As executive director for the Center for Black Health & Equity, I’ve witnessed the devastating health impacts of the tobacco industry’s predatory marketing of menthol cigarettes on the Black community. As the Biden Administration considers finalizing an Food and Drug Administration’s rule to eliminate menthol cigarettes, it must not pay heed to the deceptive motives and malicious narratives of an industry hell-bent on protecting profits over people.
Credit: Center for Black Health & Equity
Credit: Center for Black Health & Equity
Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death for African Americans. This didn’t happen by chance. For generations, the tobacco industry has used a well-rehearsed strategy for targeting Black communities with menthol cigarettes, including with free samples, lower prices and more advertising in neighborhoods of color. Even more insidiously, these tactics have also targeted children.
Menthol cigarettes have a minty flavor that soothes the throat and masks the harshness of smoking, making it easier for kids to start and harder for smokers to quit. In the 1950s, less than 10% of Black smokers used menthol cigarettes. Today, that number is 85%. And because menthol cigarettes are more addictive, Black smokers have a harder time quitting.
In opposition to the FDA’s lifesaving policy, the tobacco industry has seeded a narrative that the ban would result in even more over-policing of Black neighborhoods. This is a bad faith argument. Racial bias in policing is a dire problem and fixing it must be a priority.
However, it’s an evil excuse for the tobacco industry to continue to target Black communities. The FDA’s proposed policy includes strong safeguards against law enforcement abuse. It specifically prohibits manufacturers and retailers from selling menthol cigarettes — but it does not make it illegal for individuals to possess or use the product. The idea that the FDA’s proposed rule to eliminate menthol cigarettes would criminalize users is blatantly incorrect.
The tobacco industry is only fighting this proposal so it can continue its decades-long targeting of Black communities, ignoring the fact that there’s strong public support for a ban, including among Black Americans. We must put Black lives over tobacco industry profits and false political arguments. Research shows that a ban on menthol cigarettes would do just that by saving up to 255,000 Black lives over the next four decades.
The Biden Administration stands at the precipice of historic action to save Black lives and promote health equity around the country. By prohibiting the sale of menthol cigarettes, the FDA can not only halt but reverse a public health crisis that plagues Black communities, ending the menace of menthol once and for all.
Delmonte Jefferson is executive director for the Center for Black Health & Equity, a national nonprofit organization that facilitates public health programs and services that benefit communities and people of African descent.
About the Author
