The new federal advisory board for tobacco regulation, run by the FDA, is set to examine the issue of menthol flavoring in cigarettes when it convenes for the first time today.
Many members of Congress and seven former secretaries of health argue that an outright ban on the flavoring is necessary, because they say it disguises the offensive taste of cigarettes and serves as bait for young and black smokers. The issue is racially charged, as research has shown that among black smokers, 82.6 percent used menthol cigarettes, compared with 32.3 percent for Hispanic smokers and 23.8 percent for white smokers. While studies have shown that blacks smoke fewer cigarettes a day than other groups of smokers, they have greater rates of lung cancer, heart disease and stroke.
Last year Congress approved the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which established the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee at the FDA. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the act would reduce youth smoking by 11 percent and adult smoking by 2 percent over the next decade. Many hailed the new law, with the director of the University of Michigan Tobacco Research Network calling it "a historic step changing the nature of tobacco in society forever." The World Heath Organization has previously estimated that half of long-term smokers ultimately die of smoking-related diseases.
The act also increased restrictions on the marketing and advertising of tobacco products, and banned many tobacco flavorings, on the basis that they lure younger first-time smokers. However, lawmakers deferred regulation of menthol flavorings to the FDA for later consideration when the issue threatened to destroy a coalition backing the bill, which included the company that owns tobacco giant Phillip Morris.
The committee is now set to examine menthol, and under the law, will be required to publish a report on the flavoring next year and take an action by 2012. Menthol cigarettes account for almost a third of the nation’s $70 billion cigarette market.
