Tobacco.org

FDA bans flavored cigarettes 

Alex Bojko, junior sports administration major, was 17 when he smoked his first clove-flavored cigarette. He had an older friend who could purchase the product, and figured he would give it a try.

"I think the flavor was either blueberry or vanilla," he said. "They came in a bright blue, white and yellow box. At the time I just figured it was better than a cigarette."

Shortly after smoking his first clove, he began smoking cigarettes.

"I figured, 'Why spend $5 on a pack of cloves when I could spend $2.50 on a pack of regular smokes?" he said. "You do the math."

And nearly five years after taking his first flavor-filled puff of a clove, he smokes about a pack of Marlboro Blend No. 27, a whiskey-flavored cigarette, per day.

Although Marlboro 27s are not part of the ban, on Sept. 22, the Food and Drug Administration used its authority to ban the sale of cigarettes containing artificial flavors such as strawberry, clove, grape, orange, vanilla and cherry.

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