FDA menthol cigarette ban proposal overview:
- Who: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent a proposed ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for review.
- Why: The FDA argues banning menthol-flavored cigarettes would significantly reduce tobacco-related diseases and deaths, including among African Americans and other minorities.
- Where: A ban on menthol cigarettes would be nationwide.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a proposed rule banning the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.
The FDA first announced the proposal last year as a way to prevent youth from being initiated into purchasing the tobacco products and to “significantly reduce” tobacco-related disease and death.
The agency has also said it believes that tobacco flavors like menthol disproportionately impact minorities — and has pledged to do away with them — with the rules stop at the OMB the last in the regulatory process before the agency issues its final reviews, reports Law360.
“Finalizing these two product standards remains a top priority for the FDA,” said Brian King, the director of the FDA’s tobacco center, in a statement, as reported by CNN.
FDA estimates menthol cigarette ban would prevent 324,000 to 654,000 smoking-related deaths in next 40 years
The FDA estimates that banning the sale of menthol cigarettes would reduce smoking by 15% in the 40 years and prevent 324,000 to 654,000 smoking attributable deaths overall during the same time period.
The avoidable smoking-related deaths include 92,000 to 238,000 African Americans, according to the agency, which said the rate of menthol cigarette smokers is particularly high among youth, young adults, and African American and other racial and ethnic minority groups.
“The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, in a statement made last year.
While Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009, the law did not include menthol in a list of banned tobacco flavors, with lawmakers instructing the FDA at that time to research menthol, reports Law360.
A class action lawsuit was filed against Walgreens last year over claims the company fails to warn its customers that menthol cigarettes it sells pose added health risks than the traditional non-menthol cigarettes it sells.
Do you believe the FDA should ban the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars? Let us know in the comments!
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47 thoughts onFDA sends proposed menthol cigarette ban to White House for review
I am an African American Women, and I smoke menthol cigarettes. I also voted for Joe Biden for president. But, if his Administration bans menthol cigarettes, I will not vote for him in 2024. The ban is ridiculous because many cultures and races smoke menthol cigarettes. It doesn’t seem rational for the FDA to criminalize the sale of menthol cigarettes when so many FDA approved medicines blatenly report that said medicines may cause stroke, heart attack, or death. Lastly, what’s next? What other pleasures will they take away based on skin color? Let’s put a stop to this ban because if the ban goes into effect they’ll come up with something else to ban that “they believe” is favored by a particular race.
You are so true Cathrine William
I am totally against the ban. It’s ridiculous.
Well first and foremost I want to mention the following quote, “menthol cigarette smokers is particularly high among youth, young adults, and African American and other racial and ethnic minority groups”, well, to me, I take that statement personally, and actually, I am very offended and I find that to be a very slanderous and racist remark for many reasons. But primarily because I am a 59-year-old white female, I have smoked since I was 14 years old, I have never been African American nor any of the other ethnic and racial groups that were noted. So to me I think that opens up a door for another lawsuit for the slanderous and racial remarks. Just because I personally choose to smoke menthol, why am I being labeled and placed into a group? Why is anyone being labeled and having fingers pointed at them over their personal choices? So that statement in itself is a huge problem in my opinion. In addition to that, I am 100% against any regulations towards menthol cigarettes for many reasons. Cigarette smoking is a personal choice, and a very expensive personal choice because of the astronomical taxes that have been placed on tobacco products in hopes of being a deterrent for people. I am a grown adult, I do not need nor do I want someone sitting in a nice little office with their fancy suit telling me what I should and should not do with myself as far as choices and what happened to the land of the free? I thought we all were entitled to do basically as we please as long as we did not break or violate any laws. We all have a right to do that, Or that’s how I was educated. It seems to me that the more things that people are allowed to have control on or over, the more we are leaning toward a dictatorship country. That’s not the way it supposed to be here! I hope there is tremendous pushback on this from smokers as well as non-smokers. My husband has never been a smoker at all, but he does disagree completely with what they are trying to do. The next thing will be, you can’t drink Coca-Cola, you must drink Pepsi. Surely people can see that comparison it is basically the exact same thing, which is completely ridiculous. And they’re talking over the next 40 years well for one most people that are currently menthol smokers are not going to be here for another 40 years! As far as a young adult and youth and they are smoking of cigarettes, no, I do not approve of that at all, however, as soon as you really believe that part of that falls back upon the parents and or the people who have raised those children or youth as they are being labeled. It is the adults responsibility to look after the young adults and help them to make better choices. I do not know the numbers and I don’t even know if a poll has ever even been done, but my guess would be that Young adults who are currently smokers or will be smokers, most likely do not have a lot of parental supervision. It’s the same thing as alcohol. A lot of the younger people are drinking, a lot! But they are Able to do that because of lack of supervision. Adults are too busy with their day-to-day lives and their nose is stuck in their cell phones and many do not actually pay attention to their young ones and know what they are doing and where they are doing things at. I truly believe everything starts at home, it’s not going to change the fact that these kids are still gonna be smoking. I personally do not want someone making my personal choices for me! And I absolutely would be 100% against this ridiculous proposal. I feel like other smokers will be all the same. But I’m still going back to that quote, I do not like it whatsoever, and I bet I am not alone. I have no issue with anyone as far as their ethnicity, and I am absolutely not a racist. But that was nothing but a racist remark. Think about that people, read it twice if you have to. But there’s a big part of our problem.
Please add me
Why ban menthol? Don’t regular cigarettes cause deaths too? I think they are targeting black people. Taking away what comforts them from the wrong that they go through everyday. Don’t ban menthol without banning all forms of tobacco!
So true
Please Add Me
Add you to what?? The article? If you want to be apart of ANY class action lawsuit, the least you can so is read those directions and fill out YOUR documents. Everyone is always saying. “Add me”, This website provides information to all of us. They are not going to sit in at names on a list. Do your own work. But in reference to your comment here with this article, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Why don’t you try reading a little bit in order to understand what you want to be added to. And people wonder what’s wrong in our country. Well that’s one fine example right there! Yes, I said I it !
If that’s what they’re planning on doing, they’ll be losing a hell of a lot of federal and state tax dollars. How are they going to make up that loss of a massive amount of money.
I’m a heavy menthol smoker and i had no idea they was more fucked then the regulars I will say I totally agree on banning all cigarettes if they are gonnna make money off of them they are no different then drug dealers out there selling gente al to people