Advocate calls for menthol cigarette ban

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- A U.S. health advocate argued the case for banning menthol tobacco products at a meeting of some 150 public health advocates in Washington Monday.

Cheryl G. Healton, head of the American Legacy Foundation, told 150 scientists and public health advocates the success of menthol cigarettes is no accident.

Many hundreds of tobacco industry documents conclusively establish that the tobacco industry has for decades systematically developed and marketed menthol products to attract "starter" and youth smokers, Healton said.

"Congress did ban a wide array of other flavors including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry and coffee, based on the common sense logic that flavored cigarettes make smoking more attractive to kids," Healton told the meeting.

However, menthol flavors are still permitted, Healton pointed out. Forty-seven percent of Hispanic smokers in high school usually smoke menthol cigarettes, while 76 percent of African-American smokers, 62 percent of Asian-American smokers and 29 percent of white smokers prefer menthol cigarettes.

Conference sponsors and supporters included the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Legacy Foundation, the American Lung Association, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.