Long-awaited federal rules that would ban menthol flavoring in cigarettes have been delayed, angering health advocates who charge that the Biden Administration has postponed the ban to avoid alienating Black voters, who disproportionately smoke menthol-flavored tobacco products.
The Biden administration is delaying a decision on whether to ban menthol flavored cigarettes amid intense lobbying from critics including the tobacco industry, industry-backed groups and some Black criminal justice advocates.