The White House is removing a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes to avoid angering Black voters months before the 2024 election.
After dragging out the process for months, the administration is expected to announce the reversal on Friday, sources revealed to the Wall Street Journal.
Experts previously told DailyMail.com that the ban would alienate black voters who have been drifting away from the president in polls and would also increase crime across the country.
A recent survey indicated that Black Americans are not very enthusiastic about Biden and 40 percent do not plan to vote in the 2024 election.
The administration’s dropping its proposed menthol ban may be a call to Biden supporters to stay on the bandwagon for a little more than six months until Election Day.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Sec. Xavier Becerra said in a statement to DailyMail.com that the proposed ban attracted “historic attention” and therefore it is “clear that there are still more conversations to be had, and that will take much longer.” time”.
Menthol cigarettes account for nearly a third of the industry’s market share in the United States and are incredibly popular among smokers.
Experts previously told DailyMail.com that the ban would alienate the black vote against President Biden and increase crime across the country.
In 2022, the FDA announced that it was working to create new standards for tobacco products that would prohibit the use of menthol flavorings. Nearly two years later, the ban still has not been enacted, and special interest groups for and against the ban have been pressuring the White House to get the job done.
Protesters marched on Black Lives Matter Plaza in January advocating for a ban on menthol.
They have also long been especially popular among black smokers: 81 percent of them opt for menthol varieties, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION).
The mint flavor added to these products often attracts young, first-time smokers, making them dangerous in the eyes of the White House, medical associations and civil rights groups.
According to the results of a poll conducted by Nuestro PAC, black and Latino voters were also concerned that the proposed ban would “push the product onto the illegal black market” and increase crime.
Eighty percent of Blacks and Latinos said they agreed that the government should “fully explore concerns” before moving forward with the ban.
Those findings aligned with a recent push by the Rev. Al Sharpton urging the administration to back down on its ban proposal.
The Biden administration had argued that criminalizing menthols would help Americans become less addicted over time.
“The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra previously said.
“In addition, the proposed rules represent an important step in promoting health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities,” he continued.
‘The FDA remains committed to publishing tobacco product standards for menthol in cigarettes and characterizing flavors in cigars as quickly as possible; These rules have been submitted to the OMB for review, which is the final step in the rulemaking process,’ an FDA spokesperson told DailyMail.com in a statement.
“As we have made clear, these product standards remain one of our top priorities.”
‘Regulations such as product standards go through an extensive rulemaking process, which includes interagency review. At this stage of rulemaking, the FDA cannot further discuss the rules before they are published.’
Still, many advocates for a ban say that banning flavored products will reduce their use and therefore save lives.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta addressed a letter sent to 21 states to the White House in January stating that the time to act is “now.”
A group of anti-menthol activists held a memorial service for flavored tobacco in front of the White House earlier this year.
Protesters pulled out a huge fake package of menthol cigarettes and marched it down the street in a fake funeral parade a block from the White House.
“Ban Menthol to Save Black Lives,” the signs at the event read.
“Today we join advocates of a menthol funeral in demanding that (the White House) issue final rules to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars,” said one X participant.
Two years after announcing intentions to ban menthol, the FDA and the White House have not set new standards for the use of the substance in tobacco products.
Banning menthol is not uncommon: the additive has currently been banned in Canada since 2017 and in the European Union since 2020.
It is also banned in California and Massachusetts, along with a multitude of local counties across the country.
“Menthol makes cigarettes more appealing and easier to smoke,” according to the CDC.
‘In addition, menthol enhances the addictive effects of nicotine in the brain. The amount of nicotine, the addictive drug found in tobacco products, in menthol cigarettes has increased in recent years.’
