Proposed Lorillard acquisition suggests FDA unlikely to ban use of menthol

A leading US health expert has said that the proposed acquisition of Lorillard by Reynolds American is an indication that the latter is confident the Food and Drug Administration will not be pressured by politicians into banning menthol.

Writing on his Rest of the Story blog, Dr. Michael Siegel, who is a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, said that for several months a group of Democratic senators had been blasting the e-cigarette industry for using flavors in its products.

This group of senators had called for a ban on flavorings in e-cigarettes, supposedly because of their sincere interest in curtailing “marketing tactics aimed at luring children and teenagers into … nicotine addiction”.
‘The Rest of the Story has called their bluff, pointing out that what these senators really mean is that they want to stop tactics (flavored e-cigarettes) aimed at luring children into fake cigarette addiction, but not tactics (flavored cigarettes) that are aimed at luring children into actual cigarette addiction,’ said Siegel.

‘These same senators either supported the menthol exemption to the flavored cigarette ban and/or have failed to introduce or sponsor legislation that would ban menthol flavoring from cigarettes.’

The full story is at: http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/acquisition-of-lorillard-demonstrates.html.