ACSH’s Jeff Stier testified today at the Food and Drug Administration's Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC), which began meeting yesterday in Gaithersburg, Md. At the conference, TPSAC is discussing the possibility of proscribing the use of menthol in cigarettes. His testimony was based on ACSH’s position paper on mentholated cigarettes.
“Tobacco companies have provided a vigorous defense against the argument that menthol is an important factor in inducing young people to initiate smoking, or that it impedes cessation. But both sides are equally guilty of cherry picking certain studies to make their case — honing in on technical data analysis that has been inconclusive,” observes Stier.
He adds, “The real issue is how do we lower the toll of cigarette-related disease and death? Conflicting data on menthol certainly does not put this high up on the list.”
At the meeting, the tobacco companies presented a study demonstrating that mentholated cigarettes may confer on African-Americans a statistically insignificant protective effect against lung cancer. Stier facetiously quips, “Given this information, and other vague standards, maybe the FDA should require that menthol be added to cigarettes. That is, if the panel is actually planning to do what FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg advises — go where the science takes them.”
Stier suggests that, if the FDA panel really wants to do something useful, instead of spending days and days on menthol, they should figure out how to use snus or e-cigarettes to help addicted smokers quit.