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"Dios ta amor... y amor ta Dios,
maske mi no ta na e mundo aki, tur
dia lo mi ta banda di boso Curazon, mi
por stens di loke Señor ta hasi"
Salmo 33
Cu dolor na nos curason, nos ta
anuncia fayecimento di nos ser stima:
Sr. Anthony P. Martinus
Mihor conoci “Nono”
*11-11-1965 - †21-04-2021
Acto di entiero lo wordo
anuncia despues
Laga tur loke ta spera mi ta bunita
Laga tur locual cu mi encontra na
caminda ta bunita
Laga tur locual cu mi laga atras keda
bunita y
Laga esakinan termina den tur buniteza.
Cado Wever.
Cu dolor na nos curason, nos ta anuncia
fayecimento di nos ser stima:
Sra. Maria Gonzalez-Jansen
Mihor conoci como “Shon Iya”
*18-12-1935 - †27-04-2021
Acto di entiero lo wordo anuncia
despues
obituario/u.s. news Diabierna 30 aPriL 2021
FDA revives federal effort to ban menthol
cigarettes
WASHINGTON (AP)
— U.S. health regulators
pledged again Thursday
to try to ban menthol ciga-
rettes, this time under pres-
sure from African American
groups to remove the mint
flavor popular among Black
smokers.
The Food and Drug Admin-
istration has attempted several
times to get rid of menthol but
faced pushback from Big Tobac-
co, members of Congress and
competing political interests in
both the Obama and Trump ad-
ministrations. Any menthol ban
will take years to implement ucts still on the market?" said But Black smokers are less like-
and will likely face legal chal- Carol McGruder of the Afri- ly to successfully quit, a trend
lenges from tobacco companies. can American Tobacco Control that the U.S. Surgeon General
Thursday's announcement Leadership Council. and others have attributed to
is the result of a lawsuit filed Her group sued along with Ac- menthol cigarettes.
by anti-smoking and medical tion on Smoking and Health,
groups last summer to force the the American Medical Associa- Menthol occurs naturally in
FDA to finally make a decision tion and the National Medical mint plants. Known for its cool-
on menthol, alleging that regu- Association, which represents ing effect, the chemical is used
lators had "unreasonably de- Black physicians. in cough drops and other medi-
layed" responding to a 2013 pe- cines. Cigarette makers be-
tition seeking to ban the flavor. For decades, companies focused gan adding the chemical in the
The deadline for the agency's menthol marketing and promo- 1920s after realizing it reduced
response was Thursday. The tions on Black communities, the throat hit of cigarettes.
FDA said it aims to introduce including sponsoring music fes-
the regulations banning the fla- tivals and neighborhood events. Past government efforts tar-
vor in the coming year. Company documents released geting menthol have faced op-
The action would also ban via 1990s litigation also show position from lawmakers from
menthol and fruity flavors from companies viewed menthol traditional tobacco states like
low-cost cigars, which are in- cigarettes as good "starter" prod- North Carolina, but also some
creasingly popular with young ucts because they were more members of the Congressional
people, especially Black teens. palatable for teenagers . Black Caucus, many who have
received campaign contribu-
"Taken together, these policies In the late 1990s, new restric- tions from cigarette makers.
will help save lives and improve tions banned cigarette advertis-
the public health of our coun- ing from billboards, public tran- Some caucus members warned
try as we confront the leading sit and most event sponsorships. that banning menthol would
cause of preventable disease and Companies shifted more pro- create an illegal market for
death," Mitch Zeller, the FDA's motions to retail locations like the products, subjecting Black
head of tobacco, said in a state- gas stations and convenience communities to increased law
ment.
stores, which researchers have enforcement.
shown are heavily concentrated
Menthol is the only cigarette in Black neighborhoods
But calls for action have been
flavor that was not banned un- growing and last year the House
der the 2009 law that gave the About a third of all cigarettes of Representatives voted to ban
FDA authority over tobacco sold in the U.S. are menthol the flavor with support from
products, an exemption negoti- and its elimination would be a the majority of Black members.
ated by industry lobbyists. The huge blow to tobacco compa- The bill stalled in the Repub-
act did, though, instruct the nies, including Altria and Reyn- lican-controlled Senate after
agency to continue to weigh olds American, maker of the Trump made clear he opposed
banning menthol. leading menthol brands, New- the measure.
The flavor's persistence has port and Kool. With the slow The FDA's attempts to get rid of
infuriated anti-smoking advo- decline of smoking, tobacco menthol have repeatedly been
cates, who point to research companies have been diversi- delayed or derailed by forces
that menthol's numbing effect fying into alternative products, inside and outside government.
masks the harshness of smok- including electronic cigarettes
ing, likely making it easier to and tobacco pouches. But those In 2011, an outside panel of
start and harder to quit. The ventures still account for a tiny FDA advisers recommended
mint-flavored cigarettes are slice of industry sales. banning menthol after con-
overwhelmingly used by young cluding that it increases smok-
people and minorities, particu- Smoking can cause cancer, ing among young people and
larly Black smokers, 85% of strokes and heart attacks and minorities and makes it harder
whom smoke menthols. That is blamed for 480,000 annual for them to quit. But cigarette
compares to about a third of deaths. About 14% of Ameri- makers challenged the findings
white smokers. cans smoke cigarettes, with in court, claiming some panel
"The science is there, the data rates roughly even between members had conflicts of inter-
is there, so why are these prod-
white and Black populations. est they hadn't disclosed.