US proposes rules for banning menthol cigarettes

Context

The US Food and Drug Administration has issued a proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars.

What are menthol cigarettes?

• Menthol cigarettes are flavored with menthol, which triggers the cold-sensitive nerves in the skin.
• Menthol has a cooling and anesthetic (or pain killing) effect which decreases the cough reflex and can soothe the dry throat feeling that many smokers have.
• As a result, menthol smokers may inhale more deeply, hold the smoke in the lungs longer, and get more exposure to the dangerous chemicals in cigarette smoke.
• Menthol cigarettes cause diseases including cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory diseases and multiple adverse reproductive outcomes.
• Menthol products accounted for approximately one-fifth of the United States cigarette market in 2006.
• About 85% of African Americans smokers prefer menthol cigarettes in comparison to 29% of white smokers.

About Methanol

• Menthol is a chemical compound found naturally in peppermint and other similar plants.
• Menthol can also be produced in a lab.
• Even though many brands of cigarettes are marketed as “menthol cigarettes,” almost all cigarettes sold in the U.S. contain at least some natural or lab-created menthol.

Need for the ban

• Prevent children from smoking- The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit.
• Health equity- The proposed rules are an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities.
• Health effects- Menthol also interacts with nicotine in the brain to enhance nicotine’s addictive effects, while making it more difficult for people to quit smoking.
• Research studies- Modeling studies have estimated a 15% reduction in smoking within 40 years if menthol cigarettes were banned.

Laws governing menthol cigarettes around the world

• The first country in the world to ban menthol cigarettes was Brazil, in 2012. 
• Canada banned these cigarettes in 2017, and the European Union in May 2020.
  • Though the UK had left the EU by then, it too adopted the ban. Turkey, Moldova, and Ethiopia have also banned menthol cigarettes.
• India has not banned the sale of menthol cigarettes.