Fighting for Our Lives: Menthol Free Communities

: Yvonka Hall; April 30, 2021; Hits: 1216

Did you know that 9 out of 10 African Americans that smoke select mentholated products? It’s no wonder that the African American community is ground zero. On April 29th all of that could change. The Food and Drug Administration is moving towards a ban on menthol in cigarettes. This is in response to a citizen petition sent to the agency on April 12, 2013 asking them to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes.

The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium joined many leading national organizations to file the petition. One of the petitioners is The Center for Black Health & Equity formerly National African American Tobacco Prevention Network. The petition prohibiting the sale of menthol cigarettes is one of the most powerful steps the FDA can take to improve the health status of many Americans including African Americans. This decades-long historical push should and looks likely to culminate in the passage of a federal ban on all menthol cigarettes by the Biden administration.^[1]

Menthol helps to make the poison in nicotine more palatable thus attracting new and younger smokers into a world of toxins that are easy to start and hard to quit. Tobacco use remains one of the leading causes of preventable death in the US and the link between smoking and COVID-19 can’t be ignored.

The time is now to help save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans that are addicted to menthol and flavored products. According to a leading economic model, one-third of the lives saved by eliminating menthol cigarettes and causing menthol smokers to quit will be African American.

This is a public health crisis that can’t be put on the backburner with the hopes that it will just go away. How many other lives need to be lost before we realize that we hold the key to unlock a future for so many that are trying to escape the ravaging reality of addiction? Smoking is so easy to start and so hard to quit.

This is a civil rights issue that is significant considering the marketing and targeting of the urban community. There is no mistaking the demand for action to ban a product that is historically linked to the enslavement of African Americans and is now linked to premature death. The Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition is leading efforts to make Cleveland a menthol free community, but the FDA has the authority to make our work so much easier.

With the banning of mentholated and flavored products we can concentrate our efforts on making sure that individuals are able to get the treatment and education they need to live longer and healthier lives. As the daughter and granddaughter of smokers, I know first-hand the impact of smoking. My grandfather started smoking when he was 12 years old; his lifetime addiction to cigarettes led to his early death. His dying request was that we not pick up the habit. I was so saddened when my own son started sneaking cigarettes as a teen, becoming hooked and spending years fighting the demons of addiction. At 23 years of age, he is now free from cigarettes. It was hard; he started and stopped so many times, but he was determined to set a great example for his young sons.

We also can’t forget the struggles of African American leaders to quit smoking. The industry made it so glamorous but there is no glamour in death. We can only hope that the Biden Administration sees this glaring disparity for what it is and helps us push this ban to the finish line.

Even with a ban in place the work is far from over but the stone that is blocking people from a new life will finally be moved and allow fresh air into a space that for too long has been stale from the smell of tobacco.

This is our chance to leverage our collective energy. We are our Fighting for Our Lives to create a Menthol Free Community.

This is a call to action. Join us as we move beyond conversation towards effecting change. Ask the Food and Drug Administration to stand up for Americans that are reaching out for help. Ban menthol in our communities. Join the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition African American Policy Committee in our Fighting for Our Lives Menthol Free Communities Project. Participate in No Menthol Sunday on Sunday May 16th.

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The Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition is a social justice organization created to address the impact of racism on African American disparities including policy inequities, historical trauma, food insecurity, research, behavioral health and addiction services by working to empower, educate and advocate for health equity in under-served communities. The Anti-Racism Committee of The Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition hopes to improve the Black American experience utilizing cultural proficiency in health care systems.

The Policy Committee of the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition consists of public, private, and community members working collaboratively by examining, addressing, and facilitating the dismantling of systems of oppression.