The Biden administration is reversing course on its plan to ban menthol cigarettes, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The decision comes after the White House weighed the potential public-health benefits of banning minty smokes against the political risk of angering Black voters in an election year, according to the report.
The administration is expected to announce its decision as soon as Friday afternoon, WSJ reported.
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration decision expected last year to ban the cigarettes was delayed with the Biden administration taking time to discuss the matter with several groups.
The White House could not immediately be reached for comment. The FDA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Menthol cigarettes account for a third of the industry's overall market share in the United States.
The highly addictive products have been cited for their appeal to young smokers, as well as significant health impacts for Black communities.
For decades, menthol cigarettes have been in the crosshairs of anti-smoking groups who argue that they contribute to disproportionate health burdens on Black communities and play a role in luring young people into smoking.
Civil rights groups have contended for years that menthol cigarettes pose a disproportionately higher risk in Black communities, where they are heavily marketed.
About 81% of Black adults who smoked cigarettes used menthol varieties, compared with 34% of white adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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