Noah McCrory
The Biden administration said Friday it would again delay a decision on a regulation aimed at banning menthol-flavored cigarettesciting the “historical attention” and “immense amount of feedback” on the controversial proposal by the Food and Drug Administration.
“This rule has attracted historic attention and the public comment period yielded an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. declaration.
The White House had already surpassed an earlier self-imposed date to decide on the regulation until March. The rule was stuck in an interagency review process.
A senior administration official said it was difficult to put a timetable on the delay, citing lingering disagreements after “months of difficult conversations.”
The official said they are asking for more time to hear from outside groups, especially on the civil rights side.
They acknowledged the high death rates of Black Americans due to the use of menthol cigarettes, which prompted the FDA’s initial push for a ban, but said there were civil rights concerns about how such a rule would be enforced.
The American Civil Liberties Union is among the groups lobbying for months against a ban on menthol cigarettes, Notice it would “disproportionately impact people of color” and “prioritize criminalization over the health of the republic and harm reduction.”
“It’s clear there are still more conversations to be had and it will take much longer,” Becerra said in his statement.
The White House has so far presented more than 100 meetings about the proposal with dozens of outside groups for and against the regulation, from convenience store associations to the National Organization of Black Police Executives.
Public health groups have expressed frustration for months repeated delays to the FDA’s proposal that agency officials I had waited would be an essential part of a federal effort to significantly reduce smoking rates in the U.S.
Supporters fear the delays will push the rule into a window that would allow opponents to overturn the rule using the Congressional Review Act during the next presidential term.
“The administration’s inaction is allowing the tobacco industry to continue to aggressively market these products and attract and addict new users,” said Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, in a statement.
In a statement, FDA spokesman James McKinney said the agency “remains committed to issuing tobacco product standards for menthol in cigarettes and characterizing flavors in cigars” as a top priority.
At a House Appropriations Committee hearing this month, FDA Administrator Robert Califf he said said he hoped the ban could be lifted by the end of the year.
“I am a cardiologist and have practiced in North Carolina for 35 years. I’ve probably seen more people die from tobacco-related illnesses than almost any doctor because I was an intensivist dealing with end-stage disease. priority for us,” he said.
–Nancy Cordes contributed reporting.
