Image via Flickr/Sarah JohnsonDual click cigarettes will also be banned.
Smokers who buy menthol cigarettes, menthol rollies and skinny cigarettes are being reminded that the products will be banned under new EU smoking laws due to come into effect in May, reports the Irish Sun.
The ban will also see the production of dual click cigarettes – such as Sterling Dual – that change from normal to menthol, stopped.
The products are being phased out as part of EU Tobacco Product Directive laws, which entered into force in May 19, 2014 and became applicable in EU countries on May 20, 2016.
This means that flavoured cigarettes will be banned from May 20, this year.
The new laws.
Chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), Deborah Arnott, told the Irish Sun the new laws mean “no person may produce or supply cigarettes or hand rolling tobacco with:
(a) a filter, paper, package, capsule or other component containing flavourings;
(b) a filter, paper or capsule containing tobacco or nicotine; or
(c) a technical feature allowing the consumer to modify the smell, taste, or smoke intensity of the product.”
According to ASH, the gradual phase-out was started to deter future generations from smoking.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Amanda Sandford, from the charity, said: "There is evidence that menthol cigarettes relax the airways and the flavour masks the harshness of the smoke, therefore younger people find it easier to smoke.
"However, it is an absolute myth that menthol cigarettes are better for you.
"All cigarettes are harmful and menthol cigarettes are just as dangerous as normal cigarettes."
