Black advocacy groups expressed hope Thursday that their decades-long goal of banning menthol cigarettes is close to fruition as the Food and Drug Administration announced a proposal to ban the products.
The FDA on Thursday rolled out a proposal to ban sales of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars and to restrict sales of flavored e-cigarette products in convenience stores. Implementation of any ban is still years away and will face significant pushback from the tobacco industry, but the news drew applause from black groups. Black health groups have battled menthol cigarettes for years, saying that tobacco companies market the products to black people in an attempt to keep them addicted.
“For decades, data have shown that the tobacco industry has successfully and intentionally marketed mentholated cigarettes to African Americans,” said the NAACP in a statement welcoming the proposal.
The group added that menthol cigarettes are harder to quit and tobacco use is a major “contributor to heart disease, cancer, and stroke — three leading causes of death among African Americans.”
The National Urban League said in a statement on Monday when news of a ban leaked out that the FDA needs to move “with urgency” to implement any ban.
The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council also praised the move and called for a swift implementation.
“If the FDA truly wants to protect the public health, and we believe this to be the case, then it is imperative that menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars be restricted and recognized as a social injustice, an issue that has a disproportionate impact on poor communities, marginalized groups, and especially communities of color,” the group said in a statement.
A 2009 law banned flavored cigarettes but did not touch menthol-flavored tobacco products.
But a few cities and counties have banned or restricted menthol flavors. San Francisco voters upheld a flavor ban during a ballot measure in June, despite a $12 million push from the tobacco industry to defeat it.
Menthol products make up about 35 percent of all tobacco product sales in the U.S., according to CNBC.
Major tobacco companies have already signaled they are ready for a fight.
“The science today does not support treating them differently from other cigarettes,” tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds said in a statement on the menthol ban.
Major cigarette maker Altria, formerly known as Philip Morris, gave the same defense of keeping menthol flavors.
“We continue to believe that a total ban on menthol cigarettes or flavored cigars would be an extreme measure not supported by the science and evidence,” the company said. “We expect that establishing product standards on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars will be a multi-year, deliberative process, and we will be fully engaged throughout.”
The tobacco lobby contributes millions of dollars to lobbying every election cycle. The industry spent $16.7 million on lobbying this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Some Republicans said Thursday that they were in favor of the FDA exploring a ban.
“If we can make people wear seat belts, we can start talking about whether or not you should have menthol cigarettes,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-N.D., told the Washington Examiner.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued a joint statement with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., praising the FDA’s move to restrict sales of flavored e-cigarette products.
“The FDA is finally moving in the right direction by cracking down on the sale of kid-friendly flavors in e-cigarettes and cigars, and improving online age verification for sales of these addictive products,” the senators said.
Democrats, meanwhile, called on the FDA to go further.
“I will be watching closely to see that we don’t miss this critical opportunity to reverse the alarming trend of rising youth tobacco use,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement Thursday. “Today’s announcement is an important step, but too much is at stake to be content.”
But Republican Sen. Richard Burr, who represents North Carolina, home to R.J. Reynolds’ headquarters, issued a blistering statement after the proposed ban was announced.
“This is not the first time the FDA has tried to ban menthol, but these efforts have been unsuccessful in the past,” Burr said in a statement.
He added that it is “troubling” that an administration that “pledges to put America first is targeting legal, American-made products instead of focusing its attention on states that flout federal drug laws.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told the Washington Examiner on Thursday he was unaware of the ban.
Congress could pass legislation to stop the regulation or could put pressure on the agency to nix any ban or soften it.
But several Republican senators said they were unaware of the proposal.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, brushed off an inquiry regarding the proposal on the basis of his own experience with tobacco. “Since I don’t smoke and never have I don’t think I am qualified to answer that question,” he said.
