FDA calls for ban on menthol cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed new rules that would ban the sale of menthol cigarettes in the United States.

Xavier Becerra, Minister for Health and Social Care, said the new rules, which would also include a ban on flavored cigars, “would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit smoking stop.”

“Furthermore, the proposed rules represent an important step in advancing health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities,” Becerra said in a statement.

This step was made possible back in 2009 when Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which was then enacted by President Barack Obama.

The law empowered the FDA to regulate tobacco products, and the regulator responded by banning virtually all flavored cigarettes.

But menthol cigarettes were exempt from that ban, in part due to opposition from the Congressional Black Caucus at the time.

As the New York Times reported Thursday, the proposed ban “would most likely have the deepest impact on black smokers, of whom nearly 85% use menthol cigarettes, compared to 29% of white smokers.”

According to The Washington Post, “Many members [of the Congressional Black Caucus] now support a ban on menthol cigarettes.

“The authority to adopt standards for tobacco products is one of the most powerful tools Congress has given the FDA, and the actions we are proposing can help significantly reduce youth intake and increase the chances that current quit smoking. It is clear that these efforts will help save lives,” said Robert M. Califf, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. “Through the rulemaking process, there is an important opportunity for the public to make their voices heard and help shape FDA’s ongoing efforts to improve public health.”

The FDA said that in 2019, “There were more than 18.5 million menthol cigarette smokers in the United States ages 12 and older, with particularly high consumption rates among adolescents, young adults, and African Americans and other racial and ethnic groups. ”

“Menthol is a flavor additive with a minty flavor and aroma that reduces the irritation and pungency of smoking. This increases the attractiveness and makes it easier to use menthol cigarettes, especially for teenagers and young adults,” the administration explained. “Menthol also interacts with nicotine in the brain to increase the addictive effects of nicotine. The combination of menthol taste, sensory effects, and interaction with nicotine in the brain increases the likelihood that adolescents who start using menthol cigarettes will progress to regular use. Menthol also makes it harder for people to quit smoking.”

The Times reported that the FDA’s menthol exemption in 2009 “angered public health groups and a cadre of former U.S. cabinet health secretaries who were finding that 47,000 black people died from smoking-related diseases every year.” These former secretaries, according to the Times, argued that keeping menthol on shelves “constrains tobacco companies’ financial interests and discriminates against African Americans.”

But the FDA made it clear last year that it would renew its efforts to ban menthol cigarettes, saying at the time it was “working to issue proposed product standards within the next year to ban menthol as a distinctive flavor in cigarettes and allow all characterizations.” ban flavorings (including menthol) in cigars; The power to pass product standards is one of the most powerful tobacco regulatory tools Congress has given the agency.”

The Times reported that White House records show “recent meetings with supporters of a ban, including the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics,” but that others, such as Rev. Al Sharpton, remain staunchly opposed.

Sharpton, told The Times, “recently secured a meeting with White House officials along with King & Spalding, a lobbying firm with an extensive track record of advocacy for RAI Services Company, the cigarette maker formerly known as RJ Reynolds. “