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The Biden administration is reportedly planning to ban menthol cigarettes in a move that activists say would help Black Americans who are disproportionately harmed by the tobacco industry, but critics claim it will do the opposite. The alleged ban comes as the FDA faces a deadline to respond to a 2013 citizen petition to act on menthol products, which escalated to a court filing in June 2020.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the tobacco industry has aggressively marketed menthol products to young people and Black Americans, and have historically placed larger amounts of advertising in Black publications. Over 7 out of 10 Black youths ages 12-17 who reported smoking use menthol cigarettes, and Black adults have the highest percentage of menthol cigarette use compared to other racial groups.
The action has been urgently sought by tobacco opponents and civil rights groups who say African Americans have been disproportionately hurt by the industry’s aggressive targeting of Black communities.
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Although there has been a sharp decline in traditional smoking thanks to existing anti-smoking campaigns, tobacco still remains a leading source of illness and death in the U.S. and worldwide. It is most critical among people of color.
Anti-smoking groups have been waiting for an opportunity to push their aggressive smoking bans for years. Riding on the success of Black Lives Matter, a movement that focuses on social injustice primarily on police brutality anti-smoking groups are pointing out health disparities involving Black smokers.
“The predatory marketing of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products must be stopped and we should all recognize this as a social justice issue, and one that disproportionately impacts youth and communities of color,” read an open letter from 10 civil rights and Black health organizations to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra pressing for a ban.
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WASHINGTON, D.C-Â The Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to force doctors to perform âgender transition surgeryâ in violation of their conscience and professional medical judgment.
Becerra is attempting to overturn a January ruling by the US District Court for the District of North Dakota in which the court blocked a requirement known as the so-called âTransgender Mandate.â This would force medical professionals and religious hospitals to perform surgery on and provide hormone drugs to people when doing so would violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.Â