WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. health regulators pledged again this morning to try to ban menthol cigarettes, this time under pressure from African-American groups to
The deadline for the agency’s response was Thursday. The FDA said it aims to introduce the regulations banning the flavor in the coming year. With these actions, the FDA will help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers, and address health disparities experienced by communities of color, low-income populations, and LGBTQ+ individuals, all of whom are far more likely to use these tobacco products, acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said in a statement.
The action would also ban menthol and fruity flavors from low-cost cigars, which are increasingly popular with young people, especially Black teens.
The deadline for the agency’s response was Thursday. The FDA said it aims to introduce the regulations banning the flavor in the coming year. With these actions, the FDA will help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers, and address health disparities experienced by communities of color, low-income populations, and LGBTQ+ individuals, all of whom are far more likely to use these tobacco products, acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said in a statement.
The action would also ban menthol and fruity flavors from low-cost cigars, which are increasingly popular with young people, especially Black teens.
FDA officials promised on Thursday that they will ban menthol cigarettes within the next year
It comes as a deadline set by a lawsuit alleged the agency had unreasonably delayed responding to a 2013 petition for it to ban the flavor
Menthol cigarettes have contributed to 378,000 premature deaths between 1980 and 2018, a University of Michigan study found
Biden administration officials say they want to ban menthols because they disproportionately harm the health of black Americans
Menthols are the preferred flavor for about 85% of Black Americans who smoke
But the ACLU is concerned a ban would increase policing and incarceration of black Americans
US vows again to ban menthol flavor in cigarettes
Matthew Perrone
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON U.S. health regulators pledged again Thursday to try to ban menthol cigarettes, this time under pressure from African American groups to remove the mint flavor popular among Black smokers.
The Food and Drug Administration has attempted several times to get rid of menthol but faced pushback from Big Tobacco, members of Congress and competing political interests in both the Obama and Trump administrations. Any menthol ban will take years to implement and will likely face legal challenges from tobacco companies.
Thursday’s announcement is the result of a lawsuit filed by anti-smoking and medical groups last summer to force the FDA to finally make a decision on menthol, alleging that regulators had “unreasonably delayed” responding to a 2013 petition seeking to ban the flavor.