Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FDA's Planned Menthol Cigarette Ban Would Impact Third Of Smokers
Roll Call: FDA Proposes Ban On Menthol Cigarettes, Flavored Cigars
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, targeting products used by more than a third of smokers. The agency estimates roughly 18.5 million people use menthol cigarettes. The products are particularly popular with Black smokers, with three out of four reporting using menthol products. More than a third of smokers under 18 use menthol cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The FDA’s proposed rule says more than half of young people who smoke cigars use flavors. The ban would take effect one year after the final rule is published. (Clason, 4/28)
Reuters: U.S. FDA Pushes Ahead With Move To Ban Menthol Cigarettes
Menthol cigarettes, banned in many states including California and Massachusetts, account for more than a third of the industry's overall market share in the United States, even as overall smoking rates have been declining in the country. "Today is a huge win for equity, justice, and public health concerns," Derrick Johnson, president of NAACP, the largest U.S. civil rights organization, said in a statement. There were more than 18.5 million menthol cigarette smokers ages 12 and older in the country in 2019, with particularly high rates of use by youth, young adults, and African American and other racial and ethnic groups, the agency said. (Banerjee, 4/28)
AP: FDA Issues Plan To Ban Menthol In Cigarettes, Cigars
The FDA said it will also seek to ban menthol and dozens of other flavors like grape and strawberry from cigars, which are increasingly popular with young people, especially Black teens. The agency’s proposals on both cigarettes and cigars are only initial drafts and are unlikely to be finalized before next year. Companies would then have one additional year to phase out their products. Tobacco industry lawsuits could delay the prohibition for several more years, according to experts. For now, FDA leaders said they will take comments for two months and then proceed “as expeditiously as possible.” (Perrone, 4/28)
But the move isn't without controversy —
Politico: Proposed Menthol Ban Divides Black Leaders
The Rev. Al Sharpton, civil rights attorney Ben Crump and relatives of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis in 2020, have argued that the rules, should they take effect, would give law enforcement another reason to target Black people — potentially endangering Black lives. “What we said is, ‘Y’all have got to consider unintended consequences.’ Imagine some cop pulling a kid over saying, ‘Where did you buy or get that Kool cigarette?’” Sharpton told POLITICO Thursday after the FDA announcement. “People are not going to stop smoking Newports and Kools because of a rule. They’re going to go and get them from people that go to the street in the black market. Then what happens? That’s all I’m asking.” (Ellen Foley and Daniels, 4/28)
