The FDA proposed banning menthol cigarettes in 2022 and solicited public comments over three months, receiving 175,000 messages in response. According to a study published last month by Rutgers University researchers in JAMA Network Open, 97% of these comments were form letters opposing the ban. Nearly half of the letters contained language matching campaigns run by tobacco companies Altria Group Inc. and Reynolds American, with most of the remainder echoing industry talking points. Only 2% of the letters were unique in their content.
Experts on regulatory processes note that agencies typically prioritize the substance of comments over their volume when developing rules. However, the menthol campaign appears to represent an unusual case where the tactic succeeded in influencing the outcome. After the comment period closed in August 2022, the FDA stated it would require substantial time to review the submissions. The agency missed its initial deadline to issue the rule in August 2023 and extended it to March 2024.
By that later deadline, political considerations had emerged alongside the regulatory process. The White House scheduled numerous meetings with various organizations, including law enforcement and civil rights groups that had received tobacco industry funding and opposed the ban over concerns about illicit sales and policing effects. In April 2024, the Biden administration indefinitely postponed the ban, citing the historic volume of public response. The proposed rule was officially scrapped the following year after a change in administration.
The proposed ban had targeted menthol cigarettes, which comprise more than a third of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. Research indicated the ban could prevent 650,000 early deaths over four decades and that menthol compounds make cigarette smoke less harsh by cooling and numbing the throat and airway. Menthol cigarettes have had a disproportionate health impact on Black Americans, accounting for 157,000 smoking-related deaths between 1980 and 2018 according to University of Michigan research. Today, approximately 80% of Black smokers use menthols.
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