MANY MINDEDTobacco Lobbying Blocks Menthol Ban
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration drafted a menthol cigarette ban proposal in 2022 but missed its deadline to finalize the rule after the public comment period closed in August 2022. The tobacco industry submitted 175,000 public comments within three months of the proposal, with a Rutgers University study finding 97% were identical form letters from tobacco companies Altria and Reynolds American—only 2% were unique responses. The FDA postponed the ban in April 2024 citing the 'vast public response,' and it was officially scrapped after President Trump took office in January 2025. Menthol cigarettes account for over one-third of U.S. sales, with 80% of Black smokers using them. University of Michigan research links menthol cigarettes to 157,000 smoking-related deaths among Black Americans between 1980 and 2018. A ban could avert 650,000 early deaths over four decades, but the FDA’s decision to delay the rule reflects how tobacco lobbying—historically targeting Black communities through jazz festivals, Ebony magazine ads, and free samples since the 1960s—creates friction in health protections.
This friction directly impacts Black Americans’ access to affordable, less harmful tobacco alternatives. The industry’s systematic use of anonymous form letters to flood regulatory channels undermines health equity, making critical protections financially and politically inaccessible. Without the ban, vulnerable populations remain exposed to higher smoking-related health costs.
The next step is whether the Biden administration will revisit the rule before the 2026 election cycle. Crucially, the Rutgers study notes the form letters lack identifying information, so it’s unclear if they reflect genuine public concern. The 157,000 deaths figure applies only to Black Americans from 1980–2018, and the 650,000 savings projection is based on specific research cited in the source material.
Source: STAT