and it never even happened
The White House has missed its deadline to publish a rule banning menthol cigarettes, raising ire among public health advocates that the policy will be indefinitely delayed by election year politics.
In an effort to force the administration to act, three anti-tobacco public health groups on Tuesday sued the Food and Drug Administration and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Because of Defendants’ inaction, tobacco companies have continued to use menthol cigarettes to target youth, women, and the Black community — all to the detriment of public health,” the groups said in their complaint, which was filed in the Northern District of California.
Health officials initially targeted last August to publish the rule to ban menthol. But at the end of last year, the Biden administration delayed the ban until March after fierce lobbying from critics — including the tobacco industry — seemingly spooked the White House that such a move could anger Black smokers and harm President Biden’s reelection chances.
Biden: killing his own base because he's worried they might not vote for him.
