In this week’s edition:
Contrasting earlier statements, a key Senate leader expresses uncertainty about tying SAFE Banking Act to a more comprehensive cannabis bill
FDA announces ban on menthol cigarettes
South Dakota Supreme Court hears oral arguments about constitutionality of cannabis ballot measure
Texas House of Representatives passes bill expanding state’s medical cannabis program
Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board issues policy statement on Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC
And more…
Federal
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Suggests Uncertainty About Tying Marijuana Banking Bill to More Comprehensive Marijuana Bill - Senate leadership is considering how best to proceed following House passage of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act on April 19. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, despite previously suggesting that cannabis banking and sentencing reform be addressed in the same bill, recently told reporters that while there
In 2009, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was signed into law. It gives the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products.
The FDA, which is under the purview of the Department of Health and Human Services, said its ban on menthol aims to remove the substance from tobacco cigarettes as the science suggests it contributes to addiction by hiding the impacts of smoking on the body.
“When you inject menthol into cigarettes, you cause people to want to smoke them more and you cause them to stay on the smoking habit longer,” HHS Secretary
email article
Cigarette smoking annually claims the lives of 480,000 Americans, accounting for a sixth of all deaths (a seventh in the extraordinary pandemic year of 2020). That is more a lot more than the combined total of deaths caused by all licit and illicit drugs, alcohol, homicide, suicide, motor vehicle collisions, HIV/AIDS, and fires.
Cigarettes are not an equal opportunity killer, however. Notably, African Americans death rate from smoking exceeds that of white Americans, despite the fact that African Americans smoke fewer cigarettes and start smoking at a later age. One potential factor is a far larger percentage of African American smokers use menthol cigarettes than do the smokers in any other racial/ethnic group. More than 80% of African American adult smokers smoke menthol cigarettes; less than a third of whites do. Why does this matter? Because menthol makes it easier to start smoking, more likely to progress to established smoking, and harder to quit.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
In June 2009, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was signed into law, banning the sale of all flavored cigarettes except menthol ones. Flavored cigars escaped the prohibition, too. Now, as CNN reports, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to do away with both menthol cigarettes and cigars of any flavor (including menthol) within a year.
Though smoking has definitely decreased in recent years, it’s still the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S. The FDA is hoping that further curtailing access to flavored tobacco products will help current smokers quit and prevent prospective smokers from ever picking up the habit in the first place. Flavors can dull tobacco’s undesirable taste and make cigars and cigarettes more palatable to new smokers, particularly young ones. According to an FDA press release, almost 74 percent of cigar smokers between the ages of 12 and 17 like cigars specifically because they’
COLUMBIA- The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it will work to prohibit menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars as soon as next year.
The FDA stated that it hopes the prohibition of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in the next year.
The FDA says that the prohibition of menthol flavored cigarettes and all flavored cigars will help reduce youth initiation to tobacco. They also stated that they hope the prohibition will help combat the targeting of Black communities.
The prohibition of flavored cigarettes and cigars first gained traction in 2009 with the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which prohibited flavored cigarettes and cigarette smoke but failed to include menthol.