Written by Jonathan Stemple
(Reuters) – The Biden administration has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by anti-smoking groups demanding an end to a nearly year-long delay and ban on menthol cigarettes, which are disproportionately used by Black people and young people.
In a court filing Thursday night, the FDA said the delay was not unreasonable because it had not yet decided whether the ban was “appropriate to protect the public health.”
She also said the plaintiffs had no direct interest in the ban and therefore had no standing to sue, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 13 rejection of an attempt by anti-abortion groups and doctors to restrict access to widely used abortion pills.
The lawsuit was filed April 2 in federal court in Oakland, California, by the American Medical Association, the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, Action Against Smoking and Health, and the National Medical Association.
The groups’ lawyers had no immediate comment Friday.
Menthol is found naturally in mint and similar plants, and is the only cigarette flavor still allowed under a 2009 law that gave the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco.
Government health officials had hoped to ban the flavor last August, but have pushed back the date several times.
The latest delay came on April 26, when Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra suggested it could continue beyond the November election, saying talks would take “much longer.”
The Department of Health and Human Services is the parent agency of the FDA.
The ban will likely result in billions of dollars in lost annual revenue for cigarette companies such as Altria (NYSE:) and British American Tobacco (NYSE:).
It could also hamper black voter support for President Joe Biden as the Democrat seeks re-election.
About 81% of Black adults who smoke cigarettes use menthol varieties, compared to just 34% of white adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 53 percent of smokers ages 18 to 25 use menthol cigarettes, compared with 42 percent of smokers over age 35.
The FDA said eliminating menthol could prevent 324,000 to 654,000 smoking-related deaths in the United States over 40 years.
The case is African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-01992.