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.
Following Russia's incursion into Ukraine, the U.S. is warning businesses and major banks to brace themselves for cyberattacks. Lester Munson, a senior fellow at the National Security Institute, joined Cheddar News to break down what this means for financial institutions “So we need to be concerned about not just intentional Russian hacks against American entities but also what Russia is doing in Ukraine. Those things can impact us as well," he said
Booking Holdings reported a successful Q4 earnings despite being directly impacted by the pandemic. As travel ramps back up for summer 2022, the company is hoping to fully recover from pandemic losses. CEO Glenn Fogel joined Cheddar News to discuss the report and the company's excitement for this travel season. "We're actually looking ahead of where we were in 2019 at the same time for the summer bookings, which shows how much demand there really is for travel right now," he said.
After weeks of talks and posturing in hopes of staving off an attack, Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, an incident that has already impacted the global economy, including the U.S.. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis for Morning Consult, joined Cheddar’s Closing Bell to break down what investors might do to prepare themselves as the crisis continues. "I think there are a few things that we have our eye on over at Morning Consult that could cause the situation to become a bit more severe or unstable as far as market outcomes would be concerned," McMann said. "One of those things would be if the U.S. and the EU kind of moved in concerted fashion to block Russia from the SWIFT transaction system. So, I would say that's one thing that would be worth keeping an eye on."
Tom and Darr Aley, Co-Founders of Aidentified, join Cheddar Innovates to discuss how the platform is becoming the next social network for companies to make connections in an increasingly digital world.
Cloud-based marketing technology firm, Zeta Global reported strong Q4 earnings after the bell on Wednesday, with revenue up 18 percent. David Steinberg, CEO and co-founder, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the company's big results, how marketers are turning to its first-party tech solutions and its plans for future growth. "We raised our guidance pretty dramatically for this year," he said. "We publicly announced our Zeta 2025 plan, which we have been focused on internally since 2020 but to get to over a billion dollars in revenue per year and a 20 percent operating margin by 2025."
Ahon Sarkar, General Manager of Helix, breaks down how personalizing banking products leads to more customer retention and outlines the future of customization among brands.
The real estate market is only continuing to heat up as home prices skyrocket across the country. The median price for an American home jumped nearly 20 percent in a year, with the number of 'million dollar cities' tripling since 2020. Tim Rood, Situs AMC Managing Director joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
