A Massachusetts court has given its judgment in favor of the family of Marie Evan, 8, who died from lung cancer. The case has been lost by Lorillard. The case got strengthened in the favor of Evans when documents were presented in the trial which exposed that Lorillard purposely marketed its Newport cigarettes to African Americans such as Evans when they were teenagers.

Court testimony has told that Lorillard gave out sample packs of its menthol-flavored cigarettes to teenagers in enclaves like Roxbury in Boston.

According to a recent FDA report, menthol-flavored cigarettes could be more addictive. The cause of its addiction is that menthol acts as an anti-irritant. And, also makes the cigarettes more appealing to kids.

Study published in Addiction has revealed that African Americans and young adults were the biggest menthol smokers. It has also claimed that menthol cigarettes are harder to give up, than non-menthols.

According to Dr. Cristine Delnevo, tobacco companies target minority populations when marketing menthols.

It is said that Big Tobacco would face a possible FDA ban of all menthol cigarettes. Though, makers of menthols have been arguing against the ban. But FDA’s own Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee failed to give guidelines on the proposed ban, as Tobacco Company has warned that a ban could lead to a black marketing of cigarettes.