Studies and Concepts Under Review

The FDA has requested comments  on  ”Tobacco Product Advertising and Promotion to Youth and Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations.

In response to this request,  

Mr. Zachary Ryan Morgan writes:

“The FDA has even been looking at banning flavored cigarettes, including menthols, but “Joshua Rising, a researcher for the FDA, found no casual link between smoking menthols and an earlier initiation of smoking.”

Roswell Cancer Center states:

“We find no evidence that those who self-report smoking a menthol cigarette brand have different quit rates than those who self-report smoking a non-menthol cigarette brand, after adjusting for other smoking and demographic factors.”

Where is the Beef?

CRE has a particular interest in studies dealing with an alleged relationship between menthol and smoking initiation and cessation.  CRE has  not examined the totality of the studies identified by the FDA.   A partial review to date suggests  that FDA should retract the list of studies submitted to TPSAC on the aforementioned subject areas  and re-submit only those studies which meet FDA internal quality requirements.

CRE has analyzed one such  study which serves as a fulcrum for FDA’s recommendations to TPSAC:  ” Are Menthol Cigarettes a Starter Prodcut for Youth?” conducted by Hersey et al.

The researchers suggest that menthol cigarettes are a starter product that may be associated with smoking uptake by youth.

 Editor’s Note  We have no knowledge of the particular document Mr. Morgan refers to regarding conclusions reached by Dr. Rising. However, we have extracted statements Dr. Rising made at the March 30 TPSAC meeting in the Rising attachment below which appears to substantiate Mr. Morgan’s conclusion.

Full text of comments are in the  attachments: