An anti-smoking advocate says the decision to leave menthol cigarettes on the market “prioritizes politics over lives, especially Black lives.”
The Biden administration indefinitely delayed implementing a long-awaited ban on menthol tobacco products, outraging anti-smoking advocates who say the White House is prioritizing politics over public health.
Controversy, especially within the Black community, is one reason Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra alluded to as rationale for dropping the proposed ban. In a statement, Becerra said the rule elicited “an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement,” adding that resolving the issues “will take considerably more time.
