Tag: menthol

Menthol Ban Would Make Many Quit: Paper

Photo: Alicia
Banning the sale of menthol cigarettes would likely lead to a meaningful reduction in smoking rates, according to a new paper in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, published by Oxford University Press.
Health advocates are concerned about menthol because the ingredient’s cooling effects mask the harshness of cigarettes, making it easier for young people to start smoking. Prior research has also found that menthol in cigarettes makes it easier for smokers to absorb nicotine, which results in greater dependence. According to critics, menthol smokers also find it harder to quit smoking compared to those who smoke nonmenthol cigarettes.
Prevalence rates of menthol cigarette use among cigarette smokers vary globally. Some 7.4 percent of smokers in Europe use menthol cigarettes. In the United States, however, some 43.4 percent of adult smokers used menthol cigarettes in 2020. Menthol cigarettes are disproportionately used by young people, racial/ethnic minorities and lower-income smokers. About 81 percent of non-Hispanic Black smokers in the U.S. use menthol cigarettes, as compared to 34 percent of White smokers. More than 170 U.S. cites and two states, several countries, including Canada, Ethiopia, and the European Union ban the sale of menthol cigarettes.
Researchers here measured the effects of these policies. The investigators conducted a systematic search of studies published in English up to November to discover how menthol bans change smoking behavior. The researchers involved in this study looked at 78 prior studies, mostly from Canada, the European Union and the United States.
The study finds that the effect of menthol cigarette bans are substantial. The results show that while 50 percent of menthol smokers switched to smoking non-menthol cigarettes, almost a quarter (24 percent) of menthol cigarette smokers quit smoking altogether after a menthol ban. Some 12 percent switched to other flavored tobacco products, and 24 percent continued smoking menthol cigarettes. The study also finds that national menthol bans appear more effective than local or state menthol bans, as quit rates were higher in places with country-wide bans.
“This review provides compelling evidence for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes,” said the paper’s lead author, Sarah Mills, in a statement. “In December 2023 the White House postponed banning menthol cigarettes. Our review of the evidence suggests this delay is causing harm to the health of the public, especially among Black communities. Contrary to industry claims, studies find no increase in the use of illicit products. A menthol cigarette ban would provide the greatest benefits to Black people who smoke. As a result of targeted marketing by the tobacco industry, today every 4 in 5 Black smokers use menthol cigarettes.”
February 23, 2024
Califf Pushing U.S. Menthol Ban: Politico

Photo: FDA
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf has privately asked friends and public health experts to lobby the White House to ban menthol cigarettes, according to Politico. Califf reportedly fears that President Joe Biden might abandon the policy to avoid backlash from Black voters before the upcoming elections. The minority communities are core to Biden’s voter base.
“Fundamentally, these bold actions are about saving hundreds of thousands of lives each year,” Califf said in 2022, when the FDA first proposed the ban. “Prohibiting menthol in cigarettes would mean over 18.5 million menthol cigarette smokers ages 12 and older in the United States would have a better shot at quitting.”
In October 2023, the FDA finalized its menthol ban policy and submitted it for approval. However, the White House has not given it the go ahead due to pushback from a handful of influential Black industry allies who warn the ban would fuel an underground market, worsen over policing in minority communities and have a negative effect on Biden’s standing among Black voters.
Advocates of the ban fear that the delay means politics will override the urgency of the ban and that Biden will delay implementation until after the November presidential election.
“We’re now in a political season, and it’s only going to get tougher for them to do it,” said Yolonda Richardson, CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “All the delays are to the benefit of the tobacco industry. That’s just more time they have to keep them on the street, that much more time to addict kids.”
Recently, Califf has been raising the issue internally in addition to soliciting outside help. He has enlisted senior White House officials and Health and Human Services officials to help advocate for the ban. Califf has also personally pressed senior Biden aides on the decision.
“Everybody’s done what they could do,” said a senior administration official, who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. The White House declined to comment, citing a policy against discussing rules before they’re finalized.
“The FDA remains committed to issuing the tobacco product standards for menthol in cigarettes and characterizing flavors in cigars as exponentially as possible, said Michael Felberbaum, FDA spokesperson.
“In the last year of this administration, so many things happen with a lot of pressure to get things finished, and sometimes political pressure comes into play,” said Califf, who has also sought to restrict flavored cigars and wants to mandate lower nicotine levels in all cigarettes and other tobacco products. “A lot of considerations have to be navigated.”
The FDA had initially hoped to finalize the menthol ban before the end of 2023. Now, the FDA has set a new deadline of March for a final rule.
February 16, 2024
Rutgers to Study Menthol Ban Perception

