On this day twelve months ago the sale of menthol cigarettes was finally outlawed.
It had been a long time coming but from May 20, 2020, it became illegal to manufacture or sell menthol-flavoured cigarettes in the UK or any EU member state.
Overnight a product that had accounted for 20 per cent of the legal cigarette market in the UK was prohibited with stiff penalties for those that flouted a regulation that had been introduced – without proper parliamentary scrutiny – via the EU's revised Tobacco Products Directive 2014.
The first anniversary of many tobacco-related regulations is usually greeted with incontrovertible 'evidence' of falling smoking rates, number of lives saved, and so on.
We're told how 'successful' the new law has been and how popular it is with the general public, even smokers themselves.
Fast forward to today, May 20, 2021. Try as I might I can't find a single mention of the anniversary of the ban anywhere. Nada, niets, zilch.
Knowing how quick ASH is to celebrate even the most tenuous measure of 'success' I can only conclude that the menthol ban has been a complete flop and rather than draw attention to it they have chosen to keep quiet.
To be fair hard evidence does seem difficult to come by but that's never stopped tobacco control in the past.
Anecdotally however it seems pretty clear that the overwhelming majority of smokers simply switched to non-flavoured cigarettes, with some purchasing flavour cards (perfectly legal) that allow consumers to infuse standard cigarettes with various flavours.
I'm told they work quite well which naturally infuriated ASH who now want the Government to ban them as well.
Other options include menthol-flavoured e-liquids, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, but there is no data (that I've seen) to indicate how many smokers have switched to these products.
All I know is, if there was even the slightest evidence that the ban on menthol cigarettes has succeeded in reducing smoking rates, tobacco control would be shouting it from the rooftops.
Instead ... tumbleweed.