Voice your Support for FDA's Proposed Rules on Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars!

We have a tremendous opportunity to save lives and reduce the toll of tobacco on the health of millions of people. Please tell FDA that you support the menthol cigarettes and flavored cigar rules.

On Thursday, April 28, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced two proposed rules, one to remove all menthol cigarettes and another to remove all flavored cigars from the marketplace. We have less than 2 months to tell FDA that you support these lifesaving rules.

Removing menthol cigarettes and many flavored cigars from the marketplace will prevent many youth from starting to smoke as well as prompt millions to quit smoking for good, especially Black Americans. These rules have the potential to save millions of lives.

Please take a moment to personalize your comments and share why removing menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars from the marketplace is important to you. This will make your comments even more powerful and compelling.

Thank you for taking action!

Recipients

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D.

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Voice your Support for FDA's Proposed Rules on Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars!

Dear [Decision Maker],

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I am writing today in strong support of the two proposed rules [Docket Nos FDA-2021-N-1309 and 1349] and urge you to move ahead with finalizing them and end the sale of both menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. I urge the FDA to act quickly to finalize these lifesaving rules by the end of the year. I also ask FDA not to create any loopholes or exemptions for any menthol cigarette or any cigar from the final rules.

Menthol cigarettes are often a gateway for kids to try smoking. Researchers have estimated that menthol cigarettes were responsible for 10 million more smokers and 378,000 additional smoking-related deaths between 1980-2018, or almost 10,000 deaths every year. Additional studies show hundreds of thousands of smokers who use menthol cigarettes would quit within the first two years of these products being removed from the marketplace, which would save lives and prevent youth from starting to smoke in the first place.

For decades, the tobacco industry has targeted Black Americans and other vulnerable communities with marketing for menthol cigarettes, a practice that continues today. This has resulted in 85% of Black adult smokers using menthol cigarettes, compared to just 29% of White smokers. Additionally, half of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community use menthol compared to 40% of heterosexuals. Black smokers are less likely than white smokers to successfully quit smoking. Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death among Black Americans, claiming 45,000 Black lives every year. Tobacco use is a major contributor to three of the leading causes of death among Black Americans  heart disease, cancer and stroke  and Black Americans die from these conditions at far higher rates than other Americans.

These rules will also result in significant healthcare cost savings. Currently, the United States spends more than $225 billion on smoking-related healthcare costs annually. For every smoker who quits because of these rules, it will result in at least $11,000 worth of savings in long-term health care costs. Additionally, for every youth who is prevented from smoking because of this rule, at least $21,000 in long-term health care costs will be saved.

There is a significant continuing toll on public health from menthol cigarettes. FDA has consistently maintained, since 2013, that prohibiting menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes would promote public health. Flavored cigars pose a similar risk to public health and health equity:  almost 6 out of 10 youth cigar smokers use flavored cigars and youth use of cigars among Black students is higher than their use of cigarettes.

Both these proposed rules should be finalized this year in order to protect youth and address tobacco related health disparities.

Sincerely.
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]