Some Public Health Experts Concerned That Tobacco Regulation Bill Would Protect Types Of Cigarettes Mostly Smoked By Blacks

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 14 May 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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Legislation that would allow FDA to regulate flavored tobacco products would exempt regulation of menthol cigarettes, which are widely used among blacks, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, public health experts have long suspected that "menthol might be a factor in high cancer rates in African-Americans." Nearly 75% of black smokers use menthol flavored cigarettes, compared with about one in four white smokers.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and 56 co-sponsors in the Senate, would give FDA the authority to remove addictive additives if they have proven to be harmful. Menthol flavored products were excluded from the bill because they are "crucial to the American cigarette industry" -- such products represent more than 25% of the $70 billion tobacco market, the Times reports. Without the exclusion, the legislation might not have a chance of passing, according to the Times. The bill would also regulate advertisements and promotions for tobacco products.

The protection given to menthol in the legislation has raised concern from some health experts, but a black advocacy group supports the bill.

Menthol Controversy
Menthol has been "particularly controversial" because of concerns about its health effects on black, according to the Times. There have been divided reports on whether it is more addictive and harmful, the Times reports. In 1998, CDC reported that "menthol may increase the absorption of harmful smoking constituents," but four years later, the agency along with the National Cancer Institute, said studies on the effects of menthol are inconclusive. To date, of five large tobacco studies, one has concluded that men menthol smokers have higher cancer risks, but a "growing body of evidence suggests that menthol makes it harder to kick the smoking habit," according to the Times.

Comments
William Robinson, the executive director of the National African-American Tobacco Prevention Network, said that the exclusion was needed for passage of the bill but that the issue could be re-examined in the future. "The bottom line is we want the legislation," Robinson said, adding, "But we want to reserve the right to address this issue at some critical point because of the percentage of people of African descent who use mentholated products." Former Ohio Sen. Mike Dewine (R), who was part of the negotiations between Philip Morris and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids during the development of the bill, said, "My recollection is that we were able to eliminate the use of flavored cigarettes, strawberry, mocha, and all this stuff that is clearly targeted at young kids and to start them smoking tobacco," adding, "Where the compromise was made as I recall was on menthol."

Robert Robinson, former associate director in the office of smoking and health at CDC, said, "I think we can say definitively that menthol induces smoking in the African-American community and subsequently serves as a direct link to African-American death and disease." However, Michael Robinson -- a spokesperson for Lorillard, which makes Newport, the top-selling menthol product to blacks -- in a statement said, "Bottom line, the scientific publications to date have not concluded that menthol cigarettes are more hazardous or addictive than nonmenthol cigarettes" (Saul, New York Times, 5/13).

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