The Biden administration is reversing course on its plan to ban menthol cigarettes, after the White House weighed the potential public-health benefits of banning minty smokes against the political risk of angering Black voters in an election year.
Menthols account for more than a third of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. each year and are predominantly used by Black and Hispanic smokers. Some 81% of Black smokers used menthols in 2020, compared with 30% of white smokers and 51% of Hispanic smokers, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
The Biden administration in 2021 began pursuing a ban on menthol cigarettes, saying the policy move would reduce youth initiation, increase the success rate for smokers trying to quit and address health disparities among people of color. The plan was part of the administration’s Cancer Moonshot initiative to reduce the death rate from cancer.
Some Black community leaders had fought the measure, saying a ban would expand the illicit market for cigarettes and lead police to racially profile Black smokers. The American Civil Liberties Union and some members of the Congressional Black Caucus expressed similar concerns.
California and Massachusetts have implemented their own bans on menthol cigarettes, as have more than 100 municipalities across the U.S. The EU imposed a similar ban in 2020.
@CaribouBobLibertarian2wks2W
As a non smoker I have to say, can we please stop the war on drugs already.
This isn’t progress. It’s regression.
Fight bad choices with information and stop treating adults like they are children.
@SelfishSaltDemocrat2wks2W
On most issues I'd agree, but unfortunately the years have shown me that a lot of adults actually are children. Facts don't make any difference to them. Anti science conspiracy theories and other astonishing fantasies are all that matter.
Does anyone else see the incredibly irony that the same people pushing to legalize marijuana to prevent police from having a pretext to stop and search Black people, are going to create a black market for menthol cigarettes that will give police a new pretext to search black people? Does anyone remember that Eric Garner was strangled in Staten Island by police arresting him for the crime of selling loose cigarettes?
We never learn.
@C1v1cDonWorking Family2wks2W
In France it would be a criminal offense to say "About 85 percent of Black smokers use menthol brands". In France, it is illegal to assign a race to people and/or collect data on people based upon the race you have assigned them. This was a common response in civilized democracies to reduce the racism that caused the holocaust. The reasoning by French social scientists is that assigning a race to someone is a prerequisite to racism. It is a slippery slope toward bigotry to first overcome people's natural resistance to having a race assigned to them then to get them to accep… Read more
I think it’s Ridiculous to ban menthol cigarettes only. Especially since the reason is “Mostly Blacks choose menthol “. So basically you’re saying that it’s okay for white people to smoke cause they like non menthol but because Black people like menthol flavor you want to ban it. Sounds like another form of racism towards Black people again. Why not ban all cigarettes?
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@CoyoteBertieLibertarian2wks2W
Why does anyone care if the person is an adult and knows the risks? I mean what's next, banning McDonald's? Can we please focus on real issues....like gun control, police murdering citizens and Republicans suppressing voter rights?
@SheepishRaisinsForward2wks2W
I'm not a smoker so have no skin in the game but banning menthols just seems like a draconian, nanny-state dictat. From my understanding (could be wrong), menthols are only more harmful because they are more palatable. Adults should be able to smoke as they please as long as they aren't harming anyone else. If there is a worry about underage kids getting hold of them then that is an access issue, which we control at the point of sale. By all means let's tighten that up. I don't doubt the issues of aggressive marketing to people of colour, but that's an advertising issue, by all means let's ban advertising of tobacco products.
I think we can use a scalpel to find a happy medium rather than a mallet, and balance personal choice with protections.
@RobustRedStatePatriot2wks2W
I'm not sure that I will ever understand the mindset of unilaterally banning a substance instead of finding alternative ways to solve the issue. A widespread ban on menthol cigarettes is not going to make a dent in the larger picture of tobacco use and addiction not just in minority communities but across the country.
What is the difference between a ban on menthols and a ban on marijuana? Time and time again we learn that prohibition doesn't work.
@JudicialPuddingGreen2wks2W
Since the clinical justification for banning menthol cigarettes is identical to that of banning all cigarettes, why is the wider conversation so narrowly focused on the dangers of menthol cigarettes?
It's alarming the extent that well-to-do white people & politicians, etc seem to accept that African Americans require a much greater level of paternalism, & that everyone else is more likely to be able to determine right from wrong on their own. I'm ashamed by people in my own party that suddenly seem to view our country's issues this way & hide behind a veneer of false morality in doing so.
If you think menthol cigarettes should be banned, then all cigarettes should be banned. The end.
Why not ban all cigarettes, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco and vaping products?
How much longer do we subject our populace to certain death, pain and suffering from these throwback products from generations ago?
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