Following Push from Murray, FDA Moves to Ban Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars

Senator Murray: “I pushed for years for the FDA to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars for a really simple reason: it will prevent people, especially our kids, from getting addicted to nicotine, help hundreds of thousands of smokers quit—and ultimately save lives.”

According to CDC, half of youth who smoke use menthol cigarettes

Murray 2020 Health Equity Report: “Action to prohibit the use of flavors in little cigars and to prohibit menthol in cigarettes is particularly important in order to address the disproportionate impact of tobacco on Black Americans.”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new proposed rules to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.

“I pushed for years for the FDA to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars for a really simple reason: it will prevent people, especially our kids, from getting addicted to nicotine, help hundreds of thousands of smokers quit—and ultimately save lives.

“The evidence is clear that menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars steer young people to smoking and have taken a heavy toll on communities of color, so I’m glad to see the agency heed my advice, and fulfill its promise to get this done—particularly as the nicotine addiction crisis continues to jeopardize the health of young people across our country.”

Senator Murray has long championed stronger oversight and regulation of tobacco products to protect the health of kids and families across our country. Senator Murray has advocated for the FDA to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, including in a 2021 letter with her colleagues to the FDA. She has called for the swift removal of tobacco products that didn’t meet key approval deadlines and recently secured a provision that was signed into law by President Biden, which empowers the FDA to regulate synthetic nicotine products and keep dangerous, unregulated products off the shelves.

A report Senator Murray released on health equity in 2020 also noted how flavored tobacco products have been disproportionately harmful to people of color, and recommended stronger tobacco regulations similar to what FDA has announced: “The disproportionate impact of tobacco products on communities of color has contributed to shortened life expectancy and increased health care costs, particularly for Black Americans. Congress should strengthen laws to prevent tobacco companies from targeting a new generation of kids and getting them addicted to tobacco products – beginning with banning the use of all flavors in tobacco products, including a prohibition on flavors in e-cigarettes unless or until a thorough FDA review shows they benefit public health, and bolstering investments in culturally and linguistically competent tobacco use prevention and cessation programs. Action to prohibit the use of flavors in little cigars and to prohibit menthol in cigarettes is particularly important in order to address the disproportionate impact of tobacco on Black Americans.”

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