Ban the menthol cigs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s announcement that it was moving to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars this year is not just the single most important step the federal agency has taken to reduce the deadly impact of tobacco use. It’s also one that comes with significant racial justice implications.

If it sounds nanny state-ish to ban an otherwise legal product used by consenting adults, consider this: In 2009, Congress gave the FDA authority to ban all other flavors in cigarettes, which it did in order to make these dangerous products less attractive to new smokers. But Congress stalled on menthols and asked for more study.

The FDA did more research and found that menthol, which is similar to mint, is the most insidious of all flavors. Like candy and fruit flavorings, menthol masks the unpleasant taste of tobacco. Unlike those other flavors, however, menthol cigarettes have antiseptic properties that mask the abrasiveness of tobacco smoke and induce users to inhale more deeply, increasing their exposure to the harmful chemicals in the smoke, which some researchers believe increases addiction.

What’s more, tobacco companies have aggressively marketed menthol cigarettes to communities of color for decades, using predatory advertising schemes and promotions that appeal not just to adults in Black and other ethnic communities, but to youngsters.

The ACLU and other civil rights groups sent a letter Monday to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock arguing against a menthol ban, claiming that it would perpetuate over-policing in Black communities. But the FDA ban would not criminalize possession of menthol cigarettes, just remove them from the market. Local police do not enforce federal food and drug regulations.

Indeed, Black public health advocates contend, and we agree, that the bigger injustice is allowing tobacco companies to continue to push their deadly product on communities of color.