Obama Should Direct FDA to Remove Menthol Cigarettes: Black Health Experts

A group of black health experts is asking President Obama to direct the Food and Drug Administration to remove all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, from the marketplace.

“We die disproportionately of cancer-related diseases. Part of what has taken place here is the use of menthol cigarettes,” Phillip Gardiner of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council said.

In a letter to the president, the group noted, “Flavored tobacco products (including e-cigarettes, little cigars, and cigarillos) are cheap, sold individually, and very popular especially among African American, Latino, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander youth.”

In July, the NAACP voted to support restricting the sale of menthol cigarettes, The New York Times reports.