Alberta exempts menthol from flavor ban

Alberta has made a menthol U-turn by exempting it from its law banning flavored tobacco products, according to a story by John Cotter for The Globe and Mail.

Health Minister Stephen Mandel said the law, which is due to be phased in, would still protect young people from the dangers of other flavored tobacco.

After studying the situation during the year since the law was passed, the government had decided that banning menthol would not be well accepted by adults who enjoyed menthol products, Mandel said.

“You need to deal with the realities of the world and we made an effort to deal with flavored tobaccos and I think that we are quite restrictive in that area,” he said.

“The decision was made that menthol would be one we leave out at this point in time.”

Cotter reported that health, medical and anti-smoking groups had said that exempting menthol was a mistake, because menthol was the most popular flavour with young people.