U.S. ban on menthol cigarettes will lead greater than 1.3 million people who smoke to stop

A brand new examine tasks {that a} U.S. ban on menthol cigarettes, proposed by the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration, will lead greater than 1.3 million people who smoke to stop. Amongst them, Black people who smoke will see the best affect.

Researchers from the College of Waterloo led the examine, in collaboration with researchers from the College of Toronto and 7 U.S. universities. To make the projection, the staff evaluated the affect of Canada’s ban on menthol cigarettes, which got here into power nationally in 2017. They mixed information from the Worldwide Tobacco Management Coverage Analysis Challenge (ITC Challenge) and the Ontario Menthol Ban Research, which surveyed individuals earlier than and after the ban. People who smoke of menthol cigarettes in Canada stop smoking at a fee of twenty-two.3 per cent, in comparison with 15.0 per cent of non-menthol people who smoke. The distinction of seven.3 per cent is very statistically vital.

Our examine confirms that Canada’s menthol cigarette ban led to substantial public well being advantages. Smoking is the primary preventable explanation for dying and illness in Canada, america, and globally.”

Geoffrey T. Fong, professor of psychology and public well being sciences, College of Waterloo and lead writer of the examine

Fong can be senior investigator on the Ontario Institute for Most cancers Analysis and principal investigator of the ITC Challenge.

To estimate the affect of a U.S. ban on menthol cigarettes, the examine utilized the impact the Canadian ban had on quitting to U.S. statistics on menthol people who smoke. The examine projected {that a} U.S. ban on menthol cigarettes would result in a rise in quitting of 1,337,988 U.S. people who smoke. As a result of 80 per cent of Black people who smoke smoke menthols-;in comparison with about 35 per cent of U.S. people who smoke overall-;the affect of a menthol cigarette ban within the U.S. can be proportionately better for them. The projections are that 381,272 Black people who smoke would stop after a U.S. ban on menthols.

“These findings present the muse for the U.S. and different international locations contemplating menthol cigarette bans to estimate the potential affect of such bans on lowering smoking,” stated Michael O. Chaiton, scientist on the Centre for Habit and Psychological Well being, director of analysis on the Ontario Tobacco Analysis Unit, and principal investigator of the Ontario Menthol Ban Research.

For greater than a decade, public well being specialists, scientists, civil rights teams, and anti-tobacco organizations-;together with the World Well being Group-;have referred to as upon governments to ban menthol cigarettes. Along with Canada, greater than 30 different international locations have banned menthol cigarettes, together with all member states of the European Union.

Menthol is added to cigarettes as a result of it creates a cooling sensation that takes the sting off the harshness of cigarette smoke, making it simpler to begin smoking and facilitating habit, all the reason why public well being specialists have referred to as for a menthol ban.