The menthol cigarette ban – could we have stopped it?

I'm not going to bang on much more about the menthol cigarette ban.

It's done, it's dusted. We can't do any more, as I explained in our four-page flyer, 'Menthol Cigarette Ban: What Consumers Need To Know' (right).

As well as a list of alternative products including e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, infusion cards and menthol cigarillos, the flyer explains what is now prohibited and what is legal in terms of menthol flavoured tobacco products.

In addition to the ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes, it is illegal to sell hand-rolled tobacco with menthol filters and papers in the same package. However, it is legal for hand-rolled tobacco and menthol filters and papers to be sold separately, even if they are purchased in the same transaction.

It's ridiculous but the aim is not merely to restrict choice. The intention is to inconvenience smokers in lots of small ways in the hope they will eventually give up.

Anticipating that Forest might be criticised by some smokers for 'allowing' it to happen, I also wrote a brief explanation of how the ban came about and what we did to oppose it.

To put this in perspective, on the day the smoking ban was introduced in England we received numerous phone calls and emails demanding to know what we were going to do about it.

All we could do was point out that we had fought a relatively high profile campaign against the smoking ban from 2004-2006 that included a national advertising campaign and polls in ten UK cities (all of which showed strong opposition to the ban). In addition to persistent lobbying of MPs, including a press conference in the Palace of Westminster itself, we also organised 'protest' events featuring the likes of David Hockney.

We also had a meeting with Labour health secretary John Reid following which he came up with a compromise that was included in the party's 2005 election manifesto – namely, a ban on smoking in enclosed public places with exemptions for private members' clubs and pubs that didn't serve food.

Subsequent measures – the display ban, plain packaging, the bans on ten packs and smaller pouches of rolling tobacco – went largely unremarked by smokers, but in the past few weeks I sensed some incomprehension if not resentment towards the menthol ban, so anticipating some kickback I wrote:

Why has this happened? Could anything have been done to stop the menthol cigarette ban?

The ban on menthol cigarettes was introduced as part of the European Union’s revised Tobacco Products Directive.

The Directive, introduced in May 2016, makes it an offence to manufacture or sell cigarettes with a ‘charactering flavour’ in any EU member state.

Other regulations included larger health warnings, bans on ten packs and smaller pouches of rolling tobacco. These were implemented by 20th May 2017 but the ban on menthol cigarettes was put back to May 2020.

When the Directive was passed by the European Parliament in 2014 the United Kingdom was still a member of the EU. Although the UK officially left the EU on 31st January 2020, the UK is bound by EU laws and Directives until 31st December 2020.

In reality, successive UK governments have tended to ‘gold plate’ EU legislation on tobacco control, often going further and more quickly than other EU member states with the exception of Ireland.

For example, comprehensive public smoking bans were introduced in the UK long before most EU member states followed suit. The tobacco display ban and plain packaging were also measures introduced by UK governments, not the European Union.

Forest led a campaign – which we called ‘No, Thank EU’ – against the more restrictive measures in the revised Tobacco Products Directive. In October 2013 we reported:

Thumbs down for Tobacco Products Directive

Proposals to ban menthol cigarettes, increase the size of health warnings and prohibit smaller packs of roll your own tobacco have received a firm thumbs down from thousands of consumers throughout the United Kingdom.

Ahead of the European Parliament vote on revisions to the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), the smokers’ group Forest has revealed that its No Thank EU campaign generated almost 45,000 letters to MPs and MEPs.

According to Forest 44,675 letters were emailed to politicians in Westminster and Brussels; 6,769 to MPs and 37,906 to UK MEPs.

Simon Clark, director of Forest, said: “The response to our campaign highlights how strongly people feel about these illiberal and potentially irresponsible measures.

“There is no evidence the Directive will reduce smoking rates among children and every chance it will encourage illicit trade. Meanwhile law-abiding adults will be prohibited from buying products they have purchased and enjoyed for many years.”

Clearly, our efforts were not enough, hence today's ban on menthol cigarettes, but I'm not sure what more a small UK-based lobby group could have done to stop this European Commission-driven initiative. Any ideas?!!

PS. Here's a piece I wrote for Politics.co.uk in July 2013 – The EU's insane mission to ban menthol cigarettes.

Update: Forest's response to the implementation of the menthol ban was picked up by the Press Association whose report has appeared on almost 300 local newspaper websites throughout the UK.

Here's one example – Sale of menthol cigarettes to be banned from Wednesday (The Press, York)

You can read our press release here – Menthol cigarette ban is a "gross restriction on consumer choice that will do nothing to stop children smoking".

Comments

[Pat Nurse]

I am of the view that we are too invisible. We need to make ourselves heard. Look at xtnction rebellion. A relatively small but very well seen and heard group of people.

I don't suggest we glue ourselves to trains or block highways, but I do think we hide too much in the background, we are often too polite, we roll over rather that fight for our rights, but we must do something to ensure we are seen and heard otherwise the hate group ASH and it's stooges talk for us and say the most dishonest and ridiculous things in our name.

Government has to understand that Forest is not an industry group but a consumer group and it speaks for us - not vaping tobacco controllers and not anti smoker tobacco controllers. Quit smokers are not smokers and they do not reflect the views of smokers.

How how can it be so hard for government to understand this.

[Frank J]

Aw, bless 'em. Worried about their funding? God's work can be expensive. Never mind, eh? They can always find new jobs like digging latrines.