Fast-forward to this week, when the Biden Administration announced its desire to ban menthol cigarettes in the United States, with the intention to help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers, and address health disparities experienced by communities of color, low-income populations, and LGBTQ+ individuals, all of whom are far more likely to use these tobacco products. The proposal is not new, and in fact has been kicked around Washington DC for years, provoking much harsh reaction from a wide coterie of groups, including the Council on Racial Equality (CORE), the National Black Chamber of Commerce, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and numerous police organizations all of whom see this move as potentially creating more harm than good within African-American communities
But adults -- at least those over 25, whose brains have largely completed development -- are more adept at weighing costs and benefits in the distant future, said the Institute of Medicine report
Additionally, preferences for cigarette brands are subjective, and individual tastes may differ
+ What are cigarette pants and what makes them special
