WASHINGTON, April 22 (BNA): While federal officials complete a long overdue plan To ban menthol cigarettes, dozens of interest groups have met with White House staff to try to influence the process, which has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives while eliminating billions from tobacco sales, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Biden administration officials have heard from tobacco lobbyists, anti-smoking advocates, civil rights groups, small business owners, and conservative think tanks. The lobbying campaign underscores the far-reaching effects of banning menthol, which accounts for more than a third of the US cigarette market.
The White House ended its review of the Food and Drug Administration’s proposal Thursday after nearly 40 virtual meetings with outside groups, according to a government website. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has pledged to put together a detailed proposal to phase out the flavoring by the end of the month, which means an official announcement could come next week.
Meeting materials posted online show that nearly all groups opposing the ban have financial ties to tobacco companies, including companies that sell cigarettes and nonprofit groups that receive charitable contributions.
Menthol is the only cigarette flavor that was not banned under the 2009 law that gave the Food and Drug Administration authority over tobacco products. many of Efforts to eliminate menthol It has since been derailed by declining industry or competing political priorities.
The insistence of menthol infuriates health advocates because the cooling effect of the ingredient has been shown to make it easier to start smoking and harder to quit. The health consequences occurred disproportionately in black smokers, 85% of whom used menthol.
FDA officials estimate that the ban could prevent 630,000 deaths from smoking over a 40-year period, more than a third among blacks.
Anti-tobacco groups are closely following the review by the White House budget arm, after seeing it earlier FDA tobacco proposals On the shelves or eased under previous administrations.
“The concern with this process is that in the past, political considerations have outpaced the scientific analysis of the FDA,” said Matthew Myers of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. “But I am optimistic that the base will appear largely in the same form that the agency has proposed.”
The White House Office of Management and Budget reviews all major federal regulations before publication, particularly those that could affect the economy. External groups and individuals can request a meeting, which provides one last opportunity to try to shape the final product.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday morning.
More than half of the Budget Office meetings on the menthol issue have been requested by groups traditionally opposed to tobacco restrictions. The memos and follow-up correspondence reveal familiar arguments about the unintended consequences of the ban, including that it would expose black communities to more policing due to smuggled cigarettes.
Reverend Al Sharpton warned officials that the FDA’s plan would “exacerbate existing and hot issues around racial profiling, discrimination and policing,” according to a letter sent after his April 13 meeting, which included Susan Rice, President Joe Biden’s local senior adviser. on racial inequality.
Sharpton’s group, National Action Network, has long received money from Reynolds American, maker of the best-selling menthol brand, Newport. Online records of the group’s OMB meeting show it was identified by the same law firm that arranged Reynolds’ meeting with White House staff.
The National Action Network did not respond to requests for comment.
Health advocates reject concerns about oversight because the FDA’s proposal would apply to companies that manufacture or sell menthol cigarettes, not individual smokers.
“It’s about stopping the production, distribution and sale of these things,” said Dr. Philip Gardiner of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council. “It has nothing to do with ownership.”
On Wednesday, the NAACP urged the Biden administration to move forward with a menthol ban, saying failure to do so “would be discriminatory and inconsistent with the purpose and function of the Food and Drug Administration.”
More than a quarter of the meetings were requested by gas stations, convenience stores, and distributors. Members of the Southern Association of Wholesale Distributors said some convenience stores could lose 30% of cigarette revenue, forcing them to close and “creating food deserts”.
Other groups, including Americans for Tax Reform, have warned of lost government revenue, citing one estimate that federal and state budgets will lose $6.6 billion in cigarette sales taxes. That group, led by conservative activist Grover Norquist, received funding from Altria, the nation’s largest cigarette maker.
Another argument from tobacco-allied groups is that outlawing menthol would create an illicit market and increase criminal activities.
But Gardiner and other proponents point out that most cigarette smuggling in the United States today takes place across state borders to take advantage of differences in tax rates. If menthol production were to stop altogether, there would be few supplies for smuggling: Canada, for example, banned menthol in 2018.
More than 100 US cities and counties have already restricted menthol products, with few indications that the illicit market is thriving.
“The idea of having hundreds of millions of dollars of menthol cigarettes that could be shipped around the world and across our borders somehow didn’t happen,” he said.
AOQ