Last week, I wrote about the large amount of political power held by the tobacco industry and how they use it as a means to achieve their goals. This week’s message will have a similar theme, however, the topic will be about one of the greatest tools used by the tobacco industry to create and foster addiction to tobacco. The weapon of choice, of course, is menthol-flavored tobacco products, such as menthol cigarettes.
So what makes a menthol cigarette so bad? Is it the mere fact that there is a minty flavor attached to the act of smoking?
Well, that’s a part of the reason. However, the much larger concern is what the minty flavor allows the smoker to do while smoking the cigarette. Due to the flavoring, it allows the smoker to drag (or puff) a cigarette for a longer period of time, allowing more inhalation to reach the lungs. Because the smoker is taking in a larger amount of tobacco while dragging, it strengthens the addiction to tobacco.
Naturally, it would appear that this particular cigarette additive is the proverbial cash cow for the tobacco industry. However, upon the inauguration of President Barack Obama, it appeared that there, perhaps, would be a new bill to place regulations on the tobacco industry while effectively banning flavored tobacco products. On June 22, 2009, this became reality, as President Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act of 2009. On the surface, it looked to be a huge win in the fight against tobacco use. However, upon looking closer, the gain is much more modest. While the bill effectively banned all flavored tobacco products, it did exempt one particular flavored tobacco product. This product is menthol tobacco. Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, during a CNN appearance on June 12, 2009, expressed this concern about the then-pending bill before Congress.“One additive that has particularly been exempted is menthol, and that bothers me, because it serves as a gateway to kids,” said Wigand. “It also has been targeted primarily to African-Americans. And we also know menthol changes the metabolism of nicotine.
”So, in essence, we have learned that the bill meant to curb the use of flavored tobacco products by the tobacco industry to create tobacco users out of youths and minorities excludes the single-largest flavored tobacco product marketed by the tobacco industry. Needless to say, there is something wrong with this picture.
Of course, this is not to say that the bill signed into law won’t be effective. Any piece of legislation that allows the FDA greater access to the tobacco companies should be considered a good thing. However, without banning the use of menthol, it’s simply impossible to take this particular bill seriously as something that will make a large dent in the tobacco industry’s use of flavored tobacco products.
The fact of the matter is it will take a long time to turn the tide on menthol cigarettes. There is a strong lobby for keeping menthol legal, something, which in turn, creates political pressure for those in Congress to exempt menthol. Nonetheless, the fight will continue to be waged, and perhaps there will be success in the future in eliminating menthol products.