The FDA’s Push For Flavor and Menthol Bans Isn’t Going To Stop

The bans will reappear sooner than later
Last week, it was announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had withdrawn its proposed ban on menthol cigarettes and characterizing flavors in cigars. But that doesn’t mean flavor bans are behind us.
The bans will reappear sooner than later, perhaps as regulatory guidance for state-by-state enactment.
Eleven months ago, I wrote for CStore Decisions that by the time the FDA menthol cigarette and flavored cigar bans are finally enacted, smoking rates, especially among younger demographics, will have declined to where the bans are a waste of time and money.
Much has already happened without enacting FDA menthol and flavor bans.
According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey, menthol smoking rates among 12- to 18-year-olds have declined to barely half a percent (0.5%). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that menthol cigarettes contribute to increased youth initiation of tobacco. Youth tobacco use has moved to vape (5.9% and declining) and oral nicotine (1.8% and increasing). Neither has been slated for FDA bans.
Cigarette use among all adults is now just below 11%, skewing heavily to older smokers. Smoking among 18- to 25-year-olds is now just above 4%. Menthol use is a third of that; around 1.5%. Smoking among 55-year-olds is almost four times greater than for 25-year-olds. The percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds who have “never smoked” cigarettes is 64%, double their parents at that age, per the National Center for Health Statistics, 2022.
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