Testimony before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health Regarding Repealing the Menthol Ban

07-14-2025 THR101 Testimony - S.1528 - Menthol Ban Repeal.pdf

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Chairs Driscoll and Decker, Vice-Chairs Cyr and Kerans, and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for your time today to discuss repealing the Commonwealth’s ban on menthol tobacco and vapor products. My name is Lindsey Stroud and I’m Creator and Manager of Tobacco Harm Reduction 101, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to research, education, and advocacy for safer alternatives to smoking.

While well-intentioned, Massachusetts’ menthol ban has failed to achieve its public health goals. It has disproportionately impacted low-income and lower-educated residents, driven tax revenue out of state, and had minimal effect on youth or young adult smoking rates—rates which were already in historic decline well before the ban took effect.

Key Points:

• The existing menthol ban disproportionately impacts lower income and lower educated persons.

• In 2023, adults earning $25,000 or less per year were 2.7 times more likely to smoke than adults earning $50,000 or more.

• Adults without a high school education were 5.5 times more likely to smoke than adults with a college degree.

• Data suggest that the 2020 flavor ban and tax increase may not have effectively contributed to the intended declines in smoking rates and may need reevaluation.

• Between 2020 and 2023, smoking rates declined more sharply in New Hampshire than in Massachusetts, with New Hampshire seeing a 25.2 percent reduction, compared to Massachusetts’ 11.7 percent decrease.

• Further, during the same period, Massachusetts’ tax revenue fell by 28.6 percent, while New Hampshire saw only a 6.5 percent decline.

• In three out of four states with current flavored tobacco and vape bans, smoking rates among young adults increased, while nationally, they decreased on average.

• Youth use of traditional tobacco and modern nicotine products is at record lows in Massachusetts and the United States.

• In 2023, only 3.4 percent of Massachusetts high school students reported past-month use of combustible cigarettes and 16 percent reported using e-cigarettes.

• Between 1993 and 2023, current use of cigarettes among Massachusetts high school students decreased by 90.5 percent.

• In 2024, among U.S. middle and high school students, 5.9 percent reported current e-cigarette use, 1.8 percent were using nicotine pouches, and 1.4 percent were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.

• Between 2019 and 2023, current e-cigarette use among U.S. youth declined by 70.5 percent while cigarette use dropped by 67.4 percent.

• Massachusetts’ flavor ban and tobacco tax increase has had mixed results.

• According to national survey data, the rate of e-cigarette use among Massachusetts high schoolers in 2023 (18.3%) was comparable to rates in neighboring states like Connecticut (11.5 percent), New Hampshire (16.7 percent), Rhode Island (16.5 percent), and Vermont (16.1 percent).

• The usage rates for combustible cigarettes among high school students in 2023 were also similar across the region, with Massachusetts at 3.4 percent, Connecticut at 3 percent, New Hampshire at 3.9 percent, and Rhode Island at 3.1 percent.

• Smoking rates among young adults aged 18 to 24 in Massachusetts are at an all-time low, with only 3.6 percent currently smoking in 2023 – an 81.7 percent decrease from 2013.

• E-cigarette use among young adults has also declined, dropping from 16.3 percent in 2022 to 14 percent in 2023.

• In 2023, Massachusetts collected an estimated $598 million in cigarette monies, yet allocated only $6.1 million (1 percent) on programs to reduce youth use and help adults quit smoking.