Even though the Biden administration is running out of time to take any action, the U.S. surgeon general stated on Tuesday that a nationwide ban on menthol cigarettes would be one of the most efficient strategies to reduce tobacco-related illnesses and deaths among Black people.
Before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, the long-standing promise of a menthol cigarette ban—which has been years in the making—is unlikely to be fulfilled. By the end of this year, the ban was anticipated.
It’s probable that the Food and Drug Administration will move forward with its plan to regulate nicotine levels in cigarettes in order to make them less addictive. However, menthol cigarettes are probably going to stay available.
As a mother and a Black woman, I am devastated that this regulation has failed, said Dr. Avenel Joseph, interim executive vice president of the nonprofit health care advocacy organization Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who also works as a public health advocate.
In 2021, the FDA declared it will start the process of outlawing cigarettes made with menthol. Since then, it has taken all action permitted by law to implement the finalized menthol prohibition rule. Since then, the Biden administration has been in charge of advancing it. Rather, it has been postponed on several occasions.
Biden’s own surgeon general and other public health authorities have stated that the research is unmistakable: in order to save lives, menthol tobacco products should be removed from the market.
However, as Biden’s term comes to a conclusion, politics, not public health, is likely to keep menthol cigarettes available. In the decision-making process, the Congressional Review Act seems to be crucial.
Congress will scrutinize any rule that Biden approves in the final weeks of his presidency. Any new rule is subject to a 60-day review period by incoming MPs, who have the option to revoke it if necessary. (Only weekdays are included in legislative days; upcoming winter holidays are not taken into account.)
The Biden administration doesn’t seem to want to take that chance.
The bill may be revoked nearly instantly when the Trump administration assumes power in January. Congress would not be allowed to issue another rule that is comparable in such a situation.
In other words, experts say that if it doesn’t happen now, it won’t happen anytime soon.
Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, suggested many potential approaches in the new report to lessen the pervasive smoking-related health disparities that affect Black people and other vulnerable groups.
The vast majority of Black smokers use euphorics, whose flavor produces a cooling effect that facilitates deep lung inhalation of tobacco smoke.
Additionally, it makes quitting smoking more challenging.
Although Black people try to quit more often than white people, this results in worse success rates for Black people when it comes to quitting, according to Murthy. Some of those discrepancies may be addressed with the help of a menthol ban.
Heartbroken.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Avenel Joseph
A ban on menthol cigarettes, which are primarily to blame for the 45,000 Black Americans who lose their lives to tobacco-related diseases each year, would upend the tobacco firms’ nefarious, racist strategy more than few other laws, according to Joseph. The tobacco industry’s menthol advertisements that target Black neighborhoods have been covered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the past.
Murthy postponed inquiries about whether the prohibition would be one of the last actions taken by the Biden administration. The FDA and White House spokespeople indicated they had no updates on the situation.
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