It's time to ban menthol cigarettes

Gov. Kathy Hochul proposes in her executive budget that the tax on a pack of cigarettes rise by $1 from its current $4.35. She's also seeking a more cutting-edge change — a statewide ban on the sale of menthol-flavored brands, considered more dangerous to their users.

The timing may be relevant. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed last year to prohibit menthol as what is called a “characterizing flavor” in cigarettes but that measure has yet to go through. Such menthol brands as Kool, Newport and Salem make smoking feel less harsh than with regular cigarettes, encouraging more frequent use. Plus, menthol interacts with nicotine in the brain to enhance its addictive effects, experts say.

The state’s proposed action would seem like a slam dunk for health, but some may see good cause to balk. “Prohibition doesn’t work, period,” Kent Sopris, the president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, has insisted. The association argues logically that a ban would drive many if not most users into an already-flourishing underground tobacco market — where taxes go unpaid. Illegal merchandise already undermines legitimate businesses and this is bound to add to the problem.

Another clear drawback is that banning menthol smokes would cost the state more than $200 million annually in sales taxes, officials acknowledge.

Overall, the regulation of potentially harmful products these days creates a confusing landscape. Cannabis sales are becoming legal. Some health activists want to ban all cigarette sales. Vaping is part of the conversation, too; the state already bars flavored nicotine vape products including menthol.

As in some other health debates, the menthol cigarette issue inevitably involves race. According to the last New York State survey numbers, 52% of all adult smokers smoke menthols but that number reaches a stark 86% among Blacks and 72% among Hispanics, consistent with national trends.

One could well see it this way: Hochul’s proposed ban would keep a product out of the legal reach of those with a dependence on them, selectively penalizing those smokers. But Hazel Dukes, president of the NAACP New York State Conference, sees it this way: “If we don’t act now, tobacco companies will stop at nothing to continue targeting communities of color — particularly Black youth — with these highly addictive, poisonous, and life-threatening products.”

That targeting is a decadeslong phenomenon. 

Banning menthol smokes isn’t a perfect solution — and authorities do need to confront and document the economic effects and better fight illegal sales of all kinds of goods. Perhaps a menthol ban is too hesitant a step; maybe the time has come to bar all cigarette sales. But for now, the prospect of saving lives — by forcing a good number of menthol smokers to finally face the unpleasant task of quitting — makes this ban too appealing to oppose.