It’s the 21st century: isn’t it past time to ban menthol cigarette sales?

Mentholated cigarettes, introduced in the 1920s,1 were once marketed in ways that falsely implied they were healthier than other cigarettes, and these beliefs persist among some consumers even today.2 Advertising even suggested that menthol cigarettes had medicinal qualities, marking them the cigarette of choice when a smoker was ill. The cooling effects and minty flavour of menthol also masked the harshness of smoke and made cigarettes easier to inhale. As such, they were also seen by tobacco companies as useful ‘starter products’ for beginning smokers, including youth. Menthol cigarette use today varies greatly by country and social demographics. In Australia, for example, menthol cigarette use has dropped greatly overall3 and now accounts for only a small portion of the market. In the Philippines, by contrast, the proportion of menthol smokers among all smokers has been estimated at 60%.4 In the USA, while …