Spread Of Menthol Cigarettes Among Young People

Spread Of Menthol Cigarettes Among Young People.
The competition over menthol-flavored cigarettes heats up again Thursday as a US Food and Drug Administration prediction panel continues a series of hearings on whether to proscribe the cigarettes. The FDA's Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee consists of nine members and includes doctors, scientists and prominent strength experts. The tobacco industry is represented by three non-voting members. The cabinet has until next March to report its menthol findings to the US Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Much of the argumentation centers on research that shows that children are particularly drawn to menthol cigarettes, with nearly 45 percent of smokers superannuated 12 to 17 using them, according to a 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Most angry teenaged smokers - and 82,7 percent of black grown smokers - favor menthols, the same survey found. "The manufacturers would have you believe there is not a scintilla of statement that menthol is more dangerous than other cigarettes to the individual smoker, but we do not agree," said Ellen Vargyas, inclusive counsel for the American Legacy Foundation, a smoking prevention and cessation organization in Washington, DC, founded with funding from the milestone 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between the tobacco effort and state governments.

And "Over 80 percent of African-American smokers smoke menthol, and African-American smokers have the highest rates of lung cancer. We also advised of African-Americans with lung cancer are more appropriate to die from lung cancer," she told HealthDay. In addition, the popularity of menthols centre of younger, newer smokers suggests that maybe the minty taste does encourage relatives to start, perhaps by masking the harsh taste of regular cigarettes. "We know the younger you are and the newer the smoker you are, the more promising you are to smoke menthol. There is a very strong correlation between being a teenaged smoker and menthol cigarettes".

That's no coincidence, asseverate smoking opponents: The tobacco energy has long targeted youth and minorities for menthol cigarette marketing, even manipulating menthol gratify in different brands in an effort to recruit new smokers among youth, according to the US National Cancer Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health. The argumentation over how menthols should be regulated was conclusive discussed in July, during the second round of hearings held by the tobacco products advisory committee.