NCL strongly supports FDA’s proposal to ban menthol
August 3, 2022
Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832
Washington, DC – The National Consumers League filed comments today with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in support of the agency’s proposal to ban menthol products.
“We commend the FDA’s actions, though we believe the ban on menthol cigarettes in the United States should have been implemented years ago,” said Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of NCL. “Nevertheless, this ban on menthol will save hundreds of thousands of lives and will have especially important positive benefits for African Americans because tobacco companies have relentlessly marketed menthol cigarettes to African Americans for decades.”
NCL recently recorded a podcast with the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, the country’s leading public health education and advocacy organization taking on Big Tobacco to save Black lives. The podcast can be found here: https://nclnet.org/menthol-cigarettes-going-up-in-smoke/
NCL also noted that the United States is an outlier among nations of the world in its proposal to ban menthol just now. The EU implemented a ban for its 28 member countries in 2020.
“Menthol enhances the addictive effects of nicotine in the brain,” said Greenberg. “The tobacco industry knew this and yet continued to market the product to Americans, especially targeting African Americans. Menthol is associated with progression to regular cigarette smoking in youth and young adults.”
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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
