Regulating chemicals one-by-one has allowed the tobacco industry to skirt menthol bans by creating new additives with similar effects but unclear safety profiles.
That the tobacco industry can readily do this speaks to a fatal flaw in how we regulate chemicals in this country—not by what the concern or intended effect of a compound is, or what we know about related compounds, but chemical by chemical, final product by final product. However, no one wants to merely eliminate an individual chemical; we want to eliminate the underlying concerns that triggered regulations in the first place. That is, in the case of these cigarettes, stopping the “cooling” effect that makes smoking more pleasant regardless of the actual molecule that is providing the sensation. The status quo means that regulators are constantly chasing tiny tweaks and clever substitutions instead of regulating classes or, better, the properties that make the molecules concerning.
The full opinion piece can be found here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-tobacco-companies-use-chemistry-to-get-around-menthol-bans/