The US Government has delayed a decision on whether to ban menthol cigarettes, amid intense lobbying from tobacco companies, shops and industry-backed groups that contend that billions of dollars in sales and jobs will be lost.
The proposal has also generated concerns that black smokers will become the targets of aggressive police tactics, although some black leaders, top lawmakers and government officials dispute that, saying tobacco companies are financing and fuelling those fears, reports The New York Times.
The ban has been years in the making, with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) formally proposing an official rule last year, aimed at reducing health disparities, and citing statistics that 85% of black smokers prefer menthol brands.
Black men, especially, face heightened health risks, including high rates of smoking-related lung cancer and death.
In recent months, dozens of groups have conferred with government officials to discuss the proposal.
Tobacco companies and convenience store groups fighting the ban have aligned with the National Action Network to advance the argument about the potential for racial targeting by the police.
Many other black organisations, including a majority of the Congressional Black Caucus, have dismissed the policing argument, calling it a cynical attempt to exploit trauma and distract from the harm of cigarettes.
“What we’re seeing now,” said Patrice Willoughby, vice-president of policy and legislative affairs at the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), “is the reaction of a very well-organised industry that has been peddling death to the black community.”
The FDA has said it would like to see the proposal finalised this year.
The White House quietly made the delay public last Wednesday when it published a longer timeline in a regulatory publication, suggesting the proposal could be final by March.
But public health groups have increasingly expressed concerns about the delays, urging officials to act quickly.
The Washington Post earlier reported that the Biden administration would postpone any action on the proposal until the spring.
Senator Richard Durbin, the Democratic majority whip from Illinois, addressed the rumours of political motivations for the delay, saying concerns that black people would vote against the President in the next election because of the ban were “greatly exaggerated”.
“I want to make it clear,” he said, “they’re peddling stories – Big Tobacco is – that we’re going to go out and arrest African Americans if they use menthol cigarettes. But that’s not the case at all.”
The FDA has said that the ban will be enforced at the manufacturers’ level, and not against individuals.
The politics of banning menthol cigarettes are delicate for President Joe Biden, who cannot afford to appear as though he is condescending to black voters, who have long been a key constituency.
But at the same time, he campaigned on a promise to “follow the science”, and if his administration ignores the FDA’s advice, he risks appearing as though he is bowing to political pressure.
The country’s largest tobacco companies have considerable financial stakes in the menthol cigarette market –more than one-third of all US cigarette sales. Menthol cigarette sales for Reynolds American total about $7bn a year.
Reynolds has vowed to fight the ban all the way to the Supreme Court, a battle that could postpone implementation of the final prohibition rule for years.
Cigarettes still make up three-quarters of the $76bn US tobacco market, with alternatives like vapes trailing far behind.
The FDA has estimated that the menthol ban could reduce smoking by 15% in 40 years. Studies project that as many as 650 000 smoking-related deaths could be avoided.
The agency proposed the ban more than a year ago and forwarded it to the White House in October. Public health groups have been at the edge of their seats watching the White House calendar fill with meetings, mostly from opponents of the ban.
“Each day we wait is another day for Big Tobacco to hook new users and target communities with menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive of the American Heart Association. “Prohibiting the sale of both would make historic progress in saving lives from tobacco use.”
About 18.5m smokers choose a menthol brand. Researchers say the cooling sensation of the flavour makes it easier to start smoking and harder to quit. Public opinion polls have shown that about 60% of Americans favour banning menthol cigarettes.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
How far should the menthol ban go? Michigan’s Professor Clifford E Douglas
FDA a step closer to banning menthol cigarettes
Is the FDA's cigarette ban just smoke and menthols? – MedPage Today op-ed