FDA plan to ban menthol smokes

Banning or restricting tobacco/menthol cigarette use will have about as much success as Prohibition did 100 years ago. Illegal imports will become a thriving industry. I was stationed in North Carolina in 1966, and cigarettes were dirt cheap there....while New York had levied high taxes on cigarettes. There was a steady stream of NC residents...including some of the troops on the base....that would load up on smokes, and drive them to NY on weekends, and make a ton of money.

People will Always find a way to feed their habits...no matter how many laws are passed.
 

Don M. said:
Banning or restricting tobacco/menthol cigarette use will have about as much success as Prohibition did 100 years ago. Illegal imports will become a thriving industry. I was stationed in North Carolina in 1966, and cigarettes were dirt cheap there....while New York had levied high taxes on cigarettes. There was a steady stream of NC residents...including some of the troops on the base....that would load up on smokes, and drive them to NY on weekends, and make a ton of money.

People will Always find a way to feed their habits...no matter how many laws are passed.
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Criminals from many states do that. The ATF would be interested in such things.
https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/fact-sheet/fact-sheet-tobacco-enforcement
 
I smoked Newport 100s for decades, and I'm not black. The point is not who is smoking menthol cigarettes, but what the menthol is doing to smokers' health that is so more destructive than non-menthol cigarettes. I can only assume there is verifiable evidence of this.
And yeah, some will find a way to outwit the ban.
 

Becky1951 said:
"The U.S. government on Thursday released its long-awaited plan to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, citing the toll on Black smokers and young people."

Other races and older people ??? Guess they don't count. :ROFLMAO:
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The article explains that statement:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government on Thursday released its long-awaited plan to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, citing the toll on Black smokers and young people.

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

He added that the ban would also be an “important step to advance health equity” by reducing disparities in tobacco use.

The Food and Drug Administration said eliminating menthol cigarettes could prevent between 300,000 and 650,000 smoking deaths over 40 years.

Menthol accounts for more than a third of cigarettes sold in the U.S, and the mint flavor is favored by Black smokers and young people. Menthol’s cooling effect has been shown to mask the throat harshness of smoking, making it easier to start and harder to quit.

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.

“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.”
 
What is the rational for this? Are menthols somehow a lot more dangerous? So what if they are preferred by black people?

I am strongly ambivalent on this, the libertarian in me says the government should stay out of it. However I cannot thing of another legal consumer product that is so dangerous with no real value. Even Twinkies contain some food, sort of...

I don't smoke cigarettes or anything consistently, never had and wish others did not. However, they better leave my cigars alone!! I have an average of one a month and don't want to give it up.
 
Alligatorob said:
What is the rational for this? Are menthols somehow a lot more dangerous? So what if they are preferred by black people?

I am quite ambivalent on this, the libertarian in me says the government should stay out of it. However I cannot thing of another legal consumer product that is so dangerous with no real value. Even Twinkies contain some food, sort of...

I don't smoke cigarettes or anything consistently, never had and wish others did not. However, they better leave my cigars alone!! I have an average of one a month and don't want to give it up.
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What's been in the news is Black people prefer menthol..
and as for the vaping, because it's a 'teen epidemic.'

Neither is true from my experiences.
Of all the Black smokers I know, only one smoked menthol, and I've never seen a teenager or even young adult vaping.
 
JaniceM said:
Their priorities are screwed up... first it was cigarettes, then vaping, but I haven't seen anyone trying to reduce excessive or underage drinking, or illegal drug use.
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they've already been banned here.. they were banned 2 years ago.. here's why...

The menthol cigarette ban is part of an initiative by the European Union (EU) to protect people from the harmful effects of tobacco.


In the EU, tobacco consumption is the ‘single largest avoidable health risk’, and the ‘most significant cause of premature death’4. It is responsible for nearly 700,000 deaths every year and around 50% of smokers die prematurely (on average 14 years earlier than non-smokers)4.


As a response, the EU put together a piece of legislation called the ‘Tobacco Product Directive’. This legislation was designed to help create a consistent EU wide approach to tackling smoking. A focus of the legislation was on discouraging young people taking up smoking or helping them to quit, with 93% of smokers starting to smoke before they turn 264.


Products that are linked with taking up smoking by young people, and encouraging them to keep smoking, therefore found themselves in the firing line. This included products that modify the smell/taste of the cigarettes to mask tobacco, such as menthol cigarettes5.


It is important to note, the EU’s ‘Tobacco Product Directive’ was adopted back in 2014. It was then placed into British law through the The Tobacco and Related Products regulations in 2016. This means the legislation still applies in the UK even though the UK has left the EU.


In fact, you’ve probably seen some of the impacts of the EU’s ‘Tobacco Product Directive’. Larger warning messages on labels and a ban on smaller cigarette pack sizes, were all part of the same piece of legislation, and have already been implemented6.


The Menthol Cigarette ban is the last part of the directive to come into force6. This was designed to give time for producers and consumers to adapt to the new rules.
 
hollydolly said:
they've already been banned here.. they were banned 2 years ago.. here's why...

The menthol cigarette ban is part of an initiative by the European Union (EU) to protect people from the harmful effects of tobacco.


In the EU, tobacco consumption is the ‘single largest avoidable health risk’, and the ‘most significant cause of premature death’4. It is responsible for nearly 700,000 deaths every year and around 50% of smokers die prematurely (on average 14 years earlier than non-smokers)4.


As a response, the EU put together a piece of legislation called the ‘Tobacco Product Directive’. This legislation was designed to help create a consistent EU wide approach to tackling smoking. A focus of the legislation was on discouraging young people taking up smoking or helping them to quit, with 93% of smokers starting to smoke before they turn 264.


Products that are linked with taking up smoking by young people, and encouraging them to keep smoking, therefore found themselves in the firing line. This included products that modify the smell/taste of the cigarettes to mask tobacco, such as menthol cigarettes5.


It is important to note, the EU’s ‘Tobacco Product Directive’ was adopted back in 2014. It was then placed into British law through the The Tobacco and Related Products regulations in 2016. This means the legislation still applies in the UK even though the UK has left the EU.


In fact, you’ve probably seen some of the impacts of the EU’s ‘Tobacco Product Directive’. Larger warning messages on labels and a ban on smaller cigarette pack sizes, were all part of the same piece of legislation, and have already been implemented6.


The Menthol Cigarette ban is the last part of the directive to come into force6. This was designed to give time for producers and consumers to adapt to the new rules.
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Well, what about alcohol and street drugs- no legitimate purpose, some cause health risks, and are mind-altering substances.
 
JaniceM said:
I know I'm running on very little sleep and it's already evening, but I don't understand the reason for the connection.
I just meant its dumb to ban cigarettes- menthol or otherwise- when other products are much more dangerous.
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You mean like AR-15's?
 
JaniceM said:
I know I'm running on very little sleep and it's already evening, but I don't understand the reason for the connection.
I just meant its dumb to ban cigarettes- menthol or otherwise- when other products are much more dangerous.
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..well I was referring to menthol because the topic was about menthol cigarettes and the reason for their banning...
 
Alligatorob said:
Good point, seems to me we should either mostly deregulate cigarettes or ban then outright. Most of the in-between is just hypocritical half measures.

Kind of doubt that second one would work, might employee some of the folks being displaced by marijuana legalization though.
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As bad as it all is, banning anything you can grow in your garden seems a little unusual.
 

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