Why does the FDA want to ban menthol cigarettes? Which countries have already banned it?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a proposal to ban the sale of menthol and flavored cigarettes and cigars. The public has until 4 May to provide feedback on the proposal, which aims to lower rates of smoking amoung teenagers.

The move to ban these products comes as some preliminary improvements in teen smoking rates were seen in 2020. The National Youth Tabacco Survey results from 2020 showed that 1.73 million fewer middle and high school students were using tobacco products compared to the previous year. However, as students have returned to school and are spending less time at home, many beleive these rates have gone up once again.

When making the announcement, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said that “the proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit.”

Menthol

The FDA is targetting menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products because of the connections with increased risk of nicotine addiction. Menthol is a mint-based flavoring that “reduces the irritation and harshness of smoking.” The health authority believes that this feature makes the products more appealing to teenagers and young adults. Studies have also noted that menthol cigarettes can increase the likelihood a person becomes addicted to cigarettes and can make quitting more challenging.

Flavored Cigars

The ban would also apply to flavored cigars, which can be purchased in flavors attractive to teens and young adults, including cocoa, fruit punch, grape, and strawberry. “More than a half million youth in the U.S. use flavored cigars, and in recent years more young people tried a cigar every day than tried a cigarette,” reported the agency.

How many teenagers smoke in the US?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released new data that shows that around four percent of middle school students and 13.4 percent of high school students currently use a tobacco product. When looking at how many have tried a product, the rates increase to 11.3 percent or thirty-four percent.

E-cigarettes are the most common type of tobacco product in the US, with 11.2 percent using one in the last thirty days.

The FDA has also reported around 18.5 million menthol cigarette smokers older than twelve in the US. The modeling used by the health agency has shown that if a ban on menthols is enacted, the country could see a fifteen percent reduction in smokers over the next forty years. This could reduce tobacco-related deaths by anywhere between 324,000 to 654,000,