Nanny State PING!
Posted on 07/24/2013 5:14:52 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Federal regulators are looking at menthol cigarettes for possible new regulations, arguing that the products raise "critical" health concerns.
The Food and Drug Administration announced on Tuesday that it was beginning the process of regulating the variety of flavored cigarettes by gathering comments from the public.
“Menthol cigarettes raise critical public health questions,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg in a statement. “The FDA is committed to a science-based approach that addresses the public health issues raised by menthol cigarettes, and public input will help us make more informed decisions about how best to tackle this important issue moving forward.”
Among the scientific data that the FDA is releasing for the public to consider is an evaluation of the health effects of menthol versus regular cigarettes. That study found that the cigarettes could make it easier for people to begin smoking, which poses a greater risk.
“While there is little evidence to suggest that menthol cigarettes are more or less toxic or contribute to more disease risk to the user than nonmenthol cigarettes, adequate data suggest that menthol use is likely associated with increased smoking initiation by youth and young adults,” the report found. “Further, the data indicate that menthol in cigarettes is likely associated with greater addiction.”
The report concludes that the data “make it likely that menthol cigarettes pose a public health risk above that seen with nonmenthol cigarettes.”
Tuesday’s announcement reflects the FDA’s “commitment to explore all potential options,” said Mitch Zeller, head of the agency’s tobacco office.
Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, cheered the announcement as “an important next step in addressing the use of menthol in cigarettes.”
“I am pleased that the FDA is now taking this long overdue measure,” he said in a statement. ”I urge its leadership to act swiftly to make a science-based decision on this critical public health concern.”
The FDA was given authority to regulate cigarettes by a 2009 law that ordered it to study the effect of menthol cigarettes.
Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S., and about a quarter of all cigarettes sold in the country are menthols.
The public will have 60 days to comment on the agency’s notice.
Nanny State PING!
A homosexual lifestyle is much more unhealthy than a heterosexual lifestyle.
Why does not the government regulate it?
There are menthol condoms, and menthol “personal” lube — will they be regulated?
Yikes the man taking away a brothers smoke? That ain’t right!
/s?
More regulations = More Taxes.
Is it racist of me to say most black people who smoke menthol cigarettes choose KOOL? The other, Newport causes crystals to form in the lungs from the menthol. That added to the tar really kills the lungs. And them. And you.
Dang, you beat me to it! LOL
If they are taking a science based decision why are they asking the public what to do.
The public hasn’t got access to science’s answer.
Science is mostly guessing anyway
Science hated salt and loved Fish oil until last week.
Ping.
Never smoked the menthols, but it's pretty apparent to me that the feds want to just suck all the joy out of life.
I have gotten to the point that I really don't care what these autocrats do anymore. Pretty soon, they will run out of people who even care about their B.S.
why? toooo many fags in the government...
Something else to think about, these are not the
menthol cigs from years ago.
I heard some clerks talking about them and they use
some kind of capsule that is broken to release the
menthol, they had a name for them but I don’t recall
what it was.
I quit 35 years ago.
Never tried a newport, but I know people who have noted it’s a high brow cigarette. It just got marketed well to the black consumers who now buy it above just about any other brand.
Evidently, the Tobacco is of a better quality in a Newport. A few months ago, I could have told you more, but I don’t keep up with it anymore (because I’d probably want to smoke again).
I did have a cigar last weekend, and it was so nice, and yet, I felt bad about doing it. Too much peer pressure to forsake tobacco completely. They make me feel guilty for possibly taking myself away from them.
I still support folks smoking if they want. But I have better things planned to draw the land in sand about personal bad habits :)
I still love the smell of NC Tobacco curing. Wish I could bottle that smell!
Bet a whole lot of black folks are having second thoughts about voting for Obama now!
Kool! /sarc on
Do you have a current scientific study to back that claim up?
My “study” isn't scientific, but merely my own observation of other smokers brand choices, and what is being stocked and sold locally.
$3.74 a pack beats the over $6.00 single pack price for certain old, established menthol brands, such as KOOL and Newport.
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