U.S. health regulators pledged again Thursday to try to ban menthol cigarettes, this time under pressure from African American groups to remove the mint flavor popular among Black smokers.
The Food and Drug Administration has attempted several times to get rid of menthol but faced pushback from Big Tobacco, members of Congress and competing political interests in both the Obama and Trump administrations. Any menthol ban will take years to implement and will likely face legal challenges from tobacco companies.
Thursday’s announcement is the result of a lawsuit filed by anti-smoking and medical groups last summer to force the FDA to finally make a decision on menthol, alleging that regulators had “unreasonably delayed” responding to a 2013 petition seeking to ban the flavor.
The deadline for the agency’s response was Thursday. The FDA said it aims to propose regulations banning the flavor in the coming year.
The action would also ban menthol and fruity flavors from low-cost, small cigars, which are increasingly popular with young people, especially Black teens.
“We will save save hundreds of thousands of lives and prevent future generations from becoming addicted smokers,” said Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA's acting commissioner.
She cited research estimates that banning menthol would prevent 630,000 tobacco-related deaths over 40 years, more than a third of them among African Americans.
Menthol is the only cigarette flavor that was not banned under the 2009 law that gave the FDA authority over tobacco products, an exemption negotiated by industry lobbyists. The act did, though, instruct the agency to continue to weigh banning menthol.
The flavor’s persistence has infuriated anti-smoking advocates, who point to research that menthol’s numbing effect masks the harshness of smoking, likely making it easier to start and harder to quit.
The mint-flavored cigarettes are overwhelmingly used by young people and minorities, particularly Black smokers, 85% of whom smoke menthols. That compares to about a third of white smokers.
“The science is there, the data is there, so why are these products still on the market?” said Carol McGruder of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council.
Her group sued along with Action on Smoking and Health, the American Medical Association and the National Medical Association, which represents Black physicians.
For decades, companies focused menthol marketing and promotions on Black communities, including sponsoring music festivals and neighborhood events. Company documents released via 1990s litigation also show companies viewed menthol cigarettes as good “starter” products because they were more palatable for teenagers .
“There was a specific, intentional focus on creating the next generation of smokers by making menthol cigarettes available in those communities,” said Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics’ group on minority health and equity.
The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is warning retail investors that they may be getting in over their heads as the meme stock roller coaster continues. Dave Nadig, a financial futurist at ETF Trends, joined Cheddar News to give his thoughts on a proposal to create a kind of test to mitigate risky retail trading behavior and how it differs from existing qualifications for certain types of trading. "What FINRA was proposing is very different. They're actually talking about potentially testing investors to see whether they understand more complex products," he said. "And so this is a very new and I think slightly dangerous proposition from regulators."
Streaming giant Netflix has thrown its hat into the ring with some video game offerings of its own so far, but the hurdles to gaining market share in the space might be daunting despite recently acquiring its third game development studio. Kenny Rosenblatt, the president and co-founder of casual game maker Arkadium, joined Cheddar to offer his view of where things are headed for Netflix. "Microsoft entered the video game market in 1990, years ago with 'Windows Solitaire. It has taken them that long to become the player that they are today," he said. "So I like what Netflix is doing. Slow and steady wins the race."
U.S. stocks closed Tuesday's session near session highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 350 points, after rising more than 400 points at its session high. Shares were also impacted positively by optimism around peace talks in Ukraine. Nancy Prial, Co-Chief Executive Officer & Senior Portfolio Manager of Essex Investment Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Food, paper, and plastic are known to be major factors when it comes to America's trash; but furniture is high on that list, as well. According to the EPA, furniture makes up twelve million tons of waste in landfills every year. It's a problem that one online furniture store is trying to solve. Alpay Koralturk, Founder & CEO of Kaiyo, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Sylvia Jablonski, CIO at Defiance ETFs, breaks down the factors leading to the market's strong start to the week and discusses what investors should be focusing on when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and inflation.
Bitcoin surged to its highest level on Monday since January 2nd. The gains also come after a late Sunday rally for the cryptocurrency, when it surpassed the key price of $45,000, and also turned positive for 2022. Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset Fund, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what is behind the recent rallies for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Founder and CEO of Capital Postal & Mail Box Service, Takisha Clark, joined Cheddar News to talk about being the first black woman to own a postal franchise, the obstacles she faced when launching her business, and how she overcame them. “I ran into just dealing with lack of resources, dealing with just being a black woman, just trying to become this entrepreneur and be inspiring to others, so it's been a journey," she said. "It's been hard, and I've just been maneuvering through the cracks."
Cross-border payments are big business, and crypto companies want in on the action, which means challenging established remittance services such as Western Union and MoneyGram.
Fast food chain Arby's is collaborating with rapper Pusha T to market the restaurant's new Spicy Fish Sandwich with a diss track aimed at rival McDonald's Filet-O-Fish — an insult to injury considering Pusha T also wrote the "I'm Lovin' It Jingle" for the Golden Arches. Arby's Chief Marketing Officer and President Patrick Schwing joined Cheddar News to discuss the new song and the new sandwich. "We figured out what is the ultimate expression of confidence and that's a diss track," he said. "You've got to really believe in yourself and your product, and when we realize that there's no better person to partner with than Pusha."
