With the United Kingdom expecting to move forward with banning cigarette use within the next decade, and the American-based FDA also planning action, many experts have wondered what outcomes could suffice.
In a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan, they concluded that as many as 650,000 lives could be saved over the next few decades if a ban were to be implemented for menthol-flavored cigarettes.
The findings appeared in the journal Tobacco Control.
“Implementation of the ban will require evidence that it would improve public health,” said David Levy and his colleagues in their findings.
“This paper simulates the potential public health impact of a ban on menthol in cigarettes and cigars through its impacts on smoking initiation, smoking cessation and switching to nicotine vaping products.”
The study’s initial point involved the development of a menthol ban scenario occurring in 2021.
“We estimated the public health impact as the difference between smoking and vaping-attributable deaths and life-years lost in the status quo scenario and the menthol ban scenario from 2021 to 2060,” the authors explained in their findings.
All in all, a decline of about 15 percent in the total rate of smoking was predicted as a result of the menthol ban scenario occurring from 2021 to 2060.
“Our findings strongly support the implementation of a ban on menthol in cigarettes and cigars,” the authors concluded.
