If the Food and Drug Administration wanted to prevent people from picking up smoking, menthol cigarettes would be included in the ban on flavored tobacco.
On Tuesday, the sale of cigarettes flavored with anything other than menthol became illegal.
According to The New York Times, mentholated cigarettes are exempt partly because they are viewed as politically off-limits. Without lobbyists from companies such as Philip Morris USA, the legislation to allow FDA regulatory power over the tobacco industry might not have ever passed.
President Obama gave power to the FDA to control the tobacco industry in June, and this ban is the first visible sign of their new regulatory power.
The rationale for banning flavored cigarettes was that since they are less harsh tasting than full-flavored cigarettes, neophyte smokers would be more likely to pick them up.
However, one study from the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that cigarette companies have deliberately controlled the amount of menthol in their cigarettes to provide a milder experience for first-time smokers.
Another study by the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program describes menthol cigarettes as having a "mint-like flavor that lessens the impact of tobacco's perceived harsh taste."
Sounds like menthol cigarettes are flavored and marketed toward new smokers.
If the FDA was serious about preventing people from smoking, it would not make itself beholden to tobacco lobbyists worried about revenue losses and count menthol cigarettes as flavored.
