FDA Proposes Ban on All Flavored Cigarettes, Cigars

Today, the FDA is proposing a total ban on flavored cigarettes and cigars, citing their link to increased rates of addiction in young people and their elevated risk of enhanced effects on the brain.

Manufacturers and retailers would be prohibited from creating and selling these products if the rule is finalized after the comment period ends in July 2022. If the rule is approved, it could take effect as soon as July of 2023.

FDA officials first announced this coming change in April 2021 under the leadership of interim FDA commissioner Janet Woodcock. The decision to ban flavored products comes as part of the Biden Administration’s Cancer Moonshot project, which seeks to reduce the death rate of cancer by 50%.

“The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in today’s press release. “Additionally, the proposed rules represent an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities.”

Becerra is referring to the grave racial disparities associated with menthol products, especially the fact that 85% of Black smokers choose to smoke menthol over non-mentholated cigarettes.

Regulators at the FDA cited scientific evidence for their decision, including one study that suggested 633,000 tobacco-related deaths could be averted if menthol and flavorings were banned.  

Currently, studies do not support the idea that menthol cigarettes lead to increased incidents of cancer compared to non-menthol cigarettes. However, evidence indicates that minorities and young people use menthol and flavored tobacco products at higher rates than nonflavored alternatives making these drugs a vector for addition.

It is not clear that smoking cessation is more successful if a person uses non-menthol tobacco, even though the FDA cites this as a primary reason for the ban on menthol cigarettes.

Compared to non-mentholated tobacco, menthol cigarette and cigar use are associated with a higher rate of mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, especially in young people.  Menthol tobacco users also tend to smoke a greater amount of tobacco because of the numbing effects of menthol.

The addition of menthol to cigarettes began in the 1920s and 30s but spread later in the 1950s and 60s. Its addition reduces the irritation caused by smoke inhalation and gives users the perception of a less harsh smoking experience. This is one of the reasons that mentholated cigarette smokers experience a higher level of smoking dependence compared to non-mentholated smokers.

Elsewhere regulators have cracked down even harder on tobacco, like in New Zealand, where a tobacco ban proposal is expected to eliminate the product from the country altogether.

That is unlikely to happen in the United States anytime soon, but the FDA’s proposal may help to reduce the $225 billion annual cost associated with smoking-related illnesses.