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With Vermont lawmakers poised to pass legislation this year banning flavored nicotine and vaping products, the tobacco industry is putting its energy and money into opposing just one aspect of the bill: a ban on menthol. Bracing for the legislation, tobacco companies have spent tens of thousands of dollars on lobbyists to prevent the forced removal of menthol cigarettes and e-cigarette products from the market. For months, Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Phil Scott have signaled they would support a ban on flavored e-cigarettes, which is already in place at the federal level and applies to all flavored vapes except menthol and tobacco.  

But in recent weeks, taking menthol cigarettes off the market has become a new priority for Democrats in Vermont, who say the products also get young people addicted to nicotine, and have been marketed to target minority communities.

Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, who chairs the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and is the lead sponsor of the legislation, said the “major pushback” she has received from the tobacco industry has focused on the menthol ban.

“It’s difficult for them to realize that something they’ve been advertising as better than regular cigarettes are not better than regular cigarettes,” she said of menthol products.

Since September, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, which also owns the vape brand Vuse, has spent nearly $40,000 on lobbyists in Vermont, according to disclosure forms. The tobacco giant Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris, which owns 35% share of the popular e-cigarette company Juul, has spent about $46,000 on lobbyists in the same period.

A person familiar with the tobacco industry’s lobbying strategy in Vermont, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, said the companies are focused on convincing lawmakers to remove the menthol ban from the bill.  

R.J. Reynolds has hired the lobbying firm MMR to represent it in Montpelier. Altria and the lobbying firm it has hired, William Shouldice & Associates, did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement, a representative for R.J. Reynolds said the company opposes the broader ban on flavored vape products and smokeless tobacco, in addition to the menthol ban. 

Kaelan Hollon, a spokesperson for the company, said that the bans “do not solve for youth vaping, and instead has the unintended consequences of creating an illicit market for menthol cigarettes while also removing vapor alternatives from the market for adult smokers.” 

She added that by “unfairly targeting” adults that smoke menthol cigarettes, the ban “exacerbates an already widespread and dangerous illicit market,” and that the prohibition would “fall disproportionately — and unfairly — on African American adults.” 

It is true that proportionally more black people smoke menthols, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which states “African American adults have the highest percentage of menthol cigarette use compared to other racial and ethnic groups.”

But proponents of the new legislation say the tobacco industry has targeted black people with menthol advertisements, and highlighted the practice at a press conference last week. 

During the event, Phil Gardiner, the co-chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council who has published research on menthol cigarette use, said menthol cigarettes are cheaper in poorer communities and marketed “specially” to African Americans.  

“Menthol cigarettes have disproportionately led to the untimely death of many African Americans,” he said. “They disproportionately use these products and they disproportionately die from them.” If Vermont banned menthol, it would become the second state to do so, following Massachusetts, where Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed the nation’s broadest flavored-nicotine ban into law in November. 

Last year, Vermont also took action to restrict vaping use, raising the age to purchase the products to 21, levying a 92% tax on the devices and nicotine “pods” and banning online sales of the products.  The tobacco industry spent $200,000 on lobbyists in 2019 — primarily to oppose the online ban and tax measures.  While the governor has signaled he would support banning flavored vaping products targeted at children, he has reservations about prohibiting menthol. 

Before Scott makes a decision on the bill, his spokesperson Rebecca Kelley said he would “want to ensure we’re not unintentionally doing more harm than good,” by taking products off the market that could help people quit smoking. 

“If menthol is something that may help with cessation, he’d want to ensure we’re not unintentionally doing more harm than good,” she wrote in an email. “The bottom line: he needs to learn more about the potential impact of a menthol ban.” 

Sen. Richard Westman, R-Lamoille, a member of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, which is working on the legislation, is opposed to taking menthol cigarettes off the market, but says he would still vote for the bill with that provision because he wants to move forward with the flavored vape ban.

But he said said he believes that most people using menthol cigarettes in Vermont are older, and that a ban would not achieve the legislation’s goal of preventing youth starting to use nicotine products. 

“It does cause me pause, the menthol cigarettes, because for the most part that’s about older people, and a lot of older people that have been addicted to tobacco products for a very long time,” Westman said.  He said he also opposed a provision in the bill that would make possession of menthol cigarettes punishable by a fine. Lyons said that while she is open to hearing more from the tobacco industry and its concerns with the proposal, at this point, she’s convinced that menthol products should be taken off the market.  

She believes that if Vermont bans flavored vapes, but doesn’t touch menthol products, there will be a “huge gravitation” towards the flavored cigarettes.  Rep. Jessica Brumsted, D-Shelburne, who is sponsoring companion legislation in the House that would also ban ban flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes, said she doubted the tobacco industry could convince her to take out the menthol ban.  he became supportive of prohibiting the products after learning of the tobacco industry’s marketing practices, and that for years the federal government has banned some flavored nicotine products, but always exempted menthol. 

“I don’t think I would compromise on it for them,” she said referring to the tobacco companies. 

“I think we have to come together and figure out, ‘How do we do this — how do we help people that need nicotine replacement,’” she said. “Not how do we not ban certain things that we know are hurting their health.” 

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