The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will propose a policy to ban menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars within a year, but declined to speculate on when the rule would be finalized.
The announcement came as the result of a lawsuit filed in 2020 by anti-smoking and medical groups arguing that officials “unreasonably delayed” answering a 2013 petition seeking a menthol ban and follows previous actions that banned other flavored cigarettes in 2009.
"Banning menthol — the last allowable flavor — in cigarettes and banning all flavors in cigars will help save lives," said acting FDA commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock, in a statement. "With these actions, FDA will help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers, and address health disparities experienced by communities of color, low-income populations, and LGBTQ+ individuals, all of whom are far more likely to use these tobacco products."
Mitch Zeller, the director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said FDA would only enforce a potential ban against manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers, and not against individual consumer possession or use of menthol cigarettes or any tobacco product. He also said the agency will work to keep the products off the market.
The ban will not, however, apply to e-cigarettes. The previous US administration banned flavored versions of e-cigarettes that use pods, but left menthol exempt.