FDA looks to outlaw menthol cigarettes
After more than a week of reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was planning a massive ban on e-cigarettes in convenience stores across the country to help curb the epidemic in minors, the agency announced Thursday that it will allow stores to continue selling the products from closed-off areas and, instead, it will look to outlaw menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
The landmark move comes as data showed menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars are often marketed towards African-Americans and minors. The proposed menthol ban will be the most aggressive action the agency has taken against the tobacco industry in more than a decade as it looks to further push down U.S. smoking rates, which have been falling for decades.
Putting the planned ban into effect could take as long as two years before the restriction takes effect. However, if it goes through, the ban could make a significant dent in overall sales as menthol cigarettes account for about 35 percent of all sales in the U.S. Major tobacco companies, including Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco and Altria did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment on the ban.
“I believe these menthol-flavored products represent one of the most common and pernicious routes by which kids initiate on combustible cigarettes. The menthol serves to mask some of the unattractive features of smoking that might otherwise discourage a child from smoking,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement.
Moreover, Gottlieb adds that he believes that menthol products “disproportionately and adversely affect underserved communities and as a matter of public health, they exacerbate troubling disparities in health related to race and socioeconomic status that are a major concern of mine.”
Although the agency said it isn’t proposing revisions to regulations for mint and menthol flavors in e-cigarettes at this time, it has to address the impact that menthol has on the public health.
The plan to sequester the sale of flavored e-cigarettes rather than banning them comes as a surprise for many as a study released Thursday suggests that the number of high school students who use e-cigarettes has risen 77 percent since last year.
News of the alarming statistics even pushed the nation’s leading e-cigarette maker JUUL to announce earlier this week it is halting store sales of some flavors to deter use by minors.
As of Tuesday, JUUL said it stopped filling store orders for some of its flavors and will only resume orders to retailers that scan IDs and take other steps to verify a buyer is at least 21 years old.