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Congress weighs banning flavored cigarettes, but not menthols

FLINT, MICH. — Eighty years after a man named Lloyd "Spud" Hughes, as legend has it, accidentally mixed his tobacco with Menthol crystals, Congress is fighting over whether to ban these popular, flavored Cigarettes. Mentholated Cigarettes started out in the 1920s with such names as Spud, Listerine, the Original Eucalyptus smoke and Snowball. Today they're sold as Newport, Kool and Marlboro Menthol, the smokes of choice among the black community. And critics charge they are products designed specifically to lure African-American young people into a lifetime of tobacco use. While a growing number of states and cities have moved in recent years to ban smoking in workplaces, restaurants and entertainment sites, and Congress is moving toward a ban on flavored Cigarettes, the issue of what, if anything, should be done about Menthols has proved complicated for political Washington - and for smokers. Billy Perry, of Chicago, said he's been smoking Newports for 30 years. "It has a better taste and less of the effects of harshness," Perry said. A ban, though, looks like a political step too far for Congress. The House last month approved a measure that would authorize the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products and to ban flavored additives. Menthol flavoring, however, was exempted in the bill. The bill passed the House last month by a wide margin - 326 to 102 - but the Menthol exemption was part of the negotiations to get enough votes to pass the bill. Some House members wanted to protect tobacco farmers, and others objected to the government having any role in the regulation of tobacco. One tobacco company, Philip Morris USA, agreed to support the measure but only with the Menthol exemption. Menthol critics point to studies that claim young blacks have been targeted by marketing programs of cigarette manufacturers. Tobacco companies have forcefully denied targeting young people and are lobbying against any ban on Menthols, which comprise about a quarter of all cigarette sales. Studies report that nearly three out of four black smokers prefer Menthol brands, compared with three of 10 white smokers, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.