About:
- Menthol cigarettes see a disproportionately high usage in the African American community than by White Americans.
- The FDA’s move, thus, has been welcomed by many as likely to help reduce the burden of tobacco-related ailments specifically in the Black population.
Why does the FDA consider menthol cigarettes especially dangerous?
- The agency says menthol, with its minty taste and aroma, reduces the irritation and harshness of smoking. This increases appeal and makes menthol cigarettes easier to use, particularly for youth and young adults.
- Menthol also interacts with nicotine in the brain to enhance nicotine’s addictive effects, while making it more difficult for people to quit smoking.
- The agency said “modeling studies have estimated a 15 per cent reduction in smoking within 40 years” if menthol cigarettes were banned.
- Apart from menthol, all other flavours in cigarettes were banned in the US in 2009.
