In this photo illustration, packs of menthol cigarettes sit on a table on November 15, 2018 in New York City.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it would propose a ban on menthol-flavored cigarettes in the US, which would be a major blow to future tobacco sales.
Menthol is the last permitted flavor for cigarettes. According to the FDA, menthol cigarettes have been used disproportionately by teenagers, blacks, and low-income populations. The vast majority of black smokers prefer menthol brands of cigarettes, and black men currently have the highest rates of lung cancer in the country.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fourteen percent of all American adults smoked cigarettes in 2019.
“With these actions, the FDA will help significantly reduce initiation of adolescents, increase the likelihood of smoking cessation among current smokers, and eliminate health gaps that occur among color communities, low-income populations, and LGBTQ + people, all of which are far more likely are to use these tobacco products, “said Janet Woodcock, acting FDA commissioner, in a press release.
The proposal is likely to be challenged by the industry. Menthol cigarettes make up about a third of all cigarettes sold in the United States. The leading brands are Newport, owned by British American Tobacco’s RJ Reynolds, and Kool, owned by Imperial Tobacco’s ITG Brands.
“We share a common goal of switching adult smokers from cigarettes to potentially less harmful alternatives, but the ban is not working,” Altria said in a statement. “The criminalization of menthol will have serious unintended consequences.”
Reynolds, British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands were not immediately available for comment.
If implemented, the proposal would be of great benefit to anti-tobacco advocates who have long seen flavored cigarettes as a way for consumers to become acquainted with smoking.
Tobacco product smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the country, according to the FDA. There are plans to introduce product standards to eliminate menthol in cigarettes within the next year, as well as to eliminate all signature flavors, including menthol, in cigars.
This decision was made after years of deliberation by public health officials to help smokers make the transition to less harmful practices such as non-flammable products or smoking cessation altogether.
Altria shares fell less than 1% in morning trading, while shares of British American Tobacco, Reynolds’ parent company, fell about 2%.
Read the FDA statement here.
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