(TheConservativeTimes.org) – A ban that’s been long awaited on Menthol cigarettes has been delayed indefinitely according to the Biden Administration. Since the announcement of a potential ban, there’s been a lot of pushback and controversy over the decision.
“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,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
Becerra said that it was clear there are more things to discuss before they can pass a ban on this which will take significantly more time.
Dr. Robert Califf, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner said he hoped a decision would be made by the end of the year. “It’s one of our top priorities, so I would sure hope so,” he said.
“From the point of view of the FDA and me as an individual, given what I’ve seen in my life, we’re talking about over the next 30 years, probably 600,000 deaths that could be averted,” Califf testified. He continued to say that most of these people would be Black Americans as that is who tobacco companies target.
NAACP President Derick Johnson said that the Biden administration’s decision to delay the ban was a “blow to the Black community.” They continued to say that the ban would save up to 255,000 black Americans over the next forty years.
The FDA first proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes two years ago, but there was an immediate response from supporters and opposers of the bill. Gas stations, tobacco companies, and stores all said that the ban would “cost them billions.”
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