The percentage of Americans who smoke fell from 45% in 1965 to 12.5% in 2020, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But more than 30 million Americans still smoke, and smoking still is responsible for 30% of cancer deaths.

So smoking reduction remains a crucial public health priority. To that end, the FDA is on the mark in finally moving to bar menthol flavoring, 13 years after the Tobacco Control Act bizarrely exempted it from a ban on flavored cigarettes.

In the wake of the agency’s announcement, the industry trotted out the same narrative that it used in 2009 to win the menthol exemption: that barring it would create an unregulated black market.

The known health risks outweigh that risk. As reported by the FDA, Black smokers are the primary market for menthol cigarettes. It said that 85% of Black smokers use menthol cigarettes, compared with 30% of white smokers.

The NAACP, in supporting the FDA’s action, noted that about 50,000 Black people die each year from diseases attributable to smoking, and that tobacco companies heavily market menthol products to Black communities.

According to the FDA, menthol cigarettes also are key to creating new smokers because the menthol serves its purpose of masking the smoke’s harshness in the throat.

The agency cited studies showing that barring menthol-flavored smokes will prevent between 324,000 and 654,000 deaths due to smoking-related diseases over 40 years.

The FDA is right to correct the original mistake. It’s wiser to allow tobacco’s taste to be as harsh as its health effects.

— The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre via TNS