This Lawsuit May Decide the Fate of Menthol Cigarettes
Years of progress toward a federal ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco has been an intense game of legal maneuvering and White House delays — and two Black-led organizations are among the latest plaintiffs hoping their lawsuit forces the Biden administration’s hand.
“We know that everyday it’s delayed, there are more Black children getting addicted and more Black people dying,” Dr. Mark Mitchell, the chair of the council on environmental health and climate change for the National Medical Association, told Capital B. The medical organization is one of the plaintiffs.
Advocates, doctors and public health professionals have urged the government to take action for decades. They are outraged by the delays, which have been a common maneuver tucked inside multiple administrations’ playbooks, leaving a ban on the products lingering for years.
Read More: ‘They Were Just Exploiting Us’: The Void Big Tobacco Left in These Black Families
In response to officials dragging their feet, the latest lawsuit filed in a California court earlier this month seeks to push the ban through the final stages of approval from the White House. It builds off of another case from 2020 when advocates condemned the government for stalling the initial steps towards getting menthol products off the market.
As the White House’s deadline to take action passed in March with little movement, many weren’t shocked.
It’s not only about death, Mitchell told us. It’s also about sickness and disability. Smokers are more likely to have limbs amputated and be bedridden or wheelchair bound.
More than 80% of Black smokers opt for menthol cigarettes, a result of aggressive and strategic marketing by Big Tobacco, dating back decades. A federal ban could save up to 654,000 lives over the next 40 years.
“To get this far and have the Biden administration hold it up is unfathomable,” said Delmonte Jefferson, the executive director of the Center for Black Health & Equity. The center is not a plaintiff.
A ‘detriment to public health’
The lawsuit is another familiar move in the dance between the U.S. government, public health professionals, and civil rights organizations as the potential ban looms. “Because of defendants’ inaction, tobacco companies have continued to use menthol cigarettes to target youth, women, and the Black community — all to the detriment of public health,” the complaint reads.
In 2020, a separate lawsuit similarly called for more action. And in response, two years later, a proposed ban on the products was issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in what many celebrated a public health win.
Now, advocates are hoping the latest legal action prompts similar progress and a step toward accountability in keeping menthol products, which are scientifically concocted to be easier to smoke and harder to quit, off the market. The National Medical Association and the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council are among the plaintiffs.
In 2009, menthol was left out of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, while banning other flavors in cigarettes. Given the rates of menthol smoking among Black Americans, it left them increasingly susceptible to many smoking-related illnesses, including heart disease, cancer, and stroke — their three leading causes of death.
The announcement of the proposed rules by the FDA in 2022 was an attempt to close the loophole lingering open from the 2009 act.
Since, the White House has met with various civil rights activists and law enforcement officials to evaluate the impact a ban could have. Many have been urging the administration to act and secure what would be a tremendous public health win. Others have feared the criminal justice implications of removing menthol cigarettes from the market. They worry it could increase the targeting of Black communities by police officers.
Last year, the White House said they’d review the rule by March, but the self-imposed deadline soared by with little action. Jefferson is not surprised.
“They’re delaying what should’ve happened last year,” he said. He’s frustrated by talk that the administration is stalling in an attempt to appease Black voters who might smoke menthols as the November’s presidential election approaches. The thought that this would somehow flip the vote is “the furthest from the truth,” Jefferson said.
The ban is not just to protect smokers, but also their families, said Mitchell. He’s concerned about the children — “We see the effects every day in our patients.”
The government will have about two months to respond to the complaint.
The post This Lawsuit May Decide the Fate of Menthol Cigarettes appeared first on Capital B News.
