How Young People Are Fighting Mint-Flavored Cigarettes With #MyBigRegret

By Ebony Bellamy

What comes to mind when you think about 2011? Do you think about how we were blessed with Adeles Rolling in the Deep and were gifted with the comedic gold of Bridesmaids? 2011 may be filled with fun and adventurous memories for you, but for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) it represents a missed opportunity to make a lifesaving decision.

Mint-flavored cigarettes (also known as menthols) are not only easier to start but are more addictive and harder to quit. With every other flavored cigarette being banned years ago because of how they appealed to young, first-time smokers (their flavor masks the harshness of the smoke), menthols should have gotten the boot too. The FDA missed the opportunity to ban menthols in 2011, so lets call on them to right their regret and ban menthols NOW.

Thanks to DoSomething.org , which has teamed up with truth to create the #MyBigRegret campaign, you can join thousands of young people who are calling on the FDA to ban menthols. Through the campaign, DoSomething members tweet about their big regret since 2011 using #MyBigRegret while also asking the FDA about theirs.

Along with the tweet, members are urging their friends to sign a petition telling the FDA to ban menthols.

If menthols had been banned in 2011, we could have avoided 320,000 smoking-attributable deaths by 2050.

Beyond that, menthols cigarettes are promoted more aggressively in low-income communities, minority communities, and communities with more children.

When we all come together to voice our opinions, change can be made even with a simple tweet. So, lets Do Something!

Tweet #MyBigRegret since 2011 is ________. Hey @FDATobacco, whats yours? and include a photo of your regret if you have one. Then take a screenshot of your tweet and upload it to DoSomething.org . Your tweet will inspire others to join the movement and give you the chance to win a $5,000 scholarship.

Ebony Bellamy is the writing intern at DoSomething.org. She graduated with a bachelors degree in magazine journalism and hopes to get her masters degree in social or environmental journalism next year.