The Biden administration on Friday delayed its plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a move that signals a potential political backlash from black voters in an election year.
For several decades, menthol cigarettes have been on the back burner of anti-smoking groups, arguing that they cause a disproportionate health burden on the black community and play a role in youth smoking.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 81% of black adults who smoke use the menthol version, compared to 34% of white adults.
US Health Secretary Quayer Bekra said in a statement that the proposed ban has drawn strong opposition from parts of the civil rights and criminal justice movements.
“It is clear that there are still many negotiations and it will take a long time,” he said in a statement, which he said would not be finalized before the November presidential election.
Shares of the tobacco company were wiped out after the news. Altria Group and British American Tobacco were flat, while Imperial Brands shares fell 1%.
Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, said his organization was outraged and disgusted by the political movement.
Today’s announcement from the Biden administration is a blow to the black community, which continues to be unfairly targeted and unjustly killed by Big Tobacco.”
American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown also expressed frustration and delay. “Two years after issuing a proposed rule supported by scientific evidence and more than a decade after the FDA first studied menthol cigarettes, the administration has taken no significant action to remove this deadly, addictive product from the market.”
“We believe there are more effective ways to get older smokers to stop smoking permanently,” said a spokesman for British American Tobacco subsidiary Reynolds America.
The spokesperson said that access to nicotine alternatives such as vaping products was “important to support older smokers’ transition from vaping”.
Menthol cigarettes account for a third of the total industry share in the United States.
Highly addictive products have been cited as targeting young smokers, as well as having significant health implications for the black community.
Civil rights groups say menthol cigarettes pose similar risks in black communities where they are widely sold.
Ololonda Richardson, president of the Campaign for Smoke-Free Kids, said last month that research showed that eliminating menthol cigarettes would reduce the number of youth who start smoking, increase the number of smokers and save 654,000 lives over 40 years. , including 255,000 Black Lives.
