Those of us concerned about health disparities agree that the time has come to ban menthol.
Not next year—now.
There is no scientific controversy about this simple fact: tobacco companies have for decades targeted Black people with ads for cigarettes spiked with menthol.
The issue of flavoring in cigarettes has waxed and waned throughout the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.
Alas, something has always come up to cause yet another delay.
That something was often the voices coming from leaders of the Black community presenting preposterous arguments that go something like this: Black smokers like menthol. Taking it away from them is a form of racism.
There are variations on this theme, some quite circuitous, many stemming from the simple, easily demonstrable fact that tobacco companies have, for decades, supported minority civil rights and health groups, and enjoyed the sight of leaders of the population they target with deadly addictions go to the White House and seek delays in imposing a total ban on menthol.
This time, with Joe Biden in the White House, we believe things can work out differently. And they still can. However, in recent weeks the Washington grapevine has been churning out stories of some prominent Black leaders trying to stop the White House from doing the right thing.
Consider the timeline of the latest round of the menthol controversy:
- In January 2020, FDA issued a final guidance prohibiting the sale of flavored cartridge-based e-cigarette products, other than menthol or tobacco flavor (The Cancer Letter, Jan. 3, 2020).
- On April 28, 2022, FDA finally proposed a rule to prohibit menthol flavoring in cigarettes (The Cancer Letter, April 29, 2022).
However, despite the Biden administration’s indisputable focus on cancer and health disparities, enactment of this proposal has been delayed several times and could well be once again in peril.
In an unusual move, in late November 2023, the Biden administration held a meeting of high-ranking administration officials and advocates for the tobacco industry.
Shortly thereafter, in early December 2023, the White House announced that a decision on whether to implement the ban would come in March 2024 at earliest.
The arguments presented by opponents of the ban seem to be even more inventive than in the past.
Opponents of the menthol ban who attended last November’s White House meeting included civil rights attorney Ben Crump and executives from the National Action Network (NAN), a group chaired by the Rev Al Sharpton.
In previous years, supporters of big tobacco have argued that banning menthol, a product disproportionately favored by Black Americans, is—their word—“discriminatory.”
More recently, the tobacco industry developed a spectacularly contorted argument that an FDA ban on menthol cigarettes will create a black market for the product, which will give police a new reason to stop Black men and question them.
Spokespeople for NAN include Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner. In 2014, Mr. Garner, a 43 year old Black man, was suffocated by a group of New York City police officers when he was stopped for selling individual cigarettes.
The link between menthol and over-policing is, of course, utterly nonsensical.
The proposed regulations do not include a prohibition on possession or use by individual consumers. FDA enforcement will only address manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers who manufacture, distribute, or sell such products.
Rev. Sharpton, too, has been outspoken in his opposition to any ban on menthol cigarettes dating back to 2019.
In an interview with The New York Times, Sharpton said that R.J. Reynolds has made contributions to the National Action Network for more than 20 years. He also said the money doesn’t influence his position.
Ben Chavis Jr. is another Black leader who has recently given numerous television and radio interviews calling for further delay of the menthol ban while more study is conducted.
Mr. Chavis is the former executive director and CEO of the NAACP and currently serves as president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
The National Newspaper Publishers Association is composed of more than 160 African American newspapers.
Many of these newspapers accept advertising from tobacco companies. When interviewed on CNN in late December and confronted with this fact, Mr. Chavis said that his views are not influenced by the fact his membership accepts tobacco advertising.
Growing support for the menthol ban
Pro-ban groups have been vocal, too.
In this issue, The Cancer Letter publishes a letter signed by the all Black directors of NCI-designated cancer centers and several other distinguished Black oncologists.
The letter is a small part of a growing movement focused on instituting a federal ban on the use of menthol in tobacco.
Over the past several weeks, there has been increasing conversation on Washington TV and radio airways about FDA regulation of menthol in tobacco. Such Washington-specific ads are not unusual attempts to influence the White House or Congress.
The commercials are unusual in that they feature a number of Black and African American leaders, including Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP and members of the National Conference of Black Mayors. These include Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Tishaura Jones of St. Louis, Michael Nutter, former mayor of Philadelphia.
The commercials are sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Yolonda Richardson, the CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is on my list of heroes in this mess.
Today, a number of predominantly Black organizations that previously accepted support from big tobacco openly admit the mistakes of the past and are critical of those still taking support from—and advocating for—Big Tobacco.
Organizations including the National Association of Colored People, the National Conference of Black Mayors, and the National Council of Negro Women are calling for a menthol ban.
Menthol: the harm
Menthol is a drug that has a minty taste and aroma. It reduces the harshness of inhaled smoke, making it easier to smoke, and it’s very commonly used among adolescents of all races as they start smoking.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, menthol cigarettes make up one third of all cigarettes sold in the US.
More than 18.5 million Americans smoke menthol. Nearly 80% of all non-Hispanic Black smokers use menthol cigarettes, compared to 30% of non-Hispanic White smokers.
The effect of a menthol ban could be significant. Published modeling studies have estimated a 15% reduction in smoking within 40 years if menthol cigarettes were no longer available in the U.S.
Tobacco companies have, for decades, supported minority civil rights and health groups, and enjoyed the sight of leaders of the population they target with deadly addictions going to the White House and seeking delays in imposing a total ban on menthol.
These studies also estimate that 324,000 to 654,000 smoking attributable deaths overall (92,000 to 238,000 among African Americans) would be avoided over the course of 40 years.
Tobacco, of course, is a leading cause of both cardiovascular disease and cancer deaths.
