The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is considering whether to ban menthol-flavored cigarettes. The agency first proposed a ban in 2022, but it has yet to finalize the proposal, prompting some activist groups to sue. (Query whether these groups have standing.)
The FDA and those groups calling for a ban on menthol cigarettes claim that this will benefit public health, but it's not clear the relevant medical research supports this claim, as it is not clear that such a ban will do much to reduce smoking rates or smoking initiation. This is particularly true as some relevant research assumes that users of menthol cigarettes would be able to switch to menthol (or other) flavored e-cigarettes. This is a problem as the FDA has refused to approve any non-tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes to date.
Over at Slate, Jacob Grier looks at the politics of a potential menthol ban, but also discusses the legal peril of the FDA relying upon such research to support a ban on menthol cigarettes.
