FDA Panel: Menthol Cigarette Use Rising Among Teenagers

The use of menthol cigarettes is rising among adolescents and is "very high" among minority youth, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel said in partial draft report released Monday.

The Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet later this week to discuss menthol cigarettes. The panel is charged with writing a report to the FDA about the public health impact of menthol and could make a recommendation about whether menthol flavoring should be banned.

The report is due next week and the FDA has released some draft chapters of the report, but what's been released so far hasn't contained any recommendations about menthol.

Menthol cigarettes account for about 30% of total cigarette sales in the U.S. The issue is of major importance to Lorillard Inc. (LO) the maker of the leading menthol brand, Newport. The product accounts for roughly 90% of the company's sales.

The FDA was given the authority to regulate tobacco products in 2009. As part of the tobacco law, all tobacco flavorings except for menthol were banned on concerns the flavors entice children and adolescents to start smoking.

One question the FDA tobacco panel is weighing is whether menthol masks the harshness of tobacco and makes it easier to smoke cigarettes and harder to quit.

The tobacco industry has said there's no evidence that menthol in cigarettes makes it more likely people will start smoking compared to regular cigarettes.

-By Jennifer Corbett Dooren; Dow Jones Newswires, 202-862-9294; jennifer.corbett@dowjones.com

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