Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars > Negative Impact on Public Health
Big Tobacco manufactures menthol and other flavored products for a reason – it masks the harshness of cigarettes making it easier to start smoking, more difficult to quit and leads to greater addiction. Cigars, especially “little cigars” made to be similar to cigarettes, are sold in many flavors, including banana, mango, chocolate, and grape that are especially appealing to young people. Ensuring that more people smoke and fewer people quit means more money in Big Tobacco’s pockets.
The tobacco industry uses flavors to shamelessly target specific populations to keep profiting off products that kill. A 2011 report on menthol by the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee estimated that because of menthol cigarettes, more than 460,000 African Americans would have started smoking and 4,700 would die by 2020.
The FDA and its tobacco products advisory committee have concluded that menthol poses additional risks as compared to cigarettes without menthol:
Youth who smoke menthol may progress to regular smoking at a higher rate than those who smoke regular cigarettes;
Adults who smoke menthol cigarettes make more quit attempts but have less success compared to adults who smoke non-menthol cigarettes; and
Non-Hispanic Black adults who smoke report the greatest interest in quitting, but the least success.