The Biden administration has delayed the ban on menthol cigarettes until 2024, which has drawn anger from public health groups and officials, reports NBC News.

The White House updated its Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website to reflect that any final ban on menthol wouldn’t take place until at least March, reports NBC News. The ban was initially set to take effect by the end of the year 2023.
Public health organisations that have been asking for a ban on menthol tobacco products for years, responded with disbelief.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Emily Holubowich, the American Heart Association’s (AHA) national senior vice president of federal advocacy. “We know these products kill.”
“It is incredibly frustrating as a person who is dedicated to public health and to health equity to see something like this continually be delayed,” said Dr. Avenal Joseph, the vice president of policy at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
As of yet, the Biden administration has not explained the reason for the delay and public health officials are now worried that the ban will not be a topic during an election year.
“In an election year, policymaking tends to grind to a halt,” Holubowich said. “People are distracted. They’re out campaigning.”
Especially Black Americans would be affected by the ban, as nearly 85 per cent of Black smokers use menthols, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. Black men have the highest lung cancer death rate in the U.S. According to the CDC, 157,000 African Americans died prematurely because of menthol cigarettes from 1980 to 2018, reports NBC News.