FDA releases plan to ban menthol cigs, flavored cigars

File / eExtra News

The Food and Drug Administration has released its plan to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, citing the tobacco’s grip on Black smokers and young people.

“The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation for smokers and help adult smokers quit,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

In addition, he said, this ban will also be an “important step to advance health equity.” In fact, according to the FDA, this ban could prevent between 300,000 and 650,000 smoking deaths over the next 40 years.

According to reports, menthol cigarettes account for about a third of all cigarette sales, and the FDA’s study states that the menthol flavors are favored by Black smokers and young people.

“Black folks die disproportionately of heart disease, lung cancer, and stroke,” said Phillip Gardiner of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council. “Menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars are the main vectors of those diseases in the Black and brown communities, and have been for a long time.”

This is not the FDA’s first attempt to get rid of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, however. The administration has faced quite a lot of backlash from Big Tobacco, Congress, and others with competing political interests from both the Democrats and Republicans.

What do you think? Do you think the government should have the power to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars?