Will a New Study on Menthol Cigarettes’ Harm to Black Americans Finally Push the FDA to Act?

Tobacco researchers have known for decades that mentholated cigarettes do outsized harm to Black Americans. And now, a recent study from University of Michigan public health researchers David Mendez and Thuy Le bolsters that understanding. According to the study, there were 157,000 smoking-related premature deaths among Black Americans, and 1.5 million years of life lost, between 1980 and 2018. That’s 12 percent of the U.S. population shouldering 41 percent and 50 percent, respectively, of the total damage caused by menthols during that time frame. “What we’re trying to do is give ammunition to the FDA so they can make the most reasonable decision. The FDA can only act if they have scientific evidence,” said Mendez.

POSTED: Fri Oct 15, 2021

How Many Deaths Will New Cigarette Warnings Prevent?

Modeling by Rafael Meza, PhD, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues indicated that, depending on the degree to which the warnings discourage smoking initiation and prompt current users to quit, anywhere from 275,000 to 5.5 million deaths would be averted by the year 2100.

POSTED: Mon Sep 27, 2021

Menthol ban would save 650,000 lives in the next 40 years

Banning menthol flavors in cigarettes could reduce smoking by 15% by having smokers giving up tobacco products altogether or switching to e-cigarettes and other nicotine vaping products—avoiding 16,250 tobacco-related deaths per year by 2060, according to a new University of Michigan study. “This work is the culmination of a series of sequential projects aimed to assess the impact that a menthol ban could have on smoking, tobacco use and downstream health effects,” said Rafael Meza, one of the authors of the study and a professor of epidemiology at U-M’s School of Public Health. “Our findings show that a menthol ban could result in considerable health gains and highlight the urgency for final approval and implementation of the ban.” “Recent evidence finds that a menthol ban would likely increase smoking cessation, with more limited evidence of reducing smoking initiation and switching from smoking to other products like e-cigarettes,” said David Levy, professor of oncology at Georgetown University and lead author of the paper.

POSTED: Fri Sep 03, 2021

CAsToR e-Announcements (August 2021)

A bi-monthly e-newsletter featuring CAsToR highlights, publications, webinars, events, milestones, presentations, resources amd opportunities.

POSTED: Tue Aug 02, 2021