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Van Ost: Shameful tobacco control laws  

It's hard to fathom where Congress is finding the political cover necessary to pass an industry-sponsored love letter like this one. But it's coming from Philip Morris' partner in crafting the bill: a non-profit anti-smoking organization, "Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids." Why the exclusion of menthol cigarettes? . . .

A recent study of 1,700 smokers from the New Jersey University of Medicine and Dentistry Tobacco Dependence Program found that smokers of menthol cigarettes -- notably blacks and Latinos, more than 80 percent of whom smoke menthols -- had a harder time quitting even though they smoked fewer cigarettes per day. Minority communities are heavily marketed because its members tend to become addicted even when smoking fewer cigarettes and have half the quit rate of those who smoke non-menthol cigarettes. Result: much higher rates of lung cancer,

Coincidence? I think not. In early June, just prior to passage of the above control bill, Philip Morris introduced what it describes as its new "Marlboro menthol Blend No. 54", a "richer, bolder" flavor than its regular Marlboro menthol and Marlboro Smooth menthol cigarettes.

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