Menthol cigarettes are somewhat controversial. Brands like Newport cigarettes and Kool cigarettes market their menthol products as "Remarkably Refreshing" and "Intense, Bold and Smooth". Lolliard Incorporated even has an entire menthol project called "Understanding Menthol". What makes Menthol cigarettes so controversial?
First, the tobacco companies make a lot of money on the sale of menthol cigarettes. Lolliard states that menthol cigarettes account for roughly 30% of the cigarette market. So we're not talking peanuts here. Second, there is a question as to whether menthol in cigarettes makes them more dangerous - as if they needed to be more dangerous. Tobacco already accounts for 1 out of every 5 deaths in the US. Finally, many in health care believe that flavoring cigarettes make them more attractive to younger people who might not start smoking if the harsh tobacco flavor was the only thing tasted when smoked. In other words, the experts think menthol cigarettes is newbie-friendly and acts as a gateway product, thereby recruiting a new generation of smokers.
The New England Journal of Medicine published a perspective by Dr. Siegel called "A Lost Opportunity for Public Health - The FDA Advisory Committee Report on Menthol". In it, the Journal disseminates an FDA lengthy examination on menthol cigarettes. The FDA report states that menthol does not make cigarettes more dangerous. So there is the answer to one of the key ideas in this argument. Menthol cigarettes are just as safe as any other cigarette, or should it be just as dangerous? Probably the latter is a better way to state it. However, the FDA reports goes on to say that menthol cigarettes do harm the public's health by enhancing smoking inititation. So as they put it, menthol masks the unpleasant tobacco taste making it more widely accepted by new smokers. Half of all new smokers start smoking with menthol cigarettes like Kool or Newport. They also state that people who smoke menthol cigarettes have a more difficult time quitting than smokers of non menthol cigarettes. So menthol is a key component on both the inititation and cessation side of the equation.
You can start to see why the tobacco companies want menthol cigarettes to remain legal AND why health experts want to ban them. According to the article, the FDA did not recommend a ban on menthol cigarettes. Because no ban was made, the author claims this as a victory for the tobacco companies - despite the harsh "recommendation" against menthol cigarettes found within their report. Recommendations will not push issues or change policy. Only outright bans or changes in law can do that.
Lastly, the tobacco companies state that banning menthol cigarettes, "would likely lead to the illegal sale of more dangerous cigarettes through an unprecedented underground market" - Lolliard Inc.. That sounds like them lobbing just one more political hand grenade into the discussion. But I don't think the real experts fear an illegal and dangerous menthol cigarette black market. That is just a clear case of fear mongering. Realistically, if just a fraction of new smokers were turned away by the bad taste of cigarettes or were able to quit because menthol was taken out of the equation, the public health benefit would escalate considerably, in relationship to any underground market risk that "might" develop.
Here is where the expression, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush", really comes into play. So get the word out about menthol and see if we can't get rid of them. Then and maybe then, we'll have supported the public health, reduced our medical expenses and helped to break the cycle of smoking initiation in this country.
