Public Policy Resources

The undersigned public health, medical and professional organizations write in strong support of your recent announcement that FDA will issue a proposed rule to reduce the nicotine level in cigarettes to non-addictive or minimally addictive levels. Such a standard would generate massive public health benefits, preventing millions of young people from smoking and dramatically reducing the number of people who die from tobacco-caused diseases. We urge you to move forward with this proposal as quickly as possible.

The undersigned public health and medical organizations write to express our deep
concern regarding the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) failure to take enforcement
actions against new tobacco products, including youth-appealing flavored e-cigarettes, that have
received marketing denial orders (MDOs) yet remain on the market illegally. FDA’s lack of
action against these products, which the agency claims are among its highest enforcement
priorities, imperils the health of our nation’s youth.

The undersigned organizations write to express our concern that FDA has yet to issue any decisions on applications for marketing orders for menthol-flavored e-cigarettes or e-liquid products. We believe granting any such orders would be inconsistent with the agency’s marketing denial orders for other non-tobacco flavored products and would be harmful to public health, particularly to the health of young people.

The undersigned organizations write today to urge you to enforce the Congressionally-mandated deadlines for Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs) for synthetic nicotine products and not allow any delays of those deadlines.

The undersigned organizations write today to urge you to enforce the Congressionally-mandated deadlines for Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs) for synthetic nicotine products and not allow any delays of those deadlines.

High rates of menthol cigarette use is the result of deliberate actions by the tobacco industry to target certain populations. Decades of tobacco industry documents show how the tobacco industry targeted Black Americans, as well as LGBTQ+ and low-income communities with menthol cigarettes.

Cigars are tobacco wrapped in tobacco leaf or wrapped in a substance containing tobacco leaf. They can come in all shapes and sizes. One study found that the sales of cigarillos - which comprise most cigar sales - increased from 2016 to 2020 while their prices decreased. Lower prices can make tobacco products more attractive to youth because they are price sensitive. The study also found a significant increase in the sales of certain flavored cigarillos and large cigars.

Among adults who currently smoke cigars, those who used flavored products were more likely to be non-Hispanic Black individuals, younger, and have lower household incomes.

Flavors are a marketing ploy tobacco manufacturers use to target youth and young people to a lifetime of addiction. Adding flavors can improve the ease of use of a product by masking harsh effects, facilitating nicotine uptake, and increasing a product’s overall appeal.