The Biden administration is again delaying a decision to ban menthol-flavored cigarettes, citing an “immense amount of feedback” from minority and civil rights groups.
The White House had initially said it would decide on the regulation by March but blew past that self-imposed date.
The election-year decision comes as President Biden struggles with Black voters, who are most likely to smoke menthol-flavored cigarettes. He also has canceled tens of billions of dollars of student loan debt, a move he hopes will be popular with young voters who also are abandoning him.
Mr. Biden’s team said banning menthol cigarettes was a complicated decision.
“There are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said. “This rule has garnered historic attention and the public comment period has yielded an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement.”
White House officials said the rule proposal got tied up in an interagency review process. They said they need more time to hear from outside groups before deciding whether to move forward with the ban and especially want to hear from civil rights organizations.
Plans for a potential menthol ban have been in the works for several years, but the White House keeps missing internal deadlines, including one in January to issue a ruling amid pushback from minority and civil liberties groups.
Public health advocates have demanded the White House move forward with the ban, while criminal justice organizations argue it will unfairly criminalize a product that is popular among Black smokers.
The American Civil Liberties Union is among the groups lobbying against the ban, saying it would “disproportionately impact people of color” and “prioritize criminalization over public health and harm reduction.”
Black smokers are disproportionately more likely to use menthol cigarettes and Mr. Biden is already facing an election year where he is losing support among Black voters.
A Wall Street Journal poll this month revealed that 57% of Black men plan to vote for Mr. Biden, a significant drop from the 87% that voted for him in 2020. The same survey found that 77% of Black women intend to vote for Mr. Biden, a decline from the 93% who voted for him in the last election.
The White House has had more than 100 meetings over the proposals with dozens of groups both for and against the regulation, ranging from convenience store owners associations to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
Advocates of the ban now worry that the delays would push the rule into a window that would allow former President Donald Trump to undo it using the Congressional Review Act if he wins a second term.
“The administration‘s inaction is enabling the tobacco industry to continue aggressively marketing these products and attracting and addicting new users,” Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, said in a statement.
Rep. Robin Kelly, Illinois Democrat, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, said she was “disappointed” by the White House’s decision.
“The FDA’s experts have been clear that menthol cigarettes are harmful to public health,” she said.
Gwen Carr, whose son Eric Garner was killed while in the custody of the NYPD nearly a decade ago over the sale of loose cigarettes, praised the Biden administration for dropping the ban. She said the ban would “only create more unintended law enforcement consequences,” like the ones that led to her son’s death.
Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, also applauded the decision.
“I am pleased that the Biden Administration understands the civil rights harm that could result from a menthol ban in the Black Community,” she posted on X. “I look forward to working with the Biden administration toward effective prevention solutions as it relates to smoking in our great country.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said while smoking rates have generally decreased, the use of menthol cigarettes among those who smoke has increased.
Among Black smokers, nearly 85% smoke menthol cigarettes, compared to 30% of White smokers who use menthol, according to the FDA.
All told, roughly 28 million adults in the U.S. smoke cigarettes and more than 480,000 die each year from illnesses tied to smoking, according to the agency.
A survey commissioned by Altria, a major tobacco company, found the majority (54%) of “core” Biden voters — defined as minority voters and non-conservative White voters under age 45 — opposed a ban on menthol cigarettes, including in several swing states.
But a CDC-sponsored survey of more than 6,000 people last year found that 62% of people would support banning menthol cigarettes, including 61.5% of Black respondents.
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this story.