Menthol Cigarettes are or should be, things of the past if the US Food and Drug Administration succeeds in its proposed bans and new regulations for the tobacco industry. In May, the FDA announced their proposal “to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes…”
Likewise, the FDA intends to prohibit all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco) in cigars.
In this blog article, FLASS brings you the facts behind the FDA’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. Here at FLASS, we know this is radical and shocking news to confirmed smokers.
Thus, we want to logically explain to you why this is of critical importance.
Menthol Madness and the Next Generation
More Than a Minty Flavor… Menthol Makes It Easier To Be Hooked on Nicotine.
Do you realize that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the US? We all know that old-school smokers started smoking before we knew how deadly it could be.
At the current time, we know the dangers. Yet youth continue to experiment and become addicted.
No one wants that, least of all patients who are suffering from COPD and lung cancer from addiction to menthol cigarettes. Thus, the FDA wants to carry out 3 important goals by banning it.
1. Firstly, the ban will reduce youth experimentation. 2. Additionally, it should curtail cases of youth addiction. 3, Likewise, the ban will increase the number of smokers that quit.
Banning Substance: Part of Our Cancer Moonshot
It’s a terrifying fact that “30 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States are caused by smoking.” This ban on menthol cigarettes is also “a critical piece of the Administration’s reignited Cancer Moonshot”. The purpose is to “reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years…”
Scientists have based these new standards on evidence that proved addictiveness and harm to humans. You might remember the first set of bans from the FDA.
The prohibited manufacture of cigarettes with all other flavors except tobacco and menthol in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009.
Menthol Cigarettes: The Little Flavor with the Big Price
Here are a few FLASS Facts on menthol. In case you do not know, it is a flavor additive for cigarettes.
It has a minty taste and aroma. It insidiously reduces “the irritation and harshness of smoking. This effect increases the appeal.
It’s like putting training wheels on a bike. It makes menthol cigarettes “easier to use…”
Sadly, youth and young adults are quick to realize this, and they learn the habit with ease.
Are you aware that menthol also interacts with nicotine in the brain? It actually enhances the addictive effect of nicotine.
After years of research and study, the FDA has concluded, “The combination of menthol’s flavor, sensory effects, and interaction with nicotine in the brain increases the likelihood that youth who start using menthol cigarettes will progress to regular use.”
Additionally, studies also proved that menthol cigarettes make it more difficult for people to quit smoking. For more information, check out this scientific online resource.
Banning Menthol Cigarettes: A Special Step in our Nation’s Journey to Health Equity
Companies Charged with Targeting Racial Groups By Menthol Cigarette Advertising.
We must examine statistics, and we must think deeply to understand how menthol is affecting large segments of our society. Here’s the story in statistics:
- In 2019, we had 18.5 million menthol cigarette smokers ages 12 and older in the US…
- A deeper look at that statistic proved there were “particularly high rates of use by youth, young adults, and African American and other racial and ethnic groups.”
- With high-level computer work, research scientists created and published studies on menthol cigarettes. They came to an interesting result. They found we could have “a 15 percent reduction in smoking within 40 years if menthol cigarettes were no longer available in the United States.”
- Let’s translate that into the language of lives we could save. 324,000 to 654,000 smoking-attributable deaths overall would be avoided.
- And here is the statistic that relates to our country’s pursuit of racial equity: “92,000 to 238,000 deaths among African Americans would be avoided over the course of 40 years.”
More than Numbers: Menthol has Helped Destroy Families and Communities
Some young adults have seen the above-mentioned effects of menthol cigarettes.
Kayla McPike recently wrote, “The health issues I see in my family and the broader community are a direct result of decades of greedy marketing by the tobacco industry…”
And she added strongly that it “has targeted the Black community with advertising…” “in magazines, on local billboards, in stores, and at music events.”
Read more about her family’s story in this heart-touching Yahoo News article. That type of discovery is why the FDA said, “… the proposed rules represent a crucial step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities.”
Flavored Cigars: Another Problem to be Banned
In addition, the new rules will cover the manufacture of fruit-flavored and candy-flavored cigars. You see, such flavors increase the appeal of cigars to youth and young adults.
Researchers found that “more than a half-million youth in the U.S. use flavored cigars…” Recently, researchers discovered, that “more young people tried a cigar every day than tried a cigarette.”
A Promise from the FDA
Understand, there will not be police who will enforce the new rules against individuals. The law states “the FDA cannot and will not enforce against individual consumers for possession or use of menthol cigarettes or flavored cigars.”
If these proposed rules are finalized, FDA enforcement will only address these entities: “manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers…” To put it another way, the FDA will only control standards for companies who manufacture, distribute, or sell…” the products.
Please understand, readers, “These proposed regulations do not include a prohibition on individual consumer possession or use.”
Before the Ban: FDA Invites Open Comment
Up until July 5, the FDA is seeking comments on banning menthol cigarettes and cigars. You can take part in public listening sessions on June 13 and June 15.
“The listening sessions are another opportunity for individuals, communities, and organizations to share their perspectives with the FDA. Find more information at this online resource.
You can send either electronic or written comments on menthol cigarettes directly to the dockets on the proposed rules. You can tell them your personal opinion or story.
The FDA will review the comments before they make the final decision on banning menthol in cigarettes and cigars.
A Special Message on Menthol Cigarettes
It’s Time to Quit Smoking No Matter How Old You Are.
It seems proper that we end this blog by reaching out now to current smokers. If you want to quit today, visit smokefree.gov or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW. Every state has cessation services available to you.