With the confirmation that the United States FDA indeed plans to ban menthol smokes in America many are wondering what exactly that in fact means. According to the FDA, the ban will take at least one year to implement considering menthol smokes are sold nationwide — popularly and controversially among minority communities.
A University of Michigan study previously found that between 1980 and 2018 menthol smokes prematurely contributed to more than 380,000 deaths. Despite their hopes to implement the ban, the ban likely will take several years in fact to fully implement. Big Tobacco is likely to ferociously defend its “right” to sell such smokes though many don’t agree with them.
Studies claim that menthols are the preference of about 85% of Black smokers in the U.S.
African American activism groups have long battled the FDA to remove the sale of such smokes and cigars as they wrongfully target Black youth and communities. The ban would also take out flavoured cigars which also include any mint flavored ones.
‘Taken together, these policies will help save lives and improve the public health of our country as we confront the leading cause of preventable disease and death,’ Mitch Zeller, the FDA’s head of tobacco, said in a statement.
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