By Ryan Gray
This May, a government ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes and filters will go into effect, in a bid to deter youngsters from picking up the harmful habit.
Although the government may see this as a step forward in the war on smoking, smokers across the country are not pleased about the proposal.
“I think it’s a little bit silly really,” said 28-year-old menthol smoker Max Edge.
“I don’t understand the need to ban certain aspects of smoking because some people like the taste of menthol because some people don’t like the normal taste of cigarettes so it kind of help.”
This ban is an attempt by the government to keep teenagers from picking up that first cigarette and never picking up another. Their rationale is that the prohibition on menthols is to show cigarettes as less appealing.
Supermarkets and local shops expect to see a decrease in cigarette sales overall thanks to the upcoming ban. “Because of working near a university and because of a lot of university students smoke menthols, sales will go down, but it doesn’t make any difference,” said 27-year-old shopkeeper Jay Patel.
“There will be alternatives; we have these new filters for rolling that have a mint click button in them, so it’s still the same thing,” continued Patel.
It isn’t just university students that will take the hit with the upcoming ban for their favourite flavour; seasoned professionals who regularly enjoy the new minty cigarettes are up to be stubbed out too.
“The people that enjoy the more minty cigarettes such as the triple clicks will really lose out, they are extra strong, and you can’t taste the tobacco,” Patel said.
Tobacco company Marlboro recently filed an appeal in the European Court of Justice over the ban of menthol products and skinny cigarettes, this was rejected.
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