Cut through Big Tobacco’s deception — ban menthol

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration announced its long-awaited proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.

This is a victory for health and civil rights advocates, but the fight to federally ban menthol is far from over. FDA officials will have to sort through countless public comments before making the official decision,

Deidre Sully of New York City is senior director of Health Policy and Community Affairs for Public Health Solutions. and Big Tobacco will fight tooth and nail to delay the ban in any way possible. It will be an onslaught, and communities need to prepare: Local lawmakers will have to proactively pass legislation banning menthol cigarettes and other flavored cigars ahead of the federal ban to safeguard public health and protect the communities most affected.

The history of menthol cigarettes is a history of racial injustice. It is no accident that Black men have the highest rate of lung cancer in the U.S., or that Black adults experience higher rates of smoking-related illness and deaths from menthol cigarette use compared to other racial and ethnic groups. The tobacco industry deliberately and aggressively markets menthol products to Black communities. Tobacco companies historically focused their efforts on placing advertisements in African American publications.

Tobacco companies ingratiated themselves into Black cultural events, funded scholarship programs, and built partnerships with elected officials as well as civic and community organizations. As a result, nearly 85 percent of Black smokers use menthol cigarettes — and each year tobacco-related cancers claim 40,000 Black lives.

The proposed federal ban will cause manufacturers of menthol cigarettes to lose out on billions of dollars in sales — and so, of course, they want to delay the ban, keep products on shelves, and protect their profits.

Sickening racial and health injustices exist in Black communities as a result of Big Tobacco’s deceptive marketing tricks. Incredibly, the industry and its consultants are now brazenly framing the menthol ban — and not menthols themselves — as an injustice of the same caliber. Over the past few years, tobacco companies like Reynolds American have hired teams of Black lobbyists, consultants, and prominent personalities to defend them.

Now they are shamelessly exploiting the deaths of George Floyd and Eric Garner, connecting a proposed ban to increased policing in Black communities. They are attempting to stoke fear among Black smokers that a menthol ban will lead to more Black people behind bars or falling victim to police brutality. Industry-linked groups have amplified their campaigns by paying protesters to attend rallies.

We cannot allow this blatant attempt at diversion to go unchallenged — particularly when a national ban on menthol cigarettes could save nearly 250,000 Black lives.

Even after the FDA issues a final ruling, tobacco companies will almost definitely file a lawsuit to stop an outright ban. And for as long as the ban is delayed, the health of Black communities will continue to be jeopardized. That’s why we can’t wait for federal legislation to pass; city and state lawmakers must mobilize to pass local legislation banning menthol immediately.

Passing local legislation won’t be easy either. Tobacco lobbyists will relentlessly use fear tactics and misleading public campaigns to obfuscate the harms of smoking and sway legislation. In New York City and New York state, lawmakers have been unsuccessful in passing legislation banning menthol cigarettes. Although the state currently bans menthol in flavored vape products, broader efforts to ban menthol cigarettes had previously stalled in the Legislature, unable to advance past the state Assembly’s Health Committee. In New York City, similarly proposed legislation, Intro 1345, was unable to qualify for a City Council vote and has not advanced since then. In light of Big Tobacco’s mounting efforts to keep menthol cigarettes on shelves, lawmakers must champion these pieces of legislation and pull us through the finish line.

We cannot allow the tobacco lobby to convince us or even to suggest that their products protect our communities from racial injustice, when in fact the very opposite is true. Now is the time for our local elected leaders step up and pass legislation banning menthol.