Menthol Cigarettes Increasingly Popular With Teens, Especially Minorities

By Lisa Richwine

Use of menthol cigarettes is rising among teenagers and "very high" for minority youth, government advisers said in part of a draft report released on Monday.

More than 80 percent of black adolescent smokers and more than half of Hispanic adolescent smokers use menthol cigarettes, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration said in a draft chapter for a report due next week. The FDA will use the report to help decide whether to ban or limit menthol, or mint-flavored, cigarettes.

Any curbs would be a severe blow to top menthol maker Lorillard Inc, which sells the Newport brand. Reynolds American Inc's R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co and Altria Group Inc's Philip Morris also sell menthol cigarettes.

Menthols account for nearly one-third of the $83 billion in annual U.S. cigarette sales, according Euromonitor International data.

"Menthol cigarette use is very high among minority youth," the draft from FDA advisers said. Among Asian-American middle-school smokers, more than half use menthol.

It also said the rise among adolescents in general was driven by a "significant increase in the number of white youth ages 12 to 17 who are smoking menthol cigarettes."

The FDA advisers are set to hold a public meeting on Thursday and Friday to discuss their findings. In previously released chapters, advisers said there was a lack of evidence to show menthol cigarettes expose smokers to higher risk of disease but that the flavoring might make cigarettes more addictive.

The complete report is due to go to the FDA by March 23. The FDA is not bound by the panel's recommendation and has no deadline to take any action.

Lorillard has filed a lawsuit to prevent the FDA from considering the panel's report in making any final decision on the cigarettes.

Lorillard shares fell 0.5 percent to $78.86, Reynolds shares fell 0.3 percent to $33.62 and Altria shares were down a penny at $25.04, all on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Susan Heavey, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[johnsopinion]

03:46 PM on 03/19/2011

This is getting very ugly. (Maddow missed this one)
This isn't about the cigarettes or anyone's health anymore, it's now transparently political.
I don't know who the Food and Drug Administration's advisers are (does anyone?), where their money comes from, whether they're lobbyists or in the pockets of the rich, but this new twist, just as Gov. Walker's intent wasn't 'balancing the budget' but union busting, this isn't about health.

Whether by ignorance, indifference of purposeful design, the underlying theme here is that 'You are not responsible for what happens to you, the tobacco companys or ____________ (fill in the blank) are responsible'. And so, since you are not responsible, these 'advisers' are going to help the Food and Drug Administration save you from them.

What isn't being revealed is what comes next.
The argument is: You are not responsible for what happens to you. Therefore we will help you.
And once 'you are not responsible' gains credence and respectability as a matter of policy, the next step is 'We helped you with the tobacco problem, therefore we will now make all of your important decisions for you. All you have to do is live, party and shop. Don't worry about anything else. We'll take care of you.'

Now why do you suppose anyone would want a country of sheep?

[unique]

12:16 PM on 03/19/2011

If you want to smell like an ashtray..............smoke.

[Iatros78]

09:55 PM on 03/18/2011

Middle school children = "replacement smokers" to tobacco corporations. 9 out of 10 smokers begin smoking before they are adults. In other words, smoking is a habit acquired in childhood. Big Tobacco has been keenly aware of this for decades. They target children for addiction to their lethal products. In a way, you could say that tobacco companies are America's most prominent pedophiles.

[AlxAlxdr]

05:11 PM on 03/18/2011

Of course the government is slow to pick up on things that are well known in America.

[DungBeetle]

05:00 PM on 03/16/2011

Menthol cigs popular with minorities? This is news to who?

[USCOASTGUARDVET]

04:03 AM on 03/16/2011

Bubble Gum flavored next.

[WarriorLemming]

03:30 AM on 03/16/2011

Can we shine a light on drinking and perhaps taxing liquor out of reach of poor and middleclass people in light of the success this has had with smokers, hmmm? And think of all the money to be made, too.

[tomteboda]

09:02 PM on 03/15/2011

Next thing you know they're going to demand that the awful tasting stuff in NoBite nail polish go on cigarettes.

[WarriorLemming]

03:32 AM on 03/16/2011

rofl, I'd learn to love that NoBite, haha f&f ;D

[onionboy]

03:40 PM on 03/15/2011

Are 8-tracks next?

[rikster]

08:31 PM on 03/15/2011

yeah..really....! such old news..

[ChaCubed]

09:41 PM on 03/15/2011

My thoughts exactly.