CDC Launches Anti-Smoking Campaign With Focus On Menthol Cigarettes Amid FDA’s Delay In Banning Them

Word In Black reports that the CDC launched a new anti-smoking ad campaign called “Tips from Former Smokers” in February. Notably, six of the seven new ads in the campaign focus on menthol cigarettes amidst ongoing delays in the FDA’s efforts to ban them. The ban could potentially prevent an estimated 300,000 to 650,000 smoking-related deaths over several decades, with a significant impact on Black Americans, who are disproportionately high consumers of menthol cigarettes. Despite the FDA gaining authority over tobacco products in 2009 and initially proposing rules against menthol cigarette sales in 2022, progress has been stymied by substantial lobbying from the tobacco industry and other government priorities. In the meantime, HHS introduced a framework to support smoking cessation and address related disparities while the menthol ban remains pending. View the full article, Menthol Killed a Generation of Black Smokers. It’s Still Not Banned on the Word in Black website.

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