health
Menthol cigarettes found to have major impact on premature deaths
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 30, 2011
Taking menthol cigarettes off the market could prevent up to 600,000 smoking-related premature deaths, a third of them among blacks, by 2050, says a study published online May 12 in the American Journal of Public Health.
Projections were based on a scenario in which 30% of menthol smokers quit smoking and 30% of people who would have chosen menthol cigarettes to start smoking didn't become smokers.
In light of the finding, several medical and health organizations are calling for the Food and Drug Administration to ban the product (link). The organizations include the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Assn.
A March 18 report by the FDA's Tobacco Product Scientific Advisory Committee recommended the agency ban menthol cigarettes, in part, because they have a higher risk of causing tobacco-related diseases and are more addictive than other cigarettes. The FDA is reviewing the report.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/05/30/hlbf0530.htm.