Photo: By Benjamin Clapp
Rutgers University researchers have received more than $7 million to study disinformation and marketing around the proposed U.S. ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars with a particular focus on how the information affects Black and Hispanic smokers, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Kymberle Sterling, associate director for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion at the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies, will lead two studies funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
According to Sterling, it’s crucial to study how Black and Hispanic smokers, demographic groups that tend to smoke more menthol cigarettes than white individuals, perceive messaging from the tobacco industry around the menthol ban.
Those against the ban worry that it will increase policing of Black communities and businesses while supporters feel that the ban will save lives, especially in Black communities where menthol is prevalent.
“We know that police discrimination among African American communities is a problem,” Sterling said. “However, the tobacco industry is co-opting that and using that real social justice issue as a way to promote fear—and sell their product.”
Sterling’s team plans to use the funding to develop counter-messaging debunking false information and providing facts about menthol cigarettes. The study will look at the effectiveness of the public health campaign over five years. Researchers will also work with community members to educate individuals about the menthol and flavored cigar ban.
“What we would ideally like to do is develop a set of messages that our community partners can disseminate in their community. Once this grant is wrapped up, we don’t want the work to stop because the tobacco industry won’t stop,” Sterling said.
The study will also look at how the tobacco industry reacts once the ban is in place, such as new packaging.
“We’re looking at how young adults are exposed to this repackaging as well as what sort of sociopolitical rhetoric the industry will put out,” Sterling said.
February 13, 2024
White House Postpones Menthol Ban Decision

Image: Marisela
The White House has delayed its decision about whether to ban menthol cigarettes in the wake of fierce opposition from tobacco companies, retailers and other groups, reports The New York Times. The administration had originally planned to have the rule finalized by August 2023 and, later, signaled that the rule would come before the end of 2023. The government’s most recent Unified Agenda—a regulatory “to-do” list—suggests the final menthol rule is now expected in March 2024.
The Food and Drug Administration officially announced its plan to ban menthol cigarettes in April 2022, citing public health concerns. Researchers say the cooling sensation of the menthol flavor makes it easier to start smoking and harder to quit. The FDA estimates that the menthol ban could reduce smoking by 15 percent in 40 years. Studies project that as many as 650,000 smoking-related deaths could be avoided.
In recent months, dozens of groups have met with administration officials to discuss the proposal. Among other concerns, opponents of the measure cite job losses and aggressive police targeting of Black smokers, who tend to favor menthol cigarettes in the United States. An estimated 85 percent of U.S. Black smokers prefer menthol brands, according to market data.
Critics, however, contend that tobacco companies are financing and fueling those fears. “They’re peddling stories—Big Tobacco is—that we’re going to go out and arrest African Americans if they use menthol cigarettes. But that’s not the case at all,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin. The FDA has said that the ban will be enforced at the manufacturers’ level, and not against individuals.
Menthols account for about one-third of the U.S. cigarette market, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), which makes the market-leading Newport brand, earns about $7 billion from menthol cigarette sales a year, research by Goldman Sachs shows. RAI has vowed to fight the ban all the way to the Supreme Court, a battle that could postpone implementation of the final prohibition rule for years.
Convenience store, gas station and wholesaler groups predict a loss of $34 billion in sales from menthol cigarettes and snacks and drinks purchased by customers. Some House Republicans have sent letters to the administration warning that the ban could have a disastrous effect on small businesses and that it could encourage cigarette smuggling that would benefit terrorist groups.
Altria spokesman David Sutton said the company was also concerned about illicit sales as well as lost tax revenue and jobs.
“We believe equitable harm reduction, not prohibition, is the better path forward and that the FDA should authorize smoke-free products and encourage adult smokers to transition to a smoke-free future,” Sutton said in an email to The New York Times.
Public health groups were dismayed by the delay of the menthol ban. “This delay not only puts the rules at risk of never being finalized but also represents a significant victory for Big Tobacco’s well-documented exploitative practices, all at the expense of our nation’s public health,” said Kathy Crosby, CEO and president of Truth Initiative, in a statement.
Public opinion polls have shown that about 60 percent of Americans favor banning menthol cigarettes.
December 7, 2023
U.S. Menthol Ban Could Be Pushed to Late 2024

