FDA’s Delayed Menthol Cigarette Ban Puts Focus on Local Laws

The FDA’s stalled effort to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars is shifting attention to states, where health groups and the tobacco industry are jockeying for influence.

The Biden administration’s decision to postpone two final rules that would prohibit the sale of the tobacco products is pushing public health groups to work at the state and local level to fill in the gap. The organizations have criticized the Food and Drug Administration for pushing back its goal date several times since first proposing the product standards more than two years ago.

“We can’t rely on the president and on the ...