FDA proposes rule to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars

The Food and Drug Administration announced its proposed rule on product standards to ban menthol flavoring in cigarettes and characterizing flavors in cigars that are not tobacco, the agency announced Thursday in a statement.

The Biden administration believes this action has the potential to "significantly reduce disease and death" from smoking by making it less likely that young people will want to experiment with smoking, which is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S. President Biden first announced the proposed ban a year ago. 

Menthol imparts a minty flavor to a range of consumer products, and in cigarettes and cigars, its use can make tobacco more appealing. The FDA noted in a fact sheet that it also "interacts with nicotine in the brain to enhance nicotine's addictive effects and makes it more difficult for people to quit smoking."