Image: zatevakhin
The expected ban on menthol cigarettes in the U.S. may be pushed to 2024, reports NBC.
The delay could be announced by the Biden administration soon, according to officials from two national public health groups working to remove the products. The groups requested anonymity.
The officials worry that the ban may be pushed as far as after the 2024 November presidential election. One official was “deeply concerned” that the ban wouldn’t be put into effect before the election.
“Everything gets harder to do in an election year because people are distracted and bandwidth is stretched,” the official said.
The White House has not commented on the potential delay.
“The American Lung Association expects the White House to honor President Biden’s commitment to end cancer as we know it through the Cancer Moonshot,” said Erika Sward, assistant vice president for national advocacy at the American Lung Association. Sward said it can’t be achieved until the White House finalizes rules banning menthol products.
“Removing these products from the market is backed by strong scientific evidence and hundreds of thousands of public comments from the public health community nationwide,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive officer for the American Heart Association. “The administration should not delay further in putting these rules into effect.”
The Food and Drug Administration stated that finalizing the rules to ban menthol “remains a top priority.”
“Final rules such as these go through an extensive rulemaking process, including agency review and consideration of public comments, development of the final rule and subsequent review by the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House Office of Management and Budget,” an FDA spokesperson said. The Office of Management and Budget has posted the final rules, which is considered the last step before the bans are finalized, according to NBC.
“People are dying,” one official said. “This will save lives. We have the science and data to prove it. It is long past time to take these products off the market.”
The Biden administration has been holding meetings with the tobacco industry and public health groups to discuss the issue.
December 5, 2023
Menthol Ban Risks Alienating Voters: Poll

Photo: New Africa
A majority of U.S. President Joe Biden’s core voter base opposes the administration’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, reports National Review, citing a poll by Cornell Belcher commissioned by Altria.
Biden’s core voter base is defined as minority voters or nonconservative white voters under the age of 45. Of this group, 54 percent oppose the proposed ban, with each battleground state showing a majority of opposition as well.
“Candidates risk alienating base supporters in battleground states by taking up a cause that most voters oppose and don’t believe to be important,” according to the poll.
Based on the poll, tobacco product bans are at the bottom of voters’ priority list when it comes to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—opioid abuse, prescription medication and food safety are the top concerns.
“Biden’s core voters are simply not comfortable with the idea of prohibition as a government approach to tobacco,” Belcher’s polling memo says. The majority of voters (74 percent) prefer a harm reduction approach.
“With so many issues more pressing on voters’ minds—issues that voters actually agree with—these bans represent a very avoidable self-inflicted wound that could alienate base supporters in a battleground state,” the memo said. “Adult use of tobacco is far from a top-tier concern, and voters recognize there are more important matters for the president, Congress and the FDA to address. Candidates should not be taking up a cause that most voters oppose, that voters don’t believe to be important and that can get in the way of a campaign’s ability to mobilize supporters.”
The poll was conducted from Sept. 17 to Oct. 10 among 3,021 likely voters in Biden’s “core coalition.” Roughly 600 voters per battleground state were included in the poll.
November 29, 2023
Black Farmers Petition Against Menthol Ban

Photo courtesy of John Boyd
The National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) is calling on the Biden Administration to end its proposed ban on menthol tobacco products, calling it a misguided federal policy that will devastate Black farmers and rural communities. Representing 130,000 members across 47 states, the NBFA has launched a nationwide Change.org petition to rally support.
“The White House is about to hand down another mandate that will put more Black farmers out of business,” said NBFA Founder and President John Boyd Jr. in a statement. “The proposed federal ban targets adult use of menthol tobacco products—the kind of tobacco products preferred and grown by Black farmers. This will rob small towns and businesses of critical income.”
The process to finalize a Food and Drug Administration rule is expected within weeks. If enacted, the ban could lead to widespread unemployment, loss of income and assets, and even the potential extinction of generations of farming families, according to the NBFA. “This is particularly true for Black farmers who are already struggling due to misguided federal policies and a lack of relief or alternatives,” the organization wrote.

