Jump to full article: New York Times, 2008-08-14
Intro: When the House of Representatives passed a pioneering bill last month to give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products, one of the most contentious issues it faced was whether to also ban the use of menthol flavoring in cigarettes.
The House punted; its bill directed federal health officials to promptly assess the public health impact of mentholated cigarettes. With millions of Americans currently smoking menthol cigarettes, the question needs to be answered quickly. . . .
The Senate should follow the House's lead and give the F.D.A. regulatory control over tobacco. Then the F.D.A. should move as quickly as possible to determine the effects of menthol and what should be done to regulate or ban it. Americans need to know, once and for all, whether menthol makes cigarettes even deadlier.
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