Banning flavored products would benefit public health

The Washington State Liquor Control Board’s proposed rules for implementing the new commercial marijuana marketplace in our state does not ban items attractive to youth including flavored marijuana. 

Meanwhile, the Food & Drug Administration is considering banning menthol flavored cigarettes.  According to a Washington Post story:

When Congress gave the FDA power to regulate tobacco in 2009, lawmakers banned candy-, fruit- and spice-flavored cigarettes, saying manufacturers had used such products to lure young smokers into addiction. But the law exempted menthol, instead instructing the FDA to study the issue to determine whether restricting or banning menthol would benefit public health.

In 2010, an FDA advisory panel made up of doctors, scientists and public-health experts convened to weigh that question. The next year, the group issued a 250-page report saying that menthol made it easier to get hooked and more difficult to quit smoking. The group concluded that “removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit the public health in the United States.”