Biden administration delays plans to ban menthol cigarettes

[Pelican Press 0]

Biden administration delays plans to ban menthol cigarettes

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks after signing into law a bill providing billions of dollars of new aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia, at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 24, 2024. 

Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters

The Biden Administration has delayed plans to ban menthol cigarettes, a proposal announced by the Food and ***** Administration

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.

“There are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time,” Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement Friday.

The 

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, followed by 

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. The move was aimed to improve the health of those most likely to smoke them, including kids and ****** Americans.

According to the 

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, nearly 85% of ****** smokers use menthol cigarettes, compared to just 30% of white smokers. ****** men have the 

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 in the U.S. and both ****** men and women are far less likely to be diagnosed with the ******** at an early stage, when it is often more treatable, than white Americans.

The proposed ban — and now the delay — has raised questions about the effect it could have on ****** voters months before a contentious presidential election.

The ban has 

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, with 

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. At the time, the White House quietly updated its 

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 to reflect that any final ban on menthol wouldn’t happen until at least March.

At the time of the December delay, one official with a national public health group working to remove the products from the market told NBC News they were “deeply concerned” the ban would not take effect before the 2024 election.

“Everything gets ******* to do in an election year because people are distracted and bandwidth is stretched,” the official said in December.

Becerra’s statement did not indicate if or when the ban would be enacted by the Biden Administration and provided no further details on conversations around it.

After the delay was announced Friday afternoon, anti-smoking and health advocates began expressing their frustration.

“Two full years after releasing proposed rules backed by extensive scientific evidence — and more than a decade since the FDA began examining menthol cigarettes — the administration has ******* to take decisive action to remove these deadly, addictive products from the market,” Nancy Brown, CEO of the ********* Heart Association, said in a statement. “The administration’s inaction is enabling the tobacco industry to continue aggressively marketing these products and attracting and addicting new users.”

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