Trump administration buries menthol cigarette ban

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) plan to ban menthol cigarettes has been withdrawn by the Trump administration. Following the decision by the new White House occupant to withdraw the United States from the WHO, the abandonment of the ban on menthol cigarettes sends a worrying signal about the health policy that Donald Trump intends to pursue over the next four years.

Financial risk averted for the tobacco industry

The ban on menthol cigarettes was supposed to be one of the flagship measures of Joe Biden's sole term. The provision, regularly delayed, will ultimately never have seen the light of day, due to the lobbying effort developed by the tobacco industry. While menthol cigarettes represent about a third of tobacco consumption in the United States, a ban would have dealt a significant blow to manufacturers, estimated at two billion euros per year. While 85% of African-American smokers are consumers of menthol products, the Biden administration has been sensitive to the tobacco industry's argument that a ban on menthol would be discriminatory, and would run the risk of alienating part of the Democratic Party's electorate.

The bringing into line of American health agencies

The circumstances surrounding the proposed menthol cigarette ban remain unclear, especially since the Food and Drug Administration has declined to comment on the situation, citing new restrictions on health agencies now facing communications. Indeed, just days after Donald Trump took office, a directive required health agency employees to have all documents and communications reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee. In addition, no employee of health agencies, such as the FDA, will now be able to speak publicly without prior approval.

A clear setback for public health

All anti-smoking organizations deplore the withdrawal of such a project, the implementation of which would have allowed a major health advance in the country. Indeed, a study published in the journal Tobacco Control estimated that a ban on menthol in the United States could save more than 16,000 lives per year, and prevent up to 650,000 premature deaths by 2060. The ban would also have a multiplied preventive effect on African-Americans, since it is estimated that the implementation of the measure would dissuade 48% of them from starting to smoke, compared to 39% on average for the population as a whole. Donald Trump's attitude towards smoking and public health policies is more generally part of a libertarian ideology, hostile to any form of regulation, indifferent to scientific discourse, and, in fact, favorable to special interests. Thus, a few years after having likened global warming to a "hoax", Donald Trump declared a "state of energy emergency" during his second inaugural address, announcing in a few words his desire to accentuate a productivist policy: "We are going to drill, drill, drill".

FT

National Committee Against Smoking |