Will Saskatchewan Ban Sale of Menthol Cigarettes?

 “Out of 15 to 19 year olds in Saskatchewan, 20 per cent smoke,” said Saskatchewan Lung Association health promotion vice-president Jennifer Miller.

That’s one of the highest smoking rates among youth in the country.

“If we look at the last three years the Canadian numbers have gone down about three per cent but in Saskatchewan we’ve only gone down just over one per cent,” said Miller.

Sunday marked World No Tobacco Day and the day Alberta became the latest province to take menthol tobacco products off the shelves, snuffing them out at the end of September. This comes as most flavoured tobacco products are also being pulled.

“The most important thing is that we help protect the health of Albertans and particular our youth, the research was really clear that this step needed to be taken to do so,” said Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman in Edmonton on Sunday.

“There’s a misperception that youth don’t use menthol products but what we know is that it’s actually the flavour of choice for youth,” said Miller.

Nova Scotia set the bar removing flavoured tobacco and menthol Sunday. Other provinces are moving in that same direction.

The Saskatchewan Lung Association feels the Saskatchewan government should also ‘butt out.’

“We don’t have to open up legislation for this … it’s a simple regulation, they have the regulatory authority to make this change and they need to step up, we’re really being tired of being the last province to be doing this,” said Miller.

The provincial government says it is committed to reducing tobacco use in Saskatchewan, especially when it comes to youth and is working on a provincial reduction strategy. It’s also monitoring Health Canada’s approach to the federal government’s Tobacco Control Act.

A bill was passed in Manitoba Monday to regulate electronic cigarettes and in Quebec, three tobacco companies have been ordered to pay $15 billion in damages an historic class action lawsuit.

Should Feds Ban Menthol-Flavoured Tobacco?

As the federal government tries to crack down on flavoured-tobacco products, including little cigars, ostensibly targeted to youth, there’s an ongoing tug-of-war over the menthol equivalent. Back in 2010, Ottawa banned flavours said to appeal to teens, such as cherry and grape, from tobacco products that weigh less than 1.4 grams. But that didn’t change much: according to Health Canada, the industry got around the ban, in part by simply selling larger cherry- and grape-flavoured products.

Ottawa moved to close that loophole and introduced rules last month. If they’re adopted by the summer, all larger fruity-flavoured tobacco products will be verboten. But neither ban includes menthol cigarettes. And even though youth smoking rates are at a record low 7 per cent, anti-smoking advocate Les Hagen says excluding menthol is still a mistake.

Hagen points to a study from the Propel institute for Population Health that found a third of all Canadian teens have tried menthol in the last 30 days.

“This information has come out within the last few years, but unfortunately it’s not getting the attention it deserves,” Hagen said. “If the goal of this legislation is to discourage young people from using tobacco products – it should start with a ban on menthol.” That data convinced Ontario’s Associate Minister of Health to include a ban on menthol in that province’s legislation.

“The evidence shows that those who smoke menthol cigarettes tend to smoke more and that it’s harder to give up smoking if you’re a menthol smoker,” Associate Minister of Health Dipika Damerla said But Alex Scholten, President of the Canadian Convenience Stores Association, says the data is being cherry-picked.

“The Propel studies show that in 2010 – 2011, 5% of students in grades 10-12 had smoked a menthol product in the last 30 days. In 2012-2013, the Propel studies showed this number had actually gone down to 4%,” Scholten said, adding “No one is focusing on that – instead they are pushing for outright bans which are not justified by the downward trending rates of youth tobacco consumption.”

Scholten says the effects of a ban are overstated, especially retailers are already legally required to ask for ID and keep cigarettes behind display bins. Banning a particular product “takes it out of that controlled environment and puts it into contraband circles, where you’re not going to see age-testing, taxation’s not going to be done … the product is not sold behind display bins – it’s sold in smoke shacks or on the street by criminal organizations,” Scholten said.

Scholten points to RCMP data showing an increase of nearly 800 per cent in contraband mini-cigar seizures after the federal government first banned them in 2009. Health Canada said it couldn’t comment on the industry’s claims, but did say it sees a need for the new rules around flavoured tobacco.

FDA Will Ban Menthol Cigarettes

African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council used the World No Tobacco Day (May 31) to ask FDA to ban menthol cigarettes as they encourage more African Americans to smoke cigarettes.

As you probably know, menthol is a substance obtained from peppermint or oils.
Besides this, the Council made up a petition and calls people to sign it. The petition was presented to FDA in April.

Council representatives say menthol cigarettes have a harsh taste and it attracts more people to smoking them. Beginners and youth choose menthol cigarettes for their first smoking experiences. 

Statistics shows that 19.4% of black people smoke and among them 82.6% prefer menthol cigarettes. Smokers can inhale menthol cigarettes longer than other cigarettes and this may cause lung diseases.

In the USA, in 2009, the FDA banned such cigarettes flavors as grape, strawberry, vanilla, orange, coffee and cinnamon in the course of the programm Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, but menthol cigarettes were not banned. To say, In Brazil menthol cigarettes were banned.

Council representatives claim manufacturers use special marketing tricks to attract African Americans and to make them buy menthol cigarettes. Thus they use more menthol cigarettes ads in black communities. These ads are larger and are placed close to schools. Besides this, in black communities menthol cigarettes are cheaper, experts say.

In 2002 there was made a research called "The African Americanization of menthol cigarette use in the United States," and it showed that tobacco industry has successfully promoted the idea that menthol cigarettes are safe. The idea was especially promoted among African Americans. Moreover, tobacco companies donated money to different organizations to encourage groups to support them. On the market there are numerous brands producing menthol cigarettes.

Experts say that the number of people smoking menthol cigarettes is increasing.