November 25, 2013

Stanton A. Glantz, PhD

AGs call on FDA to ban menthol citing reducing health disparities and law enforcement benefits (easier action against smuggling)

Twenty-seven attorney general have submitted a comment to the FDA calling for a complete ban on menthol.  Their full letter is here.  Some key statements in the letter are:

The States devote considerable resources to the prevention of sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors. In fact, federal law requires the States to do so. Because flavored cigarette products attract young smokers, flavors other than menthol were banned by the Tobacco Control Act in 2009. The exception of menthol from the flavor ban undermines the States’ attempts to curb youth smoking.
...
... it is clear that the FDA’s exception for this one flavor disproportionately endangers young people, women, African-Americans and other minorities, and people of lower socioeconomic status. The Attorneys General have a duty to protect all the residents of their States, and the continued sale of menthol cigarettes interferes with that objective.
...
 
Banning other flavors, but not menthol, threatens to undermine state and federal tobacco control efforts, because the United States is a party to numerous treaties and trade agreements that render the distinction between menthol and other flavors subject to challenge. Such challenges threaten the viability of the existing flavor ban. ... . Including menthol in the ban on flavors would reduce the potential for other countries to allege that the United States has violated its international trade agreements.
 
4. Complete Ban v. Product Standard
 
The FDA is considering a product standard for menthol as an alternative to an outright ban. A product standard would set a maximum allowable level of menthol in cigarettes. The Attorneys General agree with the many institutions and individuals that have voiced cogent arguments as to why a complete ban, rather than a product standard, should be enacted to protect the public health.
 
The Attorneys General also support a complete ban because a ban would greatly facilitate their ability to enforce against contraband menthol cigarettes. Cigarette packs bearing the name of a well-known menthol brand, labeled as “menthol” or “wintergreen,” or decorated in prominent green colors, would be easily identifiable as contraband by visual surveillance alone. Enforcing a product standard, however, would require difficult and costly chemical analysis to ascertain whether the quantity of menthol contained in particular cigarettes exceeds the allowable maximum.
 
5. Contraband Concerns
 
The specter of a black market is often raised to oppose regulation or taxes, but the threat of the emergence of a black market in menthol cigarettes should not be permitted to override the protection of public health.
 
Although contraband cigarettes are a serious problem, there are numerous law enforcement tools that can be used to combat production or importation of unlawful tobacco products. Moreover, the quantity of menthol cigarettes that could be made available on the black market would be far less than the quantity that will be available if menthol remains legal. Therefore, a ban on menthol would dramatically decrease public access to menthol cigarettes.  [bold emphasis added]

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