Jump to full article: Boston (MA) Globe, 2009-09-26
Author: Derrick Z. Jackson Globe Columnist
Intro: IT WAS a good first step by the Food and Drug Administration to ban candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes this week under its new powers to regulate tobacco. The next and much bigger step is ending Menthol Madness. . . .
Medical journal studies over the last four years have found that smokers of menthol cigarettes are significantly more likely to have difficulty quitting smoking and that tobacco companies have deliberately manipulated menthol levels (as they did with nicotine) to lure younger smokers with "milder'' taste. While menthol cigarettes are nearly 30 percent of the overall US market, 44 percent of smokers ages 12 to 17 reported smoking menthol brands.
The menthol exemption also leaves dangling in political midair explosive charges of racism. . . .
But with at least a year to go before possible banning, Big Tobacco is systematically hooking as many new smokers as possible. Martin Orlowsky, the CEO of Lorillard, which makes the top-selling menthol Newport, said this month, "We will continue to leverage the very strong brand equity position Newport has, particularly in key markets where the opportunity - that is, menthol opportunity - is greatest.''
As to where those "key markets'' are, Reynolds American CEO Susan Ivey said in 2006, "If you look at the demographics of menthol, it is very urban. It has always had a strong African-American component. It's always had actually a strong Caucasian component. What has changed a lot in the last five years is a lot of additional Hispanic in that demographic. . . . we would see that menthol would have additional opportunity.''
The FDA cannot close that window of opportunity too soon.
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