Clove cigarettes Effective immediately, the Food and Drug
Administration has banned the sale of candy-, fruit- and clove-flavored
cigarettes. The move was authorized by the Family Smoking Prevention and
Tobacco Control Act, which President Obama signed in June.
Cigarette
manufacturers make sweet-flavored cigarettes to attract teens to
smoking, Lawrence Deyton, director of the FDA's newly established Center
for Tobacco Products, said Tuesday at a news conference.
STUDY: Cigarette makers manipulated menthol to hook teens
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Though Deyton did not have information about
market share, he did say research has shown that 17-year-old smokers are
three times more likely to use flavored cigarettes than those over 25.
And, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said, nearly 90% of adults
started smoking as teens.
The FDA notified manufacturers of the impending
ban last week, Deyton said. Under the new smoking prevention act, he
said, Tuesday was the earliest the agency could ban the flavored
cigarettes. The ban, however, does not apply to flavored cigars or
smokeless tobacco products.
The FDA has set up a toll-free hotline,
877-287-1373, and a website, fda.gov/flavoredtobacco, for consumers if
they spot continued sales of the banned cigarettes. Deyton added that
the agency has created a team to review reported violations daily.
The ban doesn't include menthol cigarettes, Deyton said. "The law specifically asks us to look at menthol separately."
Menthol cigarettes, preferred by 80% of black
smokers and a quarter of white smokers, are growing increasingly popular
with teen smokers, says Jonathan Foulds, director of the Tobacco
Dependence Program at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New
Jersey-School of Public Health in New Brunswick.
Early this year, clove cigarettes djarum black Foulds co-wrote a study that
found menthol cigarettes are harder to quit, particularly among black
and Latino smokers. The reason, he says: Menthol makes smoke less harsh,
so smokers can take in more nicotine and carbon monoxide per cigarette.
The new findings have been surprising, Foulds says. "We all thought
until quite recently that menthol was just a neutral flavor."
But he's not surprised that the FDA's first
venture into tobacco regulation does not cover menthol cigarettes,
because they're far bigger sellers than candy versions. Banning them
first, he says, would result in a "pretty major revolt from industry."
On its website, Philip Morris USA says it supports banning cigarette flavor varieties "other than tobacco and menthol."
