Wine Country Times

A state assemblymember from Sonoma County, who is a long-time advocate of banning flavored cigarettes, praised an announcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to do just that last week.

California Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa) said he was "glad" the FDA "took a monumental step to ban the last allowable flavor – #menthol," in a post to his Twitter account on April 29. The Twitter post came the same day as the FDA's announcement.

"#BigTobacco has used it for decades to prey on and hook people, especially youth and communities of color. Just wish it had included menthol in e-cigarettes," Wood said.

In a separate news release, Wood referred to the FDA specifically stating that certain populations in the U.S., including African Americans, have been targeted and disproportionately impacted by the use of tobacco, particularly through flavored cigarettes.

Wood also referred to his long time fight against tobacco use in general and voiced disappointment over what the FDA left out of its statement, e-cigarettes.

"I have been fighting against tobacco use for decades, first as a dentist who has seen the ravages of tobacco use and also as a legislator and chair of the Assembly Health Committee, where I have been one of the leaders in the fight to pass California's bipartisan and overwhelmingly popular law to protect kids from getting hooked on candy- and menthol-flavored tobacco products," Wood said in his news release. "I had hoped, though, that FDA would take a bolder step to ban menthol flavors for e-cigarettes because we all know e-cigarettes are a huge starting point for our youth."

Wood's comments came after the FDA's statement.

"Banning menthol – the last allowable flavor – in cigarettes and banning all flavors in cigars will help save lives, particularly among those disproportionately affected by these deadly products," acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in the statement. "With these actions, the FDA will help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers, and address health disparities experienced by communities of color, low-income populations, and LGBTQ+ individuals, all of whom are far more likely to use these tobacco products. Together, these actions represent powerful, science-based approaches that will have an extraordinary public health impact. Armed with strong scientific evidence, and with full support from the Administration, we believe these actions will launch us on a trajectory toward ending tobacco-related disease and death in the U.S."

The FDA's statement came less than a year after passage of California Senate Bill 793 to ban flavored tobacco products in the state.

SB 793, written by now former Sen. Jerry Hill and supported by Wood, who remains chair of the Assembly Health Committee where the bill was parked for a time, was signed into law in August.