Cigarettes containing flavors other than menthol can no longer be sold in the United States. However, tobacco products such as little cigars, cigarillos, chew and e-cigarettes are still sold in kid-friendly flavors such as bubble gum, strawberry and grape.

 Research shows that youth  28.4 percent of Minnesota  The tobacco industry knows believe high school students have that candy and fruit flavors products are less dangerous tried e-cigarettes, which appeal to kids.1 90 percent of and addictive than non- come in flavors like gummy addicted adult smokers flavored ones.1 bear and cotton candy. A started smoking in their majority who tried them— teens.8  Nicotine is highly addictive 60.1 percent—also use and harms adolescent brain other tobacco products.5  Once kids start using one development.2,3 tobacco product, they are  Over one-third of Minnesota likely to experiment 7  Cigar smoke contains the students have tried flavored with others. same toxins as cigarette cigars.6 smoke, and smokeless products cause oral,  U.S. high school students esophageal and pancreatic are twice as likely as adults cancers.4 to report smoking cigars, many of which are cheap and flavored.7 Research shows that the tobacco industry markets menthol products toward African Americans as well as toward many other communities and young people.9,10

The cool, minty flavor masks the harshness of tobacco. And adding menthol to products makes it harder for smokers to quit.11

 Adolescents smoke menthols at higher rates than  84.5 percent of adult African American smokers any other age group: smoke menthol cigarettes, compared to 26 percent of  44 percent of Minnesota teen smokers4 adult white smokers.13  83 percent of U.S. African American youth 12  African Americans are more likely to die of lung smokers 14 12 cancer than non-Latino whites.  70 percent of U.S. LGBTQ youth smokers  Banning menthol has the potential to reduce tobacco- related disparities, and could save as many as 633,000 lives by 2050.15

- Lorillard executive, talking about , a top-selling menthol brand16

1 Frank P. Kids' Drinks. http://www.foodproductdesign.com/articles/2000/01/kids-drinks.aspx Accessed Dec 5, 2014: Informa Exhibitions LLC; 2000. 2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Bidi use among urban youth– MA, March-April 1999. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1999. 3 US HHS The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress, A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014. 4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease (Abbd.) Atlanta: Office on Smoking or Health; 2010. 5 Minnesota Department of Health. Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey. November 2014. 6 Minnesota Department of Health. Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey. December 2011. 7 US DHHS, Food and Drug Administration. FDA Parental Advisory on Flavored Tobacco Products - What You Need To Know. 2013. 8 US HHS. Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings (Abbreviated); September 2011. 9 Yerger VB. Menthol's potential effects on nicotine dependence: A tobacco industry perspective. Tobacco Control. 2011;20(Suppl. 2):ii29-ii36. 10 Reynolds R. Project SCUM. December 12, 1995. 11 Okuyemi KS, et al. Relationship between menthol cigarettes (Abbreviated) Addiction. 2007;102:1979-1986. 12 National Youth Advocacy Coalition. Coming Out About Smoking: A Report From the National LGBTQ Young Adult Tobacco Project. 2010. 13 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration et al. The NSDUH Report: Recent Trends in Use. November 2011. 14 American Cancer Society, Inc. Cancer Facts & Figures 2010. 15 Levy DT, et. al. Modeling the future effects of a menthol ban on smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2011 Jul;101(7):1236-40. 16 August 30, 1978 Lorillard memo from Achey to CEO Curtis Judge about the "fantastic success" of Newport. Bates No. TINY0003062.

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