The proposal had been years in the making, in an effort to curb death rates of Black smokers targeted by Big Tobacco. In an election year, the president’s weak support among Black voters may have influenced the postponement.
The Biden administration said on Friday that it was delaying a decision on whether to ban menthol cigarettes as federal officials take more time to consider the move.
The White House has faced considerable opposition from the big tobacco companies that could lose billions of dollars from the move. But the proposal has also posed risks for President Biden in an election year because of his weakening support among Black voters, some of whom view it as heavy-handed.
“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,” Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary, said in a statement.
“It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time.”
The delay runs counter to a major push by federal regulators, who saw a ban as a way to save lives and lower lung cancer deaths. The idea had united an array of public health groups, including leading lung, heart, cancer and pediatricians associations.
They cite years of data suggesting that menthol cigarettes, long marketed to African-American smokers, make it more palatable to start smoking and more difficult to stop.