The U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday that a federal ban on menthol cigarettes would be one of the most effective ways to reduce tobacco-related diseases and deaths among Black people — even as the clock runs out on the Biden administration’s ability to do something about it to do.
The long-standing promise of a ban on menthol cigarettes, which has been in the works for years, is unlikely to hold before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. The ban was expected at the end of this year.
It is possible that the Food and Drug Administration will follow through on its proposal to reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes by limiting nicotine levels. But menthol cigarettes will likely remain on the market.
“As a public health advocate — and as a Black woman and mother — I am heartbroken that this rule did not reach the finish line,” said Dr. Avenel Joseph, interim executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a nonprofit organization. healthcare advocacy organization.
The FDA announced it would begin the process of banning menthol tobacco cigarettes in 2021. Since then, she has done everything legally authorized to initiate the final rule banning menthol. It has since been up to the Biden administration to make progress. Instead, it has been repeatedly postponed.
Public health officials — including Biden’s own surgeon general — have said the science is clear: Menthol tobacco products must be taken off the market to save lives.
But it is likely politics, not public health, that will keep menthol cigarettes on the market when Biden’s term ends. The Congressional Review Act appears to be critical to the decision-making process.
Any rule Biden approves in the final few weeks of his administration is subject to congressional review. The new lawmakers have 60 days to scrutinize each new rule and, if they deem it necessary, roll back. (Legislative days include weekdays only and do not take into account upcoming winter holidays.)
That’s a risk the Biden administration appears unwilling to take.
When the Trump administration takes over in January, the measure could be repealed almost immediately. In such a case, Congress would be prohibited from issuing another similar rule.
In other words, if it doesn’t happen now, experts say, it won’t happen anytime soon.
In the new report, the surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, suggests several possible strategies to reduce the widespread health disparities associated with smoking among Black people and other vulnerable groups.
The vast majority of black smokers use menthol, the taste of which creates a cooling sensation, making it easier to inhale tobacco smoke deeply into the lungs.
It also makes it harder to quit smoking.
“As a result, quitting success is lower among the black population than among the white population, despite the fact that black people try to quit more often,” Murthy said. “A menthol ban would help address some of these disparities.”
“Few policies would upend the tobacco companies’ insidious, racist playbook more than a ban on menthol cigarettes, which are largely responsible for the 45,000 black people in the United States who die annually from tobacco-related diseases,” Joseph said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously reported on the tobacco industry’s menthol ads targeting Black communities.
Murthy deferred questions about whether the Biden administration would implement the ban as one of its last acts. Spokespeople for both the White House and the FDA said they had no updates on the matter.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
