An earlier national law —The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 — gave the U.S. Food and Drug Administration full authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products.
In addition, two organizations – Action of Smoking and Health and the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council — have banded together in a lawsuit against the FDA for failure to fulfill its mandate to remove menthol from the marketplace.
Massachusetts became the first state to restrict the retail sale of not only menthol but also all flavored tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars and chew.
Smoking of all flavored products – Including menthol – is now restricted to smoking bars for onsite consumption, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
The sale of non-flavored nicotine vaping products is restricted to licensed, adult-only retail smoke shops and smoking bars.
