AAP leaders are calling on the Biden administration to push forward with a federal ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars amid reports that proposed new rules have been delayed.
In 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed banning menthol cigarettes and all cigar flavors other than tobacco. The rules were expected to be finalized in 2023. Media reports Wednesday, however, indicate the new rules will be delayed into next year or even after the election.
“Today’s signal from the Biden administration that it will delay its final rules prohibiting menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars is dangerous, disappointing and a major missed opportunity to protect children and save lives,” AAP President Sandy L. Chung, M.D., FAAP, said in a statement. “Menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars are designed and marketed to addict children, plain and simple. The tobacco industry has been targeting Black communities with menthol products for decades, leading to disproportionate generational addiction, suffering and death.”
Menthol gives cigarettes a minty taste and cooling effect that can attract youths and young adults. While fewer people smoke cigarettes now than in recent decades, the proportion of people who smoke and use menthol cigarettes has increased, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Non-Hispanic Black or African American people who smoke cigarettes, regardless of age, are much more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes than people of other races or ethnicities who smoke cigarettes, according to the CDC. Between 1980 and 2018, an estimated 1.5 million Black Americans began smoking menthol cigarettes, and 157,000 Black smokers died prematurely because of menthol cigarettes.
In 2023, 40.4% of middle school and high school students who smoked cigarettes reported using menthol cigarettes, according to the CDC. Nearly nine in 10 youths in grades six through 12 who reported using tobacco products used flavored varieties. In 2020, 53% of young adults ages 18-25 years who smoke cigarettes reported using menthol cigarettes.
In 2009, Congress banned flavored cigarettes but made an exception for menthol. For years, the Academy has been urging the FDA to remove these products from the market.
“We cannot miss this chance to address the threat of nicotine addiction and save lives,” Dr. Chung said. “Failing to act misses a key opportunity to reduce cancer deaths and undermines the President’s Cancer Moonshot initiative. The AAP urges the Biden administration to finalize these rules immediately and eliminate these harmful products once and for all.”
The AAP policy statement Protecting Children and Adolescents from Tobacco and Nicotine recommends the FDA regulate all tobacco and nicotine products to protect public health, which includes prohibiting all flavor ingredients, including menthol, in all tobacco and nicotine products. The AAP also recommends adequate funding for tobacco use prevention, screening and treatment specifically for pediatric populations.
Resources
- FDA fact sheet on proposals to prohibit menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars
- AAP tobacco control resources
- AAP information on youth tobacco cessation
- Information for families on tobacco use prevention from HealthyChildren.org
- AAP policy statement Protecting Children and Adolescents from Tobacco and Nicotine
- AAP policy statement Clinical Practice Policy to Protect Children from Tobacco, Nicotine, and Tobacco Smoke
- Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
