Cigarette smoking increases health  risks, including cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and cancer. Furthermore, studies have found that smoking bans in some states have shown a drop in physician services for linked diseases and smoking-related patient care needs.

But menthol cigarette smokers are buying into the misleading  conception that  tobacco companies use to market their brands, which claim that menthol cigarettes might benefit medicinally, according to an article in today’s Reuters.

Representatives of the Food and Drug Administration said, ‘Consistent with marketing claims, consumers hold beliefs about the medicinal benefits of menthol, and beliefs about other implicit health benefits, and that is especially the case among African Americans.’ ‘This prompted a public meeting by FDA advisers to determine what degree of action must be taken to handle the situation.

Reuter’s article added, that if the decision warrants a cut-back in production of menthol cigarettes, or if the product ends up being banned completely, Lorillard Inc., Reynolds American Inc.’s Reynolds Tobacco Co., and Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris, all names in the tobacco industry, will suffer greatly.