Tobacco & Menthol
The Center is actively engaged in policy change against big tobacco. We fight against the marketing and sale of deadly tobacco products to Black communities.
Tobacco Use in
Black Communities
Black people who want to quit smoking are typically less successful than other ethnic groups for numerous reasons:
- Tobacco industry tactics have led most Black smokers toward mentholated products, which are more difficult to quit.
- There is a lack of culturally competent cessation resources for Black people addicted to nicotine.
- There is insufficient research on the unique ways nicotine addiction affects people of African decent.
- When available, Black Americans use cessation treatment and services less often.
In African American communities, the tobacco industry is known for overwhelming convenience stores with tobacco advertising, discounting mentholated tobacco products and e-cigarette starter packs, providing sponsorship dollars to our most iconic cultural events, educational institutions, and civic leaders, and even offering free cigarette samples at neighborhood gatherings.
Big Tobacco has appropriated our culture, masterfully associating menthols with celebrities, our music, and our sense of cool. The Center believes that the tobacco industry’s concerted effort to saturate our communities with their deadly products has led to more intense nicotine addiction among African Americans and has had the effect of “buying silence” when the issue of tobacco control is raised. Advocates and allies must fill the gaps left by tobacco control regulators to stand against targeted, predatory marketing.
