Proposed menthol ban divides Black leaders

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are divided but an aide to the group said that the push from civil rights leaders over recent weeks has “caused members to give greater thought to what could be potential unintended consequences.”

 F.D.A. Moves to Ban Sales of Menthol Cigarettes

Public health experts say the proposal could save hundreds of thousands of lives, especially among Black smokers — 85 percent of whom use menthol products.

 How Menthol Cigarettes Became Black Americans’ Preferred Smoke

And how an FDA ban could unwind decades of public health damage.

 Menthol Cigarettes Retain Cool, But Head For Illegal Status

Menthol cigarettes have been found to be popular among young people, the LGBT community and—most of all—African Americans. According to the FDA, 85% of Black smokers in the U.S. smoke menthol cigarettes, compared to just around 30% of white smokers. While African Americans overall do not have significantly higher rates of smoking than whites, Black men do and as a result experience the highest rates of lung cancer in the country.

 Mint That Kills: The Curious Life of Menthol Cigarettes

"Menthol cigarettes have been marketed to some of the most vulnerable segments of the population," Gardiner says. "For half a century, people with the least resources and the most to lose have been the target of this product."

 Why Does the U.S. Want to Ban Menthol Cigarettes?

Menthols are the overwhelming cigarette of choice for Black smokers. Smoking is a major contributor to heart disease, cancer and strokes—the three leading causes of death among African-Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Heads Up: The UK Is Banning Menthol Cigarettes in Two Weeks

From the 20th of May, 2020, all menthol cigarettes and flavoured rolling tobacco, along with "skinny cigarettes", will be banned in the UK. Following the ban on ten-packs of menthol cigarettes in 2017 – a bid to deter young people from taking up smoking – a new EU Tobacco Product Directive law completely outlaws menthol cigarettes.

Menthol Cigarettes Could Be Even Worse Than Regular Cigarettes

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4374y3/menthol-cigarettes-could-be-even-worse-than-regular-cigarettes.

Menthol Cigarettes Kill Many Black People. A Ban May Finally Be Near.

The banning of menthol cigarettes, the mint-flavored products that have been aggressively marketed to Black Americans, has long been an elusive goal for public health regulators. But Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement have put new pressure on Congress and the White House to reduce racial health disparities.

On menthol cigarettes, social justice theory shouldn’t trump science

What’s surprising is an argument that the industry’s well-resourced lobbyists are using to delay implementation of the menthol ban: social justice. Their claim? There are unintended — even inevitable — social justice consequences to banning menthol cigarettes.

Smokers of menthol cigarettes have a harder time quitting, large new study finds

Anew study published Tuesday finds that smoking menthol cigarettes versus unflavored cigarettes is associated with reduced success in quitting among people who smoke nearly every day.

The Debate on Regulating Menthol Cigarettes: Closing a Dangerous Loophole vs Freedom of Choice

Menthol flavoring in tobacco remains a top public health concern. Because menthol makes smoking less irritating, menthol cigarettes can act as a starter product2 for adolescents: nearly half of smokers aged 12 to 17 years use menthol cigarettes compared with less than a third of smokers older than 26 years. Smoking menthol cigarettes is also linked with higher rates of disease4 and lower rates of cessation, especially among African American smokers

The FDA cracks down on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars

“I believe these menthol-flavored products represent one of the most common and pernicious routes by which kids initiate on combustible cigarettes,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement Thursday. “Moreover, I believe that menthol products disproportionately and adversely affect underserved communities.”

Will a New Study on Menthol Cigarettes’ Harm to Black Americans Finally Push the FDA to Act?

Tobacco researchers have known for decades that mentholated cigarettes do outsized harm to Black Americans. And now, a recent study from University of Michigan public health researchers David Mendez and Thuy Le bolsters that understanding.