Each year, 180,000 cancer deaths and 160,000 cardiovascular deaths in the US are attributed to tobacco use. Of those deaths, at least 45,000 are Black or African American.
As the discussion about menthol in tobacco heats up and a number of Black leaders and Black organizations call for a ban, it’s important to review the history of the tobacco industry’s sinister history of embedding itself in the Black community and prompting its leaders to act against the interests of the very people they represent.
The fact that major Black civil rights leaders receive support (direct and indirect) from big tobacco may be surprising, but the truth is there is a long history of civil rights groups, Black-led organizations, and politicians being courted with money by the tobacco industry. Indeed, the tobacco industry has been quite influential in the Black community for more than a century.
In 2002, Yerger and Malone published a review of tobacco company support to Black and African American Groups in the journal Tobacco Control (2002; 11:336-345).
The authors assessed more than 700 documents that the then four largest tobacco companies (Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, andLorillard) as well as the Tobacco Institute were forced to publicly release as part of the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement with 52 state and territory attorneys general.
These documents demonstrate a strategy as well as support.
As far back as the 1930s, the tobacco industry tried to befriend leaders in the Black community.
At the same time, they tried to appeal to the Black consumer by stressing the diversity of the tobacco workforce, the fact that their production lines were integrated, and they hired Black salesmen.
Big Tobacco supported civil rights efforts and maintained a close relationship with virtually every major Black leadership group. Tobacco executives volunteered with the National Urban League, NAACP, and the United Negro College Fund.
Some leaders of Black organizations benefited personally.
Several of them became board members of tobacco companies. In the 1970s, Vernan Jordan, executive director of the National Urban League, joined the board of R.J. Reynolds, Margaret Young (widow of Whitney Young) joined the Phillip Morris board. Others received consultancies.
Tobacco company efforts seemed to take on added aggressiveness in the 1960s.
As data about the negative health effects of tobacco continued to accumulate, Big Tobacco threw more money at Black educational, social, and political organizations.
The industry supported a number of Black politicians and the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
Support took the form of direct contributions, honoraria to organization leaders, ads in publications, fees for displays at meetings, and paying for organizational expenses, such as rent and even utility bills.
Tobacco companies have, for decades, supported minority civil rights and health groups, and enjoyed the sight of leaders of the population they target with deadly addictions going to the White House and seeking delays in imposing a total ban on menthol.
It should be noted that some tobacco-related support is difficult to recognize. Several tobacco companies have acquired non-tobacco-related companies, especially food companies.
From 1985 to 1999, R.J. Reynolds and Nabisco Holdings were one company. Philip Morris acquired General Foods in 1985, and Kraft Foods in 1990.
Phillip Morris, now operating under the name Altria, still owns Kraft Foods.
This created confusion. For example, in the late 1990’s the National Medical Association, an organization of Black physicians that had forsworn tobacco support, was accepting fees from Kraft Foods for displays at its annual meeting.
The time has come for the fog of deception to decipate and for the Biden administration to recognize that the menthol ban is a public health measure that is long overdue.
Mr. Biden, you can enact the menthol ban.
Per Yerber and Malone, Black organizations with tobacco industry involvement in the 1980’s and 1990’s included:
Business/Professional/Trade
- Philip Randolph Foundation
- Black Expo
- Black Women in Publishing
- Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
- Conference of Negro Business and Professional Women
- Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce
- International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters
- National Association of Black and Minority Chambers of Commerce
- National Association of Black Journalists
- National Association of Black Social Workers
- National Association of Market Developers
- National Association of Minority Contractors
- National Association of Minority Women in Business
- National Association for Real Estate Brokers
- National Association of Women Business Owners
- National Bankers Association
- National Bar Association
- National Black Chamber of Commerce
- National Black MBA’s Association
- National Black Media Coalition
- National Black Police Association
- National Business League
- National Conference of Black Lawyers
- National Dental Association
- National Forum for Black Public Administrators
- National Minority Business Council
- National Minority Supplier Development Council
- National Newspaper Publishers Association
- National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives
- National United Affiliated Beverage Association
- North Carolina Association of Minority Business
- Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America
- West Coast Black Publisher Association
- World Institute of Black Communications, Inc
Civil Rights
- American Association for Affirmative Action
- Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- National Council of Negro Women
- National Urban League, (NUL) including local chapters
- Operation Push (Rainbow/PUSH Coalition)
- Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
- Untied Black Church Appeal
Community Development
- 100 Black Men of America
- Associated Black Charities
- National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs
- National Coalition of 100 Black Women
Educational
- Florida A and M University
- Jackie Robinson Foundation
- Meharry Medical College
- National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education
- National Black Child Development Institute, Inc.
- North Carolina A and T State University
- North Carolina Central University
- Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.
- United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
- Winston-Salem State University
Fraternities/Sororities
- Alpha Kappa Alpha
- Alpha Phi Alpha
- Delta Sigma Theta
- Kappa Alpha Psi
- Omega Psi Phi
- Phi Beta Sigma
Political Organizations
- Black Elected Democrats of Ohio
- Congressional Black Caucus
- Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
- Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials
- Georgia Legislative Black Caucus
- Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
- Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus
- Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus
- Michigan Black Legislative Caucus
- National Association of Black County Officials
- National Black Caucus of State Legislators
- National Black Republican Council
- National Conference of Black mayors
- National Political Congress of Black Women
- New York State Black, Puerto Rican, and Hispanic Legislative Caucus
- North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus
- South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus
- Tennessee Caucus of Black State legislators
- World Conference of Mayors
