Association of Cigarette Sales With Comprehensive Menthol Flavor Ban in Massachusetts

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In April 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration announced its intention to ban menthol flavors from cigarettes and cigars.1 Before this announcement, Massachusetts was the only state to implement a statewide comprehensive flavor ban on tobacco products in June 2020.2 Evidence of the effectiveness of comprehensive flavor bans on cigarette sales and smoking remains inconclusive in the US; studies have found decreases in menthol and overall tobacco product sales3 and no changes in the intensity of smoking4 after San Francisco’s flavor ban. In addition, no study, to our knowledge, has quantified a potential switch to nonflavored tobacco after banning flavored tobacco products. We examined changes in menthol and nonflavored cigarette sales in Massachusetts compared with sales in states without a flavor ban.