On Friday, the White House delayed its planned menthol cigarette ban following “immense” feedback and “historic” attention, according to a statement from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Becerra announced the update and said “this rule has garnered historic attention and the public comment period has yielded an immense amount of feedback.” The decision to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars “will take significantly more time” he added.
With the Biden administration’s self-imposed March date passed, this latest delay has prompted reactions from both sides, including proponents against the ban and the effect it would have on small businesses, particularly convenience stores.
Retailers stand to suffer significantly if menthol cigarettes are banned, the Energy Marketers of America (EMA), which represents 48 regional energy marketing and convenience-store trade associations in the United States, told CSP. “We were pleased to see that the administration decided to halt efforts to ban menthol sales. Especially c-stores that rely heavily on menthol sales because they may have had trouble paying for their next load of fuel or making investments in their business,” said EMA President Rob Underwood.
Ryan Howard, COO of truenorth, a regional fuel and convenience retailer operating in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois with more than 170 company-operated stores, echoed EMA’s position.
“A menthol ban would cost our industry billions, while historically low and declining youth smoking rates do not justify pursuing such a ban,” Howard told CSP. “Responsible retailers in our industry work tirelessly to ensure age restricted products are only sold to intended of age parties. We strongly believe that a ban would not stop the sale of cigarettes, but rather fuel illicit tobacco trafficking where there are no considerations of age of consumers.”
As retailers welcomed the delay, proponents of the ban voiced their frustration of the White House's latest decision.
"I am deeply disappointed in President Biden’s decision to delay banning menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said in a statement. “A new generation of Americans is becoming addicted to nicotine because of flavored tobacco and vaping products, including menthol. We need a uniform national flavor ban right away!”
The White House had been weighing a decision to ban menthol cigarettes as it could anger some Black voters who favor the products, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
But this sentiment is not widely held in the Black community, according to a poll conducted by The Mellman Group, a political research firm, on behalf of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The poll reported that Black voters support the FDA's final rule prohibiting the sale of menthol cigarettes by a 37-point margin (62% to 25%).
"This new data proves what we already know to be true—Black voters want to see a menthol ban,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement.
Yolonda Richardson, president and CEO at Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, called the latest White House delay “unacceptable and deeply harmful to public health.” Richardson said the Biden Administration’s latest decision “prioritizes politics over lives, especially Black lives.”
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