Found this interesting blurb on the LA times website… I know a lot of people who will be super pissed off if they ban menthols, I mean.. that will start riots!

The story is here…

FDA bans cigarettes with fruit, candy or clove flavors
The move is meant to reduce the appeal of smoking to young people. The agency is also considering a ban on menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.
By Jerry Hirsch

September 22, 2009 | 4:26 p.m.
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The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday banned cigarettes with fruit, candy or clove flavors.

Authorized by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act enacted in June, the ban represents a national effort by the FDA to reduce an easy entry point for youth into smoking and tobacco addiction. Some cigarette makers favored and others opposed giving the FDA this new authority.

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in America, the government says.

The FDA also is considering bans on menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes.

“Almost 90% of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers. These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg. “The FDA will utilize regulatory authority to reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco products to enhance our nation’s public health.”

The FDA said studies have shown that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25.

jerry.hirsch@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times