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4/7/2021 Menthol Cigarettes Kill Many Black People. A Ban May Finally Be Near. - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/health/methol-smoking-ban.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=bd8daf2b-5b8f-41c2-9965-e86e972f975f 3/4 The number of Americans who smoke cigarettes has declined to 14 percent in 2019 from a peak of 40 percent in the mid-1960s, according to the F.D.A. That translates to an estimated 34.1 million adult smokers in the United States, nearly 20 million of whom smoke menthol cigarettes. Roughly 480,000 Americans die each year from tobacco-related illnesses and more than 16 million Americans live with a smoking-related disease. In 2009, Congress gave the F.D.A. the authority to regulate the tobacco industry. That year, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act banned all intentionally flavored cigarettes except menthol, which it referred to the F.D.A. for further study. The F.D.A. came close to a ban under the Obama administration but did not have sufficient White House support. In 2018, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the first F.D.A. commissioner of the Trump administration, announced the agency would ban menthol cigarettes. He was immediately opposed by Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, one of the few unapologetically pro-tobacco lawmakers left in Congress. Mr. Burr often promotes the jobs that the industry provides in his home state. His sons have two of those jobs: Tyler Burr works in state governmental affairs at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and William Burr works in regulatory affairs at Altria, which owns Philip Morris. After the announcement, Mr. Burr started dispatching oversight letters to the F.D.A. every Friday from mid-November 2018 through early January 2019, with the exception of the week of Thanksgiving. Emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the hundreds of minute questions from Mr. Burr that tied up staff for weeks. He also demanded personal travel records for the agency’s seven center directors and accused the F.D.A. of leaks. The F.D.A. did not back down, but Mr. Burr helped to persuade the Trump administration to kill the plan in early 2019, according to former White House officials. Mr. Burr’s office declined to comment. David Sutton, a spokesman for Altria, which makes Marlboro and other brands that come in menthol, defended keeping menthol cigarettes on the market. “Prohibition and criminalization of adult behavior does not work for products intended for adults 21-plus,” Mr. Sutton said. Kaelan Hollon, a spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds, whose Newport brand is the biggest menthol seller in the United States, said a menthol ban would infringe on the rights of adults who preferred it to plain tobacco. But such arguments ignore the fact that most smokers start the habit and become addicted to nicotine when they are young, and are most likely to seek flavored products, according to the F.D.A. At this point, the F.D.A. could again propose a federal ban, which would then have to be approved by the White House. Alternatively, Congress could adopt legislation expanding the current restrictions on sales of flavored cigarettes to include menthol — effectively undoing the current exemption. More than 120 localities have already enacted bans of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council is running an anti-menthol campaign with Delta Sigma Theta, a historically Black sorority, and others. The council is also a plaintiff, along with the Action on Smoking and Health, in the citizens’ petition that forced the April 29 deadline for the F.D.A. to say whether or not it will ban menthol. A 2008 issue of Essence magazine. Tobacco companies gained good will by advertising in newspapers and magazines geared to a Black readership — and by donating money to civil rights organizations.Tony Cenicola/The New York Times