DeWine criticizes Biden over menthol cigarette ban delay; working on Ohio ban

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WXIX) - The Biden Administration delaying a ban on menthol cigarettes won’t stop Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who criticized the administration’s decision while his office continues to work on a ban in the state.

US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Beccera, in a CNN.com article, said the ban on mint-flavored cigarettes would take significantly longer than the agency planned. Beccera said the proposed ban had garnered record public comment, “including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement.”

DeWine said the Biden administration’s decision was harmful to Americans because of the popularity of vaping among younger Americans.

“I am deeply disappointed in President Biden’s decision to delay banning menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products,” DeWine said in a statement. “A new generation of Americans is becoming addicted to nicotine because of flavored tobacco and vaping products, including menthol.”

Dan Tierney, a spokesperson for DeWine, said the governor’s office is working with the state legislature to enact a statewide ban on menthol and other flavored cigarettes.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Ohio legislators passed laws last year to keep cities from enacting bans on menthol cigarettes. DeWine vetoed the law, but it was overridden in December.

Tierney said despite the FDA’s decision and the stance of the Ohio House and Senate last year, he believed the governor and legislators could get a ban enacted in Ohio

“That’s something we’ve been talking to the legislature about statewide,” Tierney said. “The governor has called for it and we’re working with the legislature, but nothing has been enacted yet.”

All flavored cigarettes - except menthol - were banned by Congress in 2009.

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