�
The New York Times on Sunday examined how smokers ar left in the middle of "this maelstrom of debate" on whether menthol-flavored cigarettes should be included in the legislation that would allow FDA to ban flavored additives (Navarro, New York Times, 8/3).
The House last week by a veto-proof 326-102 vote approved lawmaking (HR 1108) that would give FDA the confidence to determine tobacco products. The metre, introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), would allow FDA to ban flavored additives, with an exemption for menthol flavoring. Some black anti-smoking advocates criticized the exemption, noting that many black smokers use mentholated cigarettes. The National African American Tobacco Prevention Network withdrew its support for the bill because of the menthol exemption. Seventy-five pct of black smokers economic consumption mentholated tobacco products. Menthol brands account for about 28% of the $70 billion U.S. cigarette market.
It is intellection that menthol and other additives mightiness mask the harshness of tobacco, which could cook it easier for teenagers to begin smoking. Researchers also receive questioned whether menthol plays a character in disproportional rates of cancer related to to smoking among blacks. A recent study from Harvard University found that some butt makers by choice "manipulated menthol levels to attract young people" (Kaiser Health Disparities Report, 7/31).
The Times reports that menthol cigarettes have historically been heavily marketed in black communities and that blacks have disproportionately higher rates of death and disease related to smoking, according to the Times. According to the Times, some smokers "refuse such wholesale interference with personal choices" and others "believe that having their menthol cigarettes snatched away may be just what they motive to oddment their habit."
The Times notes that it "may take more than a ban -- or the health warnings or the $5 pack -- to stop some smokers." Justine Love -- a 54-year-old black Washington, D.C., wireless personality wHO smoked menthol cigarettes for 30 geezerhood and now gives testimonials and public service announcements on her radio station -- said, "This is a very personal decision, and you don't need anybody to tell you what you can or can't do." She adds, "I don't say, 'You should halt smoking.' I give encouragement to quit. I tell them I saved $139 in the get-go month" (New York Times, 8/3).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for electronic mail delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.
