Mass. Takes Aim at Flavored Cigarettes

The state’s public health commissioner called on major tobacco companies on Thursday to stop selling flavored cigarettes in Massachusetts, saying they may lure young people to smoke.

The state’s public health commissioner called on major tobacco companies on Thursday to stop selling flavored cigarettes in Massachusetts, saying they may lure young people to smoke. Commissioner Christine Ferguson said the sale of flavored cigarettes, which have names like “Midnight Berry” and “Mocha Taboo,” violates a 1998 agreement by the industry not to target their products to youth. Public health officials said the cigarettes are “candy-flavored.” Tobacco company officials rejected that term and said the cigarettes are simply “flavored” products meant for adults. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. spokesman Mark Smith said the industry had been adding flavors just as the coffee and liquor industry have to their products in recent years. “Adults want flavors. That’s the key point,” Smith said. Tobacco company officials said Massachusetts is the first state to complain about flavored cigarettes. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on Thursday introduced a tobacco regulation bill that includes a ban on flavored cigarettes, a spokesman said. Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, chairman of the tobacco committee of the National Association of Attorneys General, said the group would take a serious look at the issue.(Source: Guardian Health News, May 2004)