FDA Asks White House to Review Rules to End Sales of Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week sent two rules that will end the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars to the White House for a final regulatory review, CNN reports.

In April 2022, the FDA said it would move ahead with proposed product standard restrictions. The standards would prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and would prohibit all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco) in cigars. “These actions have the potential to significantly reduce disease and death from combusted tobacco product use, the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., by reducing youth experimentation and addiction, and increasing the number of smokers that quit,” the FDA said in a news release.

The FDA has now sent the rules to the White House Office of Management and Budget for final review. This is the last step before the rule becomes final.

“The science and data are clear. Ending the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars will save lives. It will also help reduce the unjust disparities in tobacco use caused by the tobacco companies targeting certain communities with menthol cigarettes,” American Lung Association’s President and CEO Harold Wimmer said in a statement this week.