The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed banning menthol cigarettes, a landmark action applauded by leading health and civil rights groups that say the industry has a history of aggressively marketing to Black communities and causing severe harm, including higher rates of smoking-related illness and death.
Menthol has deep roots in Black communities. In the 1950s, about 10 percent of Black smokers used menthol cigarettes. Today, more than 85 percent of Black smokers choose menthol cigarettes — almost three times the proportion for White smokers. Researchers and regulators have found the sharp rise was a result of aggressive marketing in Black communities — especially of menthol cigarettes — by the tobacco industry. The cigarette companies deny targeting Black communities. African Americans die of tobacco-related illnesses, including cancer and heart disease, at higher rates than other groups.
The Biden administration, in proposing the menthol ban, is taking on an issue that has fueled strong emotions. While many Black health leaders and civil rights organizations support prohibiting menthol cigarettes, some prominent individuals and groups warn that a ban would turn Black smokers into law breakers and lead to potentially dangerous confrontations with police.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who recently met with administration officials, said in a letter to the White House that a prohibition "would exacerbate existing, simmering issues around racial profiling, discrimination, and policing." He urged the administration instead to create a commission to study the potential effects of a menthol ban on Black communities.
"We're not opposing anything, we're raising questions and asking them to get these answers," Sharpton said in an interview with The Post's Health 202 this week.
"These Black leaders are all saying the same thing they have said for a decade, that a ban on menthol will lead to the criminalization of Black youth," said Delmonte Jefferson, executive director of the Center for Black Health & Equity, a nonprofit. "They are saying, 'Don't ban menthol, don't ban something that is killing us.' "
Derrick Johnson, president and chief executive officer of NAACP, said in a recent letter to administration officials that failing to ban menthol cigarettes would itself "be discriminatory and counter to the goal and function of the FDA to protect and promote public health for all, including the African-American community."
"If implemented, the FDA's enforcement of any ban on menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars will only address manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, importers and retailers," agency officials said last year in announcing plans to propose a ban.
"The FDA has no authority to enforce against possession," said Joelle Lester, director of commercial tobacco control programs at the Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Minnesota.
Studies have shown that menthol makes it easier for young people to start smoking by masking the throat irritation caused by cigarettes.
