke menthol, which the FDA says masks the harshness of smoking, making it simpler to begin and tougher to stop. Most youngsters who smoke cigarettes additionally smoke menthols.