Menthol Bans Will Spell Financial Hit to State Coffers
Back in March, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it was planning “to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and prohibit all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco) in cigars.” The proposal is rooted in the agency’s desire to “significantly reduce disease and death from the use of combusted tobacco products, the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., by reducing youth experimentation and addiction and increasing the number of smokers that quit.” While the desire to have fewer Americans smoke is a good public policy, a prohibition on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars could have significant health and financial ramifications beyond Washington, denying all 50 states access to an essential source of revenue. While public finances should never trump public health, policymakers must consider the full ramifications of their decisions before proceeding with any new rules. Failing to do so could create more intractable problems further…