Decades of tobacco industry documents show how the tobacco industry has deliberately targeted Black Americans with menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, as well as LGBTQ+ and limited-income communities. Menthol flavoring makes it easier to start smoking and harder to quit. Ensuring that more people smoke and fewer people quit means more money in Big Tobacco’s pockets.
ACS CAN urges the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implement a comprehensive and swift prohibition on menthol in cigarettes and all flavors in cigars. Additionally, ACS CAN will continue to advocate for the prohibition of all flavors in all tobacco products at all levels of government until they are no longer available to addict new consumers. Any flavored product left on the market will allow Big Tobacco to continue to target youth, communities of color, the LGBTQ+ community and others with its deadly products.
Do you live in a neighborhood where menthol products are highly marketed? We want to hear from you.
Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars Negatively Impact Public Health
The FDA and its tobacco products advisory committee have concluded that menthol poses additional risks as compared to cigarettes without menthol.
Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars' Impact on Health Disparities
High rates of menthol cigarette and cigar use are the result of deliberate actions by the tobacco industry to target certain populations.
It’s been more than a decade since FDA could have prohibited menthol in cigarettes. It’s past time to make it happen.
ACS CAN advocates for the prohibition of all flavors in all tobacco products at all levels of government until they are no longer available to addict new consumers.
Enforcement of Prohibiting Menthol in Cigarettes and Flavors in Cigars
Disparities in the enforcement of tobacco control laws exist because of the tobacco industry’s targeting of specific communities. Learn how public health organizations, the FDA and ACS CAN are responding to this issue.
Leaders and Partners in Prohibiting Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars
Learn more about how the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, the Center for Black Health & Equity and the National LGBT Cancer Network have led the fight against the marketing and sale of tobacco products in their communities.