cloves¹ became illegal in the United States on Tuesday under a new law aimed at cutting down on smoking, especially among children, officials said." width="282" border="0" src="/upimg/090927/4_054116_1.jpg" />
A woman smoking a cigarette. Cigarettes flavored with fruit, candy or cloves became illegal in the United States on Tuesday under a new law aimed at cutting down on smoking, especially among children, officials said.

Cigarettes flavored with fruit, candy or cloves became illegal in the United States on Tuesday under a new law aimed at cutting down on smoking, especially among children, officials said.

"These flavored cigarettes are a gateway² for many children and young adults to become regular smokers³," said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner⁴ Margaret Hamburg, announcing the ban.

The vast majority of adult smokers taking up the habit as teens, and are more attracted to flavored cigarettes and tobacco products than to unflavored ones, according to the FDA, which is also mulling over regulating menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes, the agency said.

According to the federal food and drug watchdog, studies have shown that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25.

"Flavored cigarettes attract and allure⁵ kids into lifetime addiction," said Assistant Secretary of Health Howard Koh in a statement.

"FDA's ban on these cigarettes will break that cycle for the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily," Koh said.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

美国相关机构于本周二颁布一项新令，规定将禁止生产和销售果味、糖味和丁香味的香烟，该举旨在减少人们的吸烟量，尤其是青少年吸烟。

宣布该禁令的美国食品和药物管理局局长玛格丽特•汉伯格说：“这些带味道的香烟让很多小孩和年轻人沦为烟民。”

据美国食品和药物管理局介绍，绝大多数成年吸烟者都是在青少年时期染上这一恶习，而且相比起那些没有味道的香烟和烟草产品，他们更喜欢有味道的。该机构称，他们还考虑控制薄荷味香烟和除香烟以外的带香味的烟草产品。

据该监管部门称，此前有研究显示，17岁的吸烟者吸食带香味的香烟的几率为25岁以上吸烟者的三倍。

美国卫生和公共服务部的卫生助理部长高京柱在一份声明中说：“带香味的香烟会引诱儿童上瘾。”

高京柱说：“食品和药物管理局颁布的有关这类香烟的禁令能打破这一循环，现在美国每天有3600多个年轻人开始吸烟。”

在美国，吸烟是造成可避免的死亡病例的第一大原因。

Vocabulary:

mull: to go over extensively in the mind; ponder 仔细考虑（I sat there and tried to mull things over in my mind. 我坐在那儿，尽量把事情仔细考虑一下。）