Menthol Cigarettes Ban Most Likely To Be Approved by the FDA; Could Save Thousands of Lives

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to ban menthol cigarettes this week, a move seen to lead to better health among Black Americans, as reported by NBC News.

This FDA decision is not seen as an immediate ban on menthol cigarettes but as a starting point for a policy-making process that could take years.

Center for Black Health and Equity executive director Delmonte Jefferson sees the impending FDA moves on menthol cigarettes have gone "into their favor" He cited two decades of data that reveal that the cigarettes' cooling flavor makes it easier to begin a smoking habit.

Cooling Sensation Makes Cigarettes Addictive

Menthol induces a cooling sensation in the throat, reducing the strong, unwanted taste of cigarettes and irritation of nicotine. An overwhelming majority of Black smokers, around 85 percent, including seven out of 10 Black youth who smoke, use menthol cigarettes. This data was included in a petition to ban menthol cigarettes.

Black men and women are less likely than white Americans to get diagnosed with an earlier treatable stage of lung cancer. Black men have been documented as having the highest rate of lung cancer deaths in the US, a whopping 45,000 each year, American Lung Association figures show.

ALSO READ: No To Menthol Cigarette: New York City Legislation May Make This Happen

Combining high smoking rates with systematic racism in a health care system, there is a massive health disparity, said Erika Sward, American Lung Association national assistant vice-president for advocacy. Agencies such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US National Institutes of Health declared moves to address structural racism in health care.

FDA to Answer Citizen Petition to Ban Menthol Cigarettes

The FDA is facing a court-ordered Thursday deadline to answer a citizen petition the agency received in 2013 pushing for a ban on menthol a flavor on cigarettes, The Hill reported. After the FDA failed to act on the 2013 petition, the Action on Smoking and Health and the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council initiated court action.

(Photo: Andres Siimon on Unsplash)

A decision on the petition is expected Thursday. And because the lawsuit covers only regular cigarettes with a menthol flavor, It's not known if electronic cigarettes or other tobacco products would have any impact on the court ruling.

The FDA was about to prohibit menthol flavoring on cigarettes in 2018 but did not follow through. The petition started in 2013 as reported by WRBL.

FDA Urged to Act Based on its Own Findings

Meanwhile, several health groups have called on the FDA to ban menthol cigarettes, a Vaping Post article said. These include the American Dental Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and other organizations.

In the petition to the agency, the groups urged the FDA to use its authority under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act to hand down product standards that would end the manufacture and sale of flavored tobacco products. It cited the 2015 FDA-NIH study revealing that flavored tobacco products would "result in lifelong use."

They also urged the FDA to grant the 2013 citizen's petition and ban menthol as a flavor. Menthol, they said, leads to higher initiation of smoking among the youth. It said menthol would make it difficult for smokers to quit the habit, emphasizing a disproportionate adverse impact on the health of Black Americans.

Likewise, a petition from North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein and a lawyers group also sent a letter to the FDA highlighting the agency's own findings of the addictiveness of the menthol-flavored cigarettes and said a menthol ban could save thousands of lives.