Translation of a-t 2026; 56: 72

USA - tobacco lobby blocks ban on menthol cigarettes

The ban on menthol cigarettes announced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2022¹ resulted in more than 150,000 comments in just a few months.² This delayed the decision on the ban, which was justified by the Biden government due to the "historic attention" and the "immense amount of feedback".³ According to an analysis that has now been published and that was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the letters predominantly originated from cigarette providers:⁴ 97% of them were based on pre-formulated letters (without this being marked) of which 46% included content that came from specific cigarette manufacturers (particularly Reynolds [32%] and Altria Marlboro [12%]).² Almost all of them rejected the menthol ban, despite the particular risks of the coolant that have been known for decades, including increased nicotine intake and nicotine dependence, primarily in adolescents and young adults.^1,2 Through the planned ban, the FDA wanted to reduce the frequency of secondary diseases and death.¹ Since menthol cigarettes have been marketed for decades in the US, particularly to black people,⁵ as even having positive effects on health,⁶ they are still noticeably frequently smoked by African Americans, with a market share of a total of 36%.⁴ In Europe, menthol has been banned in cigarettes and smoking tobacco since 2020 (see a-t 2025; 56: 31-2), but not in e-cigarettes and liquids that contain nicotine. The strategies are similar: the German Association of the Tobacco Industry and New Products (BVTE) has announced extensive protests by consumers and retailers in the event of a possible ban. Like the tobacco industry, the business model of the providers of e-cigarettes containing nicotine is based on nicotine dependence, -Ed.

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