U.S. health regulators trying to ban menthol cigarettes again

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators are going to try again to ban menthol cigarettes. This time the Food and Drug Administration is under pressure from African American groups to remove the mint flavor, which is popular among Black smokers. The move announced Thursday comes in response to new legal pressure from African American health groups. Menthol cigarettes are mainly used by Black Americans and research has shown the numbing effect of menthol makes it harder for smokers to quit. Menthol is the only cigarette flavor that wasn’t banned more than a decade ago. Government efforts to prohibit the flavor since then have faced pushback from the tobacco industry and some members of Congress.