The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, April 29, proposed banning mint-flavored cigarettes and other fragrances, a long-awaited victory for anti-smoking and civil rights groups, but a decision that could overturn a large share of sales in this industry.

The proposal could take years to implement and could throw the health regulator into protracted legal battles with the tobacco industry, which has consistently fought efforts to block anti-smoking regulations.

Anti-smoking groups have been declaring for decades that menthol cigarettes adversely affect people of color and young people in general, causing them to smoke at a very young age.

"Children Without Smoking" campaign president Matthew Myers said the latest move could be "the strongest action" the United States "has ever taken to reduce the number of children starting smoking early."

While, the creator of Marlboro said:

"We share the common goal of shifting adult cigarette smokers to potentially less harmful alternatives, but the ban does not work. Criminalizing mint will lead to serious unintended consequences."

Peppermint cigarettes are banned in many U.S. states, including California and Massachusetts, and smoking levels in those countries have dropped for many years, but they still account for more than a third of the industry as a whole. in shop.

Last week, a WSJ report said the Biden administration was considering reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes.

"Reducing the nicotine content in cigarettes ... this is something that is still under consideration," FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a media call Thursday. "We are thinking about it, but we have not yet completed discussions on this issue."

Source: Reuters