The FDA on Thursday announced a plan to ban sales of menthol cigarettes in the United States, a move that many public health experts hailed as the most important step the government has taken. in more than a decade of efforts to control the consumption of cigarettes and the like.
The ban is predicted to have a greater impact on black smokers, nearly 85% of whom smoke menthol cigarettes, versus 29% of white smokers, according to a government survey.
If effective in reducing smoking, the measure could significantly reduce the burden of chronic disease and the number of lives claimed by one of the most dangerous legal products available on the market.
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf told a Senate committee on Thursday that the proposed ban “will, among other things, improve health and reduce the mortality risk of current smokers of menthol cigarettes or flavored cigars by decreasing their consumption substantially and increase the probability of quitting smoking”.
Menthol is a chemical compound derived from the mint plant, but which can also be produced in the laboratory. It is included in cigarettes to soften the act of smoking, providing a refreshing sensation in the throat.
Public health experts say menthol cigarettes are promoted with special emphasis on black audiences, with devastating effect: according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), African-American men are the hardest hit by lung cancer. In the USA.
The forecast is that the withdrawal of menthol cigarettes from the market will reduce the levels of smoking in the population and the number of young people who start smoking.
If the US experience mirrors what happened in Canada, when the country banned menthol cigarettes, 1.3 million people could quit and hundreds of thousands of early deaths could be avoided, said Geoffrey Fong, principal investigator for the International Project. Assessment of Tobacco Control Policies.
“This is potentially an extraordinary intervention to reduce the #1 cause of preventable death and disease,” said Fong.
The proposed ban was announced after a frenzied wave of lobbying by tobacco and retail interests. The proposed standard will be open to public comment for at least 60 days and then adopted with possible revisions. The measure is expected to take at least a year to come into effect.
Cigarette companies are likely to challenge the measure in court, which could lead to a protracted legal battle.
Erika Sward of the American Lung Association, a health non-governmental organization, said that once it takes action, the ban on menthol cigarettes will be “the single most significant action taken by the FDA in its nearly 13-year history.” regulating tobacco products”.
The proposed rule does not cover menthol e-cigarettes. The FDA is in the process of reviewing all e-cigarette products sold in the US to determine whether to allow them to continue on the market (these products were sold before the FDA exercised regulatory authority over them). So far the agency has approved some tobacco-flavored cigarettes for sales. Some menthol products remain on the market while the FDA considers what it will do about some of the best-selling cigarettes.
White House archives reveal recent meetings with proponents of the ban, including the American associations of cardiologists and pediatricians.
In 2017, the Center for Public Health Law and others provided authorities with a review of Canada’s experience with banning menthol cigarettes, which led to 59% of menthol smokers switching to unflavored cigarettes, 20% of them quitting. cigarettes and almost the same share continue to buy them on indigenous reserves, where they can still be sold.
Trade groups including Americans for Tax Reform and the Tax Foundation have warned the White House about the risk of losing federal and state tax revenue worth up to $6.6 billion in the first year of a ban on menthol cigarettes.
Proponents of the measure say it is an important step towards reducing disease disparities in the US, but it has been dividing black communities to some extent.
The Reverend Al Sharpton was heavily critical of her and recently managed to arrange a meeting with representatives from the White House and lobbying firm Ling & Spalding, which has an extensive history of lobbying on behalf of RAI Services Co., the cigarette company formerly known as RJ Reynolds. .
President of the civil rights organization National Action Network, Sharpton wrote a letter to Susan Rice, director of the Household Policy Council, saying the ban will lead black smokers to try to modify cigarettes or use unregulated menthol varieties, something that “will promote criminal activity.” “. Sharpton acknowledges that Reynolds supported his organization for two decades, but did not disclose the value of the contributions he received from it.
Reynolds is one of the world’s largest cigarette manufacturers and produces Newport menthol cigarettes, which it describes as “the best-selling menthol cigarette brand in the United States.”
The manufacturer raised similar concerns in a letter to White House officials, suggesting that the FDA extend the deadline for the ban to take effect, so that its implementation at the local level “is not done in a way that creates negative effects, such as differential impacts on communities.” not white”.
“A ban on menthol cigarettes would create serious risks,” Sharpton wrote, “including increased sales of smuggled menthol cigarettes in addition to street sales of menthol cigarettes per unit, which in turn would expose menthol smokers to greater risk of enter the criminal justice system.”
Carol McGruder, co-founder of the African American Leadership Council on Tobacco Control, called it “shameful” that Al Sharpton and others receive funding from tobacco companies. She said the need for police reform is real, but that the lives taken early by menthol cigarettes are far greater.
“Using our suffering cynically, saying, ‘Oh, we want to protect you from this by leaving these products on the market that are killing you,’ makes no sense,” McGruder said.
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) also supports the ban and has said it has not been sponsored by the tobacco industry for two decades. Portia Reddick White, vice president for legislative affairs, said the organization rejects the idea that a ban on menthol cigarettes will exacerbate tensions with the police, as implementation of the law will primarily be at the manufacturing level.
“This is a smokescreen, it’s misleading and it doesn’t help at all,” she said, adding that it diverts people’s attention away from work to tackling health disparities and chronic conditions linked to smoking. “For us, what is discriminatory is allowing menthols to continue to be sold.”
Translation by Clara Allain
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