Menthol cigarette
Menthol also decreases irritant sensations from nicotine by desensitizing receptors, making smoking feel less harsh compared to regular cigarettes.
[5] A recent innovation has been to include a small capsule in or near the filter which can be broken to release additional menthol or other flavoring solutions.
[7] Historian Keith Wailoo argues the cigarette industry targeted a new market in the black audience starting in the 1960s.
Cigarette companies responded by developing menthol-flavored brands like Kool, which seemed to be more soothing to the throat, and advertised these as being more healthy.
Big Tobacco invested heavily in the Civil Rights Movement, winning the gratitude of many national and local leaders.
The marketing initiative was a success as the rate of smoking in the black community grew, especially for menthols, while it declined among whites.
The proportion of smokers who use menthols rose from 31% in 2004 to 33.7% in 2010, according to a 2010 study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
[19] Despite it being illegal at the time, tobacco marketers gave out free menthol cigarette samples to children in black neighborhoods in the U.S.[20][21] Similar practices continue in Sub-Saharan Africa, where a 2016 study found over 12% of South African students had been given free cigarettes by tobacco company representatives.
[25] Tobacco companies have targeted the LGBT community with advertising for menthol cigarettes, most notably through Project SCUM.
[26] Several places have banned menthol cigarettes, including Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, Turkey, Moldova, the European Union and the United Kingdom.
According to Philip Morris International's 2018 annual report, "The tobacco union requested a stay of the enforcement of the ingredient ban while the appeal is pending".
The United States Chamber of Commerce lobbied against the legislation which delayed the bill until it was passed and signed by president Nicolae Timofti.
[31] In response, the former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt (1918–2015) was reported to have hoarded 200 cartons of his preferred menthol cigarette brand in his house.
On March 18, 2011, the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (an advisory panel to the FDA) concluded that removing menthol cigarettes from the market would benefit public health in the United States, but stopped short of recommending that the FDA take any specific actions, like restricting or banning the additive.
[19][44] In November 2018 the FDA announced its intention to outlaw menthol cigarettes, later changing this position to advocate for restriction of flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes to a separate age-restricted room.
[45] In June 2020, two US NGOs (African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and Action on Smoking and Health) filed a lawsuit against the FDA to try to force it to introduce a ban on menthol cigarettes in order to reduce health inequalities, noting that 85% of African American smokers smoke menthol cigarettes.
[51] The Congressional Black Caucus issued a letter in support of a menthol cigarettes ban and opposed its postponement by the Biden administration.
[54] The American Medical Association (AMA) also protested the postponement and joined a lawsuit intending to force the FDA to implement the ban.
The Law Enforcement Alliance of America and the National Troopers Coalition have urged the FDA to consider the impact a ban on menthol cigarettes would have on tobacco smuggling.
[60] Additionally, the National Association of Convenience Stores opposes the ban based on menthol cigarettes accounting for 4% of their sales.
