Heads Up: The UK Is Banning Menthol Cigarettes in Two Weeks

From the 20th of May, 2020, all menthol cigarettes and flavoured rolling tobacco, along with “skinny cigarettes”, will be banned in the UK. Following the ban on ten-packs of menthol cigarettes in 2017 – a bid to deter young people from taking up smoking – a new EU Tobacco Product Directive law completely outlaws menthol cigarettes.

A spokesperson for the charity Action on Smoking and Health gave the Liverpool Echo a rundown of exactly what will be outlawed this month.

The new rules mean it will be illegal to “produce or supply a cigarette or hand rolling tobacco with: a filter, paper, package, capsule or other component containing flavourings, or a technical feature allowing the consumer to modify the smell, taste or smoke intensity of the product.”

The owner of a convenience store in south London tells me there are already plans in place for the ban to be set in motion: “Since [menthol tobacco products] will be completely illegal to sell, they’re going to send someone to pick up the leftover stock.”

Someone has, of course, launched a petition to stop the government from sending Vogues and Marlboro Touches to the cigarette graveyard, but they might be a little late. It looks handing an unsuspecting friend a menthol cigarette in a nightclub smoking area is set to become an actual crime, rather than just an ethical one.