Menthol cigarettes a story of profit, despair
On the heels of Black History Month, it is important to highlight our community’s experience with the tobacco industry and menthol cigarettes, which has been one of profit for the tobacco industry and despair for African Americans. I applaud the Bridgeport City Council, in a true show of courage to protect the health of our youth, for proposing an ordinance that will prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. This effort will go a long way to help prevent the death and disease caused by these products.
Menthol makes it easier for youth to initiate tobacco use. A 2013 U.S. Food and Drug Administration report shows that the cooling and anesthetic effect of menthol allows smokers to inhale more deeply and hold the smoke in the lungs longer. As a result, menthol-flavored cigarettes are both easier for kids to get hooked on and harder for adults to quit.
The disproportionate impact of tobacco use on African Americans is indisputable. It is no accident that African Americans disproportionately smoke menthol cigarettes and suffer and die more than whites from tobacco-related disease. Since the 1950s, the tobacco industry purposefully strategized to increase tobacco sales to the African American community. As detailed in a 1998 surgeon general’s report, the industry endeavored to curry favor among African American leaders and organizations while simultaneously intensifying efforts to increase menthol product appeal to the African American community.
The point of this strategic “philanthropy” was to insulate the industry from resistance to their aggressive peddling of menthol cigarettes to the African American community. And it worked. In 1953, only 5 percent of African American smokers used menthol; today, nearly nine in 10 Black smokers do. Evidence of the tobacco industry’s continued efforts can be found locally: Predominantly Black neighborhoods have more tobacco retailers per capita, more ads, more menthol and higher smoking rates.
And how does the tobacco industry view African Americans, and our youth in general? We need only to listen to what that industry has to say themselves for our answer. “We don’t smoke that s---. We just sell it. We reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and the stupid.” This is a direct quote from tobacco industry giant RJ Reynolds. Another quote, also from RJ Reynolds, refers to our youth as “replacement smokers.” A replacement smoker in this case means a replacement for the industry’s loyal, lifelong customers who have since died from tobacco-related disease. “Younger adult smokers are the only source of replacement smokers.” Bridgeport, we deserve better than this!
The consequence of the tobacco industry’s decades-long campaign is that African Americans are more likely to die of tobacco-related diseases than any other population group in our nation. Tobacco use contributes to the three leading causes of death among African Americans: heart disease, cancer and stroke. The despicable irony is this: Even though Black Americans smoke fewer cigarettes on average and start smoking later than their white counterparts, we are more likely to die of tobacco-related diseases. A significant contributor to these health disparities is menthol: Nearly 90 percent of African American smokers smoke menthol cigarettes, compared with 29 percent of white smokers.
In recognition of these harsh realities, the National Convention of the NAACP adopted a unanimous resolution in 2016 to support state and local policies to end the sale of menthol products and we have called on the FDA to do the same. And now COVID-19 has brought into even sharper focus the racial and ethnic health disparities that persist in our communities, disparities rooted in institutional racism. The tobacco industry capitalized on this racism and intensified these disparities by treating Black lives as dispensable in pursuit of profits.
In Bridgeport, where living one ZIP code further west can make a 14-year difference in life expectancy, the need for this policy is plain. It has never been more urgent for our leaders to protect our youth and end the sale of menthol-flavored tobacco products.