This group of revelers is not letting the FDA get them down.
Have you tried to buy clove cigarettes lately? If so, then you know that stores no longer carry them. This is because clove cigarettes are now contraband — outlawed and banned (and now cooler than ever).
How did this happen? This past June, President Obama signed into law the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act” (the “Act”). This law gives the FDA broad authority to regulate the manufacture and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. It is the first time that the agency has been given power to regulate these items. Under the statute, the FDA can order the removal of ingredients it considers hazardous; minimize the impact of advertising on youth; improve warning labels; and prohibit the use of such characterizations as “light” or “low tar.”
The Act intends to limit tobacco companies’ ability to market their products to minors. So, the FDA banned candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes. To do this, most tobacco flavorings are now illegal — including grape, cherry, vanilla, and honey — because of their allure to kids. Unfortunately, clove is also included on this list. The flavor ban went into effect a few weeks ago.
This all sounds well-meaning.
But Siouxsie says, “Not so fast.” Here is the catch — the flavor ban covers only the smallest market of flavored cigarettes. Meanwhile, the ban gives mentholated cigarettes, the most popular flavored cigarette, a free pass.
This makes no sense. Let’s compare cloves and menthol smokes. With clove cigarettes (also known as kreteks) the marketing is straightforward. They are black and sooty looking. They might as well say “I’m a cancer stick.” The clove-smoking population is small and older. According to a WSJ article, clove smoking totals less than a tenth of 1% of U.S. cigarette consumption. The WSJ speculates Indonesian expatriates, world travelers, and aging body-pierces comprise this tiny population. Siouxsie would add to that list — Goths, college professors, and the hooligans pictured above. Clove cigarettes are not produced or manufactured here; they are imported from Indonesia.
Menthols, on the flip side, form a substantial part of revenue for U.S. tobacco companies. As reported by the WSJ, U.S. tobacco companies sell an estimated 90 billion menthol cigarettes each year. They are, by far, the most popular flavored cigarette; and are increasing in popularity among U.S. teens, with younger smokers likely to choose a menthol brand. And studies show that they are worse for you. Mentholated cigarettes are more addictive and harder to quit than non-mentholated cigarettes and have more adverse health effects than non-mentholated cigarettes. They also have a greater health impact on African-Americans (more than 75% of African-American smokers smoke mentholated cigarettes as compared with 23% of white smokers).
Here is how tobacco giant, RJ Reynolds describes the impact of its new menthol cigarettes on their overall sales during the recession:
Camel’s latest cigarette innovation Camel Crush has delivered consistently good results since its national introduction a year ago. Consumers like Crush because it gives them the choice of regular or menthol with each cigarette. In the third quarter, R. J. Reynolds expanded the use of its capsule technology to enhance Camel’s performance in the growing menthol category. This technology now gives Camels two core menthol styles a unique point of difference. It offers adult smokers the option of adding more menthol flavor to each cigarette at any time. Camel is the only brand to offer this choice. These types of innovations and the brands’ intensified focus have kept Camel cigarettes stable despite a tough environment.
Reynolds American Inc. Q.2 2009 Earnings Report (emphasis added by Siouxsie).
Menthols are the most important new market to big tobacco. And yet, Congress completely let the manufacturers of mentholated cigarettes off the hook. The WSJ states that Congress did so because they feared “bootlegging.” Bogus. This loophole in the ban makes no sense. Special interests win again. Congrats to Congress, you are effectively regulating tiny tobacco.
So what is to become of cloves. Tiny tobacco is continuing to fight for your right to smoke cloves. One importer of clove cigarettes is trying to get around the ban by selling small clove cigars (as a replacement for clove cigarettes). The FDA immediately responded to this move by what amounts to cease-and-desist warning to the importer. So now, the company seeks a “cigar-is-not-a-cigarette” declaratory judgment. If this fails, people speculate that Indonesia will file a complaint against the United States with the World Trade Organization. In Siouxsie’s opinion, these are long shots.
So for now, it looks like clove cigarettes have gone the way of the Batcave. Smoke ‘em if you ‘ve got ‘em.
