The U.S. government has announced that it will soon ban the manufacture and sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. The main consumers of these products are members of the African-American community.
The Biden Administration has made another attempt to address the health of Americans. This week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it plans to completely ban the manufacture and sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in the near future. The FDA said that advertising campaigns by the manufacturers of these products are aimed primarily at enticing young people and members of the African-American community to smoke.
“This step will significantly reduce youth involvement and increase the chances that smokers will quit,” said FDA Acting Director Janet Woodcock. “It will also address disparities among communities of color, low-income populations and members of the LGBT community, who are the primary consumers of this product.”
Such a ban in the United States does not require congressional approval, but under the rules, before imposing new restrictions, federal authorities must publish an official notice and consider comments and letters from residents. The agency clarified that the planned ban will affect only manufacturers, distributors and sellers of tobacco products, but there is no talk of limiting the personal rights of citizens.
“The FDA does not have the right and will not prohibit individuals from having and using menthol cigarettes or any other tobacco products,” the agency’s release states.
According to official data, approximately 480,000 people in the U.S. die each year from smoking-related diseases. More than 16 million Americans live with disabilities because of this habit. In 2009, the Obama administration persuaded Congress to pass a tough anti-tobacco law that allowed the FDA to independently set limits on nicotine levels in cigarettes, restrict the use of flavorings in tobacco products, and prohibit advertising to youth and minority groups.
In 2018, the government had already attempted to ban menthol cigarettes, but that decision was blocked by Donald Trump’s administration. After nearly two years of negotiations, the FDA was finally able to partially implement its plans: a ban on the sale of all flavored cartridges for electronic cigarettes was introduced. However, an exception was made for tobacco and menthol flavored devices.
In fact, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, members of the African-American community are the primary consumers of menthol cigarettes in the United States. A total of 18.6 million people in the country buy these cigarettes specifically. However, 85% of African-American smokers prefer the menthol flavor, while only 30% of white smokers do.
According to the Department of Drug Control and Product Quality, the new ban is expected to result in more than 900,000 Americans kicking their harmful habit. “This figure includes 230,000 African Americans who will quit smoking within 13-17 months of the ban taking effect,” according to an official FDA press release.
The largest tobacco companies have already announced their intention to challenge the new ban in court. “We share this common goal – to help adult smokers quit cigarettes by switching to less harmful alternatives, but bans don’t work,” said George Parman, representing the tobacco company Altria.
The opinion of cigarette manufacturers has unexpectedly been supported by human rights activists. According to one of the largest human rights organizations in the United States – the American Civil Liberties Union, the victims of the new ban could be representatives of the same racial minorities whose health the administration has decided to take care of.
“We continue to see cases of police violence for minor infractions – Dante Wright [died] for expired license plates, George Floyd – for using a counterfeit small bill, Eric Garner – for selling cigarettes one at a time,” said Amra Ahmad, a senior staff attorney at a human rights organization. “We have serious concerns that the ban imposed by the Biden administration will lead to the emergence of a ‘black market’ and disproportionate prosecution of racial minorities.”
The implementation of such a ban in the U.S. could take several years, given pending litigation from tobacco companies and opposition from human rights organizations.