The White House is about to hand down another mandate that will put more Black farmers out of business.
John Boyd, president, NBFA
“Few workers have been hit harder in recent years than Black farmers, whose numbers continue to dwindle. In 1910, about 14 percent of U.S. farmers were Black, owning more than 16 million acres. According to the latest available Census of Agriculture data, only one in 100 farmers is black, owning a total of less than 5 million acres.”
The association previously represented 1 million Black farmers across the country, a figure which now stands at over 130,000 across 47 states.
“We know all too well how misguided policies from the federal government have, time and time again, put another nail in the coffin of Black farmers and rural towns across America,” added Boyd. “My members stand on the brink of disaster. We must find a better solution that does not further damage America’s shrinking rural towns or put additional pressure on hardworking farmers. This NBFA petition allows us to speak out—we hope the White House will hear the concerns of generations of Black farmers.”
Beyond the economic impact, opponents of the ban on menthol tobacco products note measure would criminalize the sale, distribution and possession of menthol cigarettes. This criminalization, they warn, could result in mandatory minimum sentences, revocation of parole, fines, the loss of one’s right to vote, or even deportation, among other criminal legal consequences.
A study by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health reveals that 40 percent of adults who use cigarettes smoke menthol and that over 80 percent of Black smokers use menthol.
November 16, 2023
Campaign Launched Against Menthol Ban

Photo: Karen Roach
A conservative advocacy group has launched a campaign opposing a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes in the United States, reports Fox News.
In its campaign, Building America’s Future contends that restricting menthol cigarette sales would jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenue nationwide. According to a Tax Foundation analysis conducted in 2022, the measure would cost the federal government $1.9 billion and state governments a total of $4.7 billion in lost tax revenues.
The average pack of cigarettes in the U.S. attracts $1.91 in state taxes and $1.01 in federal taxes. Additionally, every state continues to receive funds from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, which, translates to about $0.75 per pack in 2022, according to the Tax Foundation.
In April 2022, the FDA issued product standards to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and prohibit all characterizing flavors other than tobacco in cigars.
Last month, the FDA sent the proposed regulations to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review, a final step in finalizing and eventually implementing the menthol cigarette ban.
In related news, the convenience and fuel retailing group NACS has been urging its members to urge the White House to stop the menthol ban from moving forward, using the organization’s grassroots portal. Rather than reducing smoking, the group believes that a menthol ban would fuel illicit cigarette sales.
For convenience stores, menthol cigarettes account for 34 percent of cigarette sales and flavored cigars account for 51 percent of cigar sales. Removing them from shelves means that current users who cannot quit or switch to other tobacco products will search for the products from illegal sources, according to the organization.
November 6, 2023
FDA Prevails in Logic Challenge

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has defeated Logic Technology Development after the e-cigarette manufacturer asked the courts to block the regulatory agency’s market ban on Logic’s menthol-flavored e-cigarette products, according to media reports.
Logic filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, alleging the FDA violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it denied Logic’s premarket tobacco product application to market its menthol-flavored vaping products. The court denied that petition Thursday after concluding the FDA “based decisions on scientific judgments.”
Logic alleged it was arbitrary and capricious for the FDA to apply the same regulatory framework to menthol that it used to remove fruit- and dessert-flavored e-cigarettes from commerce. The Third Circuit Court entered a stay on the FDA’s marketing denial orders (MDOs) in December 2022. The MDOs were the FDA’s first-ever MDOs directed at menthol e-cigarette products.
October 20, 2023
Menthol Rule Advances to U.S. Budget Office

Photo: Alicia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) sent its rules to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review, reports CNN.
The final rules will be issued following this last regulatory step.
The American Lung Association (ALA) said this regulation may be the most significant action the FDA has taken in the 14 years since it was given the authority to regulate tobacco.
“It’s a big, vital and critical step on the way to banning these products,” said ALA Assistant Vice President of National Advocacy Erika Sward. “ Truly, it’s momentous.”
According to a 2022 study published in Tobacco Control, prohibiting menthol cigarettes would save up to 654,000 lives in the U.S. within 40 years, including the lives of 255,000 members of the Black community.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids called for the White House and the OMB to expedite their review and issue the final rule by the end of 2023.
October 17, 2023