{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]],"date-time":"2026-03-19T21:47:09Z","timestamp":1773956829753,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,19]],"date-time":"2022-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1671408000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000054","name":"National Cancer Institute","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000054","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009210","name":"Food and Drug Administration","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009210","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010628","name":"Center for Tobacco Products","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010628","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned characterizing flavors in cigarettes in 2009, this initial ban exempted menthol. After examining numerous reports on the adverse health effects of menthol cigarettes, the FDA proposed a menthol ban in April 2022. This study analyzed Twitter data to describe public reaction to this announcement.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Aims and Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Posts containing the word \u201cmenthol\u201d and\/or \u201c#menthol\u201d were collected from April 21, 2022 to May 5, 2022 from Twitter\u2019s Streaming Application Programming Interface (API). A random sampling procedure supplied 1041 tweets for analysis. Following an inductive approach to content analysis, posts were classified into one or more of 11 themes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Posts discussed the FDA announcement (n = 153, 14.7%), racial discrimination (n = 101, 9.7%), distrust in government (n = 67, 6.4%), inconsistencies between policies (n = 52, 5.0%), public health benefits (n = 42, 4%), freedom of choice (n = 22, 2.1%), and health equity (n = 21, 2.0%). Posts contained misinformation (n = 20, 1.9%), and discussed the potential for illicit markets (n = 18, 1.7%) and the need for cessation support (n = 4, 0.4%). 541 (52.0%) tweets did not fit into any of the prescribed themes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Twitter posts with the word \u201cmenthol\u201d commonly discussed distrust in government and mentioned racial discrimination. Findings demonstrated the possibility of near real-time Twitter monitoring of public opinion on a menthol ban. These data may be valuable for designing tobacco control health communication campaigns in the future.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Implications<\/jats:title><jats:p>The U.S. FDA proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes in April 2022. This study\u2019s content analyzed Twitter posts over a 2-week period to understand the public\u2019s response to the proposed menthol ban. Twitter posts with the word \u201cmenthol\u201d often discussed distrust in government and mentioned racial discrimination. Findings demonstrated the possibility of near real-time Twitter monitoring of public opinion of regulatory action. Findings underscore the need to educate the public about the potential health benefits of banning menthol from cigarettes, particularly for populations that experience tobacco-related health disparities.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/ntr\/ntac290","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,19]],"date-time":"2022-12-19T22:00:50Z","timestamp":1671487250000},"page":"962-966","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["An Analysis of Twitter Posts About the U.S. Food and Drug Administration\u2019s Menthol Ban"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9135-8689","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jon-Patrick","family":"Allem","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA , 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USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jennifer B","family":"Unger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA , USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"2023040612452315700_","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"ii49","DOI":"10.1136\/tc.2010.041947","article-title":"Menthol cigarettes and smoking cessation behaviour: a review of tobacco industry documents","volume":"20","author":"Anderson","year":"2011","journal-title":"Tob Control."},{"issue":"3","key":"2023040612452315700_","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"306","DOI":"10.1093\/ntr\/ntab086","article-title":"Sensory effects of nicotine and tobacco","volume":"24","author":"Carstens","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nicotine Tob 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