Biden should keep menthol ban shelved

On Friday, the Biden administration announced it would indefinitely postpone a decision to issue a nationwide ban on menthol cigarettes. The Biden administration, and all future administrations, should leave the matter for adults to decide for themselves.

“This rule has garnered historic attention and the public comment period has yielded an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement,” announced Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. “It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time.”

Anti-tobacco crusaders were naturally furious, calling the announcement “shocking” and “unacceptable.”  But if anything is shocking or unacceptable, it’s that the federal government is even contemplating a new front on the national drug war.

Thanks to effective public education efforts, everyone knows that smoking cigarettes is an unhealthy activity that increases the risk of various diseases and early death. That’s why far fewer people choose to smoke today than in generations past. Education efforts can and should continue to equip Americans with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions.

However, we also know, from substance prohibitions of the past and present, that prohibition will only drive millions of people into the black market. People will go to great lengths to get their fix, though the internet has made that much easier than in the past. People will find a way to make money from the persistent demand for officially prohibited products. Organized crime will be involved, as will law enforcement, adding a litany of new harms and risks onto an already risky activity.

In the case of menthol cigarettes, we also know that such cigarettes are the tobacco product of choice for Black American smokers. The negative consequences of prohibition of menthol cigarettes, then, will fall disproportionately on Black American smokers. This is a peculiar policy choice for a Democratic president to consider.

“You cannot talk out of both sides of your mouth. You cannot agree that the Black community does not need more unjust interactions with police, yet also support bans and prohibitions that result in more police interactions, investigative stops, stop-question-frisk cases,” wrote University of California professor Jody Armour in these pages in 2021.

Of course, a world in which people stopped smoking would be one free from millions of early deaths and health ailments. We all understand this. But we must also respect the freedom of individuals to make their own choices.

Instead of depriving people of their ability to choose, the way forward is to continue to inform and persuade people about the dangers of smoking and the benefits of ceasing to smoke or staying away from it in the first place.

Prohibition isn’t the answer.