By Janelle Chavez | Associated Press
More than half of US adults support ending the sale of all tobacco products, according to a new study led by researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and nearly two-thirds said they support banning menthol cigarette sales.
The poll, published Thursday in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, included 6,455 US adults surveyed in 2021 — before the US Food and Drug Administration proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
Although cigarette smoking has declined in recent decades, it remains the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in the US, where an estimated 30.8 million adults currently smoke.
Support for proposals to ban tobacco sales was lower among current tobacco users, according to the survey. More than a third of current smokers supported banning menthol cigarette sales, and more than a quarter supported banning all tobacco sales.
The FDA is still considering its proposed ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
“The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement when the proposal was announced. “Additionally, the proposed rules represent an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities.”
In the new study, researchers reported widespread support for a menthol ban across demographic groups.
“Our findings are generally consistent with previous research showing support for menthol cigarette sales prohibitions, including among population groups historically targeted by unjust marketing practices and with a high prevalence of menthol cigarette use (eg, non-Hispanic Black adults),” they wrote in the study.
Experts say menthol — the last flavor allowed in cigarettes — makes smoking easier to start and harder to quit. The additive can mask the…
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