The Biden administration has reportedly shelved its plans to ban menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products in an effort to win back the favor of Black voters ahead of the 2024 election.
First reported by The Wall Street Journal, administration officials explained on Friday that further community consultation was needed before the ban could be put into effect. However, no timeline for the postponed decision has been provided, possibly indicating a delay until after the election in November.
The outlet’s analysis of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed that 81 percent of Black smokers consumed menthols in 2020, as opposed to 51 percent of Hispanic smokers and 30 percent of White smokers.
When the measure was first suggested in October 2023, the Food & Drug Administration indicated that the goal of the legislation was to prevent harm to the nation’s youth. The FDA estimated “18.5 million menthol cigarette smokers aged 12 and above in the United States in 2018,” with Blacks and other ethnic minorities vastly overrepresented.
In the following months, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Congressional Black Caucus, and various activist groups claimed that a ban on menthol cigarettes would only expand the illicit market and lead to racial profiling by law enforcement.
In December 2023, the administration took additional time to consider the legislation before ultimately deciding to proceed with the plan this year. At the time, officials pointed to FDA findings indicating that a ban on flavored tobacco products could “prevent 300,000 to 650,000 smoking deaths over several decades,” primarily benefitting the minority groups that most frequently consume them.
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However, on Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said that “this rule has garnered historic attention and…an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement.”
“It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time,” he continued. As such, the proposed ban has been tabled indefinitely.
As the Journal notes, the policy reversal comes at a time when Biden is hemorrhaging support among Black voters, particularly young Black men. In 2020, Biden won 91 percent of Black voters of both genders, but that number has fallen to just 68 percent according to the outlet’s latest polls. At the same time, Black support for former President Donald Trump is steadily rising, potentially shifting a key demographic against the Democratic Party in 2024.
Related: UK Parliament Members Push Cigarette Ban for Anyone Born After 2009
In response to the delay of the menthol ban, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who advocated for the policy, called the decision “a blow to the Black community, who continue to be unfairly targeted and unjustly killed by Big Tobacco.”
For decades, tobacco companies have aggressively marketed their products to minority communities, distributing free packs of cigarettes in Black neighborhoods, featuring Black people prominently in advertising, and encouraging the belief that menthols had significant health benefits.
“Let’s be clear – valuing Black lives should not be used as a pawn to get our people to the polls, but rather a platform that our leaders refuse to step down from,” Johnson said. “The NAACP is outraged and disgusted, but we refuse to be deterred.”
The American Lung Association was similarly opposed to the delay, stating that it was “deeply troubling and does not reflect the science or the response from the civil rights community, including the NAACP, that these rules would save lives and prevent kids from starting to smoke.”
The ALA went on to suggest that Biden has failed to keep his promise of reducing smoking-related cancer and death.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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