‘How about the cigarettes that white people smoke?’ Menthol cigarette ban could give Biden fits

President Joe Biden’s administration in December pressed the brakes on a plan to ban menthol cigarettes. They are popular with Black smokers but have been found by federal health officials to be especially harmful to Black people and attractive to youth smokers.

Biden’s decision disappointed health advocacy groups like the American Lung Association and American Heart Association. Meanwhile, the proposed ban has split Black Civil Rights groups; the NAACP supports a ban, the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network is firmly against it.

More: Banning menthol cigarettes will lead to a healthier North Carolina

Some conservatives see the issue as a chance at a long-held dream to splinter off Black voters from Biden and Democrats. This time they may be right — that is, if Biden’s team does not handle the matter with delicate hands and open ears.

The Liberty Policy Foundation, a new conservative group, has launched a “mid six figure ad campaign” that is targeting Black voters in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Nevada and Michigan, according to CNN. One of the ads says a ban would “criminalize” menthol cigarettes. It shows images of Eric Garner, a Black man who died after a police chokehold in 2014, when officers detained him for selling loose cigarettes.

Meanwhile, House Republicans announced in November they are investigating the menthol ban, which is proposed by the Food and Drug Administration. Ostensibly the inquiry looks into negative impacts the ban would have on sales for small convenience stores. But if Biden and the Democrats get dinged in the meantime, Republicans will likely not be heartbroken.

How about white people’s cigarettes, asks famed lawyer

Menthol cigarettes add a minty flavor to smoking and include longtime popular brands such as Newport and Kool. Black smokers gravitate to menthol smokes, a circumstance that is not entirely accidental.

“The tobacco industry has long targeted the Black community with marketing and advertising for menthol cigarettes, including placing ads in magazines, sponsoring community events, and discounting menthol cigarettes in predominantly Black neighborhoods,” said a recent open letter by a group of North Carolina doctors and healthcare researchers who support the ban. “As a result, more than 80% of Black people who smoke use menthol cigarettes, compared to only 34% of White people who smoke. Menthol cigarettes caused an estimated 157,000 premature deaths among Black people between 1980 and 2018.”

More: Majority of Americans support blocking sales of all tobacco products, CDC study says

The open letter notes that menthol cigarettes are more addictive and more attractive to young people. It is a well-meaning letter, and everyone should read it.

That said, both menthol and non-menthol cigarettes have the same sorts of dire warnings on the side of the pack and in displays where they are sold that make clear the product is no good for you.

Yet, Black smokers will see that the government bans the cigarettes they enjoy while leaving untouched the Marlboro Reds of the world. A ban on menthols will be seen as unfair by some people, because it kind of is.

Famous civil rights attorney Ben Crump put it like this in a podcast last year: “How about the cigarettes that white people smoke?”

Debate over risks of discrimination, incarceration

Then there is the ghost of the U.S. Congress’ 1994 Crime Bill, which was backed by the Congressional Black Caucus and many Black leaders at the time. The bill has been cited for causing the mass incarceration that has hit hard Black communities due in part to the harsher criminal sentences for crack cocaine, which is generally more favored by Black users, versus powder cocaine, more favored by white users. Biden supported the bill at the time as a senator and has since said it was mistake.

Opponents of a menthol ban fear it will give police another reason to target Black people.

Advocates for the ban say it will not criminalize individual smokers and instead will target manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Black folks can be forgiven for evaluating such claims with a side-eye.

What if Congress changes its mind? What is there to stop states or municipalities from creating their own set of penalties for possession or sale of what would then be an illegal product? There is an exceptional risk of such here in the South, if we allow ourselves even the briefest of glances at America's racial history.

The Reason Foundation, a Libertarian think tank, wrote: “Every state also has laws on the books that criminalize the unlicensed sale and distribution of tobacco products.”

Biden, FDA should reconsider

Biden's FDA could finalize the menthol ban as soon as March. But the president should leave the ban paused for now. What is clear is that more stakeholders need to be brought on board. Biden should say as much.

A big driver of the FDA proposal is its contention that menthols and flavored cigars — which also face a ban — play a role in ensnaring teens into smoking. Biden should say that, too.

For now, the FDA might want to consider a different kind of enhanced warning on menthol cigarette packages that includes, for example, how advertising has targeted Black people or data on how menthol cigarettes rope in teen smokers.

This would help Biden with the politics of it, but more importantly the policy, too. The issue merits the time to get it right, and that time is not the middle of a heated presidential campaign.

Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Biden vs. Black smokers’ cigarettes of choice: How the spat could hurt him