4 key takeaways to know about the FDA’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving forward with a plan to ban the sale of menthol-flavored cigarettes in the United States.

 
The ban would most likely have the deepest impact on Black smokers, nearly 85 percent of whom smoke menthol cigarettes, compared with 29 percent of white smokers, according to a government survey.

Critics call the ban misguided  
“The FDA’s proposed menthol ban is another public policy gone astray that will produce unintended racial-discriminatory consequences,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, the former President of the NAACP and current president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
 
“Driving while Black and Brown, jogging while Black and Brown, and breathing while Black and Brown have had, at times, fatal consequences intergenerationally for women, men, and youth from our communities.  Now, our families and communities will have to contend additionally with smoking while Black and Brown in America,” Chavis added.
 
Noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump warns that implementing the ban would be “creating another pretextual reason for the police to have interactions that lead to Black people being convicted felons."   The old saying ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions'” is an appropriate way to think about this proposal, he added.  

 
Crump notes, could easily lead to an “Eric Garner situation,” referring to the fact that Garner was killed by a police officer in 2014 after being stopped for selling individual cigarettes.
 
Opposed by law enforcement  
While the FDA may implement the ban, it would be up to state and local law enforcement officials to enforce it. 
 
The Law Enforcement Action Partnership ---a diverse group which includes the National Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Drug Policy Alliance, and the National Black Law Enforcement Officers--- wrote, "we don't want police to have one more reason to put their hands on young Black men."

Once arrested for a menthol cigarette-related crime (an individual) would potentially face not only prosecution for that crime itself, but the prospect of three-strikes (for other repeat offenders), revocation of parole (with an immediate return to prison), disenfranchisement in states that remove the right to vote for felony convictions, and (possible) deportation for individuals on legally issued visas.”  
 
If approved you could catch a felony for smoking
A proposed ban would increase policing of Black communities.  50 states, and the federal government, already treat the sale of illegal cigarettes as a serious crime, 44 states classify it as a felony, and 37 states subject the mere possession of banned cigarettes as a crime.
 
Ban fails Biden’s racial equity executive order
On his first day in The White House, President Biden signed Executive Order (13985) on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. 
 
The FDA’s proposed ban is noticeably silent on how it would affect Black and brown communities.  
 
So while we are rushing to legalize marijuana, why is the FDA rushing to ban “menthol” cigarettes that are disproportionately used and preferred by Black and Brown smokers?