However, not all groups are on board. The ACLU and several other organizations wrote to the country’s top health authorities asking them to reconsider.
“Such a ban will trigger criminal sanctions that disproportionately affect people of color and give criminalization priority over public health and harm reduction,” the letter said. “A ban will also lead to unconstitutional policing and other negative interactions with local law enforcement agencies.”
The letter describes the proposed ban as “well-intentioned” but any effort to reduce tobacco death and disease must “avoid solutions that create yet another reason for the armed police to act or pretend to be citizens on the streets.” engage that doesn’t pose a threat to public safety. “
Instead of a ban, the organizations say, policymakers should consider better education for adults and minors, smoking cessation programs, and increased funding for health centers in color communities.
However, the Biden government urged that the menthol ban will have many positive effects. Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, MD, said in a statement that the menthol ban “will help significantly reduce the initiation of adolescents, increase the likelihood of quitting among current smokers, and address the health inequalities that contribute to Color communities, low-income populations, and LGBTQ + individuals occur who all use these tobacco products much more frequently. “
The FDA cited data showing an additional 923,000 smokers would quit in the first year after a ban went into effect, including 230,000 African Americans. Another study suggests that 633,000 deaths would be averted, including 237,000 black Americans.
Woodcock added, “Armed with strong scientific evidence and with the full support of the [Biden] We believe these measures will put us on a path to end tobacco-related diseases and death in the United States. “
The FDA estimates that 18.6 million Americans who are currently smokers use menthol cigarettes, with a disproportionately high number being black. Menthol cigarette use among black and Hispanic teens increased from 2011 to 2018, but decreased among non-Hispanic white teens.
Mass-produced flavored cigars and cigarillos are disproportionately popular with teens, especially non-Hispanic black high school students who reported twice as much as their white counterparts after 30 days of cigarette smoking in 2020, according to the FDA. Three quarters of 12 to 17 year olds say they smoke cigars because they like the aromas. In 2020, more young people tried a cigar than a cigarette every day, the agency reports.
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