Racist tobacco industry luring Black teens to death

In June 2020, the City of Columbus declared racism a public health crisis, and outlined several policy goals within the resolution, including ending the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products, as recommended by Columbus Public Health.

These dual crises – racism and tobacco use – are inextricably intertwined, and recognizing tobacco’s devastating impact on Black lives is indisputable.

In fact, tobacco use claims the lives of 45,000 Black Americans every year, making it the No. 1 cause of preventable death in Black communities. In addition, tobacco use is a major contributor to three leading causes of death among African Americans: heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

The tobacco industry has a long history of predatory marketing. Menthol cigarettes, which are believed to make nicotine even more addictive, were marketed heavily to Black communities for years, and, today, it’s estimated that 85% of Black smokers choose menthol brands.

While the FDA has announced plans to eventually phase out menthol cigarettes, this will take several years to be implemented. This passive timeline is inexcusably slow, given the urgency of this health crisis, and will unnecessarily cost more Black lives. Not to mention, this ruling does not even include flavored e-cigarettes.

This is particularly troubling considering that 95% of adult smokers start using tobacco products by age 21, and we know that adolescents are more interested in trying e-cigarettes described as having “menthol, candy or fruit flavors,” such as bubblegum, cherry dynamite, and sugar cookie – just three of the more than 15,500 unique e-cigarette flavors on the market today.

As the tobacco industry continues to take advantage of lax FDA oversight to target our children, one-third of Ohio high school youth are using e-cigarettes and 12% of our middle school youth are e-cigarette smokers.

This leaves Ohio’s children, particularly Ohio’s Black children, to struggle with costs to their health, while healthcare for Black people is already a challenge. The health costs associated with tobacco use are preventable.

Here at YWCA Columbus, we are on a mission to eliminate racism one policy at a time, and we urge policy makers and regulators to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products.

We also believe in empowering the next generation to create a just and equitable future for all, so, in the meantime, we will continue to do our part to educate kids and their families about tobacco use.

This is a healthcare and human rights issue, and we stand with our partners at the Coalition to End Tobacco Targeting, who are working tirelessly to eliminate the sale of flavored tobacco products in our community.

There is no time to waste. Our children are depending on us.

Christie Angel is president and CEO of YWCA Columbus.