Yes, Cleveland should ban flavored tobacco product sales. It’s a racial justice issue: Helen Forbes Fields

CLEVELAND — Almost three years ago, our city leaders declared that racism is a public health crisis. To push this important movement forward, YWCA Greater Cleveland is proud to be a part of a coalition of over 50 influential local organizations in support of an ordinance currently before City Council that would end the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Cleveland and ensure tobacco retailers aren’t selling to underage customers.

For over 150 years, YWCA Greater Cleveland has worked in the community ensuring the health and safety of women and girls. Our goal is to build a community where Black women and girls, in particular, have the support and resources that they need to thrive. The legacy of this work serves as a strong foundation that empowers the entire YWCA Greater Cleveland organization to push our mission even further. This work is personal to me, and I believe deeply that we can change the systems that marginalize so many.

Tobacco companies have a long history of targeting communities of color with devastating consequences. This included magazine ads in publications popular with Black audiences, events, free samples, and price promotions in stores located in Black neighborhoods. Tobacco is a driving force behind potentially fatal health conditions that disproportionately impact people of color, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung disease, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Black people are 32% more likely to die from heart disease, and 45% more likely to die from a stroke.

Big Tobacco has also marketed menthol to other marginalized groups. Women, Latinx/Hispanic people, low-income individuals, and people with a mental health diagnosis are all more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes. Currently, the tobacco industry is pushing menthol in the LGBTQ community at events like Pride. Based on federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, 36% of LGBTQ+ smokers smoke menthol cigarettes, as opposed to 29% of straight smokers.

The renewed push to aggressively promote tobacco products like e-cigarettes with flavors such as fruit, candy, and menthol is also particularly dangerous for our young people. For teens, smoking has a significant impact on lung growth, brain development, heart health, and impulse control. According to the federal Food and Drug Administration, one in five American high schoolers use e-cigarettes, and 85.5% of high school students and 81.5% of middle school students who used e-cigarettes reported using a flavored e-cigarette.

Cleveland is ranked the worst metro area for Black women and was the second worst city for Black women’s health outcomes in the 2020 Bloomberg CityLab rankings. If we are to move forward as a city and achieve our potential, we must prioritize the issues impacting the health of Black women and girls. Ending the sale of flavored tobacco is critical to addressing these disparities.

If Cleveland City Council does not take swift and decisive action, the increased addictiveness of menthol and other flavored tobacco products will ensure the disparities we see in health outcomes today will hold true for future generations. Black lives are in the balance and this cannot wait.

If you are a Clevelander who would like to show your support for this ordinance, please take 30 seconds to visit the American Heart Association’s website and use this form to send a letter directly to Cleveland City Council: https://act.yourethecure.org/kXRgzfa

I am confident that, together, we can put an end to the tobacco industry’s predatory marketing aimed at Black and brown communities, and spare our children from a lifetime of addiction.

Helen Forbes Fields, a lifelong advocate for racial and gender equity in Cleveland, is the president and CEO YWCA Greater Cleveland.

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