FDA’s missed deadline for a ban on menthol cigarettes has anti-tobacco advocates riled up. Photo credit: Wil540, Creative Commons 4.0.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) missed its self-imposed end-of-August deadline to finalize a rule banning menthol in cigarettes. The agency says it will complete work on the rule “in the coming months” instead.
FDA first considered a menthol ban in 2013 during the Obama administration, after anti-smoking advocates began calling for action in 2009 when Congress exempted menthol from a ban on flavored cigarettes. In April last year the agency announced its proposed rule on the menthol ban. A subsequent public comment period saw 175,000 comments on the proposed menthol cigarette rule and 71,000 on a flavored cigars proposed rule.
This June, 20 US lawmakers urged FDA to reconsider its proposed ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, citing concerns that the ban would increase illicit trade of tobacco products, estimating that the ban would result in one-third of all cigarettes sold in the US becoming illegal.
The American Medical Association, National Medical Association, About Action on Smoking & Health, and African American Tobacco Leadership Council accused FDA of stalling and urged regulators to move forward with the ban in a joint statement.
American Medical Association president Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, M.D., M.P.H., said, “We implore the FDA to move swiftly to remove these harmful products from the market once and for all and keep them out of the hands of our nation’s youth—their health and well-being must be the first priority.”