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R.L. Gundy & Russell Meyer
In many sacred texts, breath is a symbol of the spirit or soul. In both Greek and Hebrew, the translation of the word “spirit” is the same as “breath.” As faith leaders, we promote both the concept of the spirit and the physically essential breath.
The creation story says God breathed life into humanity. With the gift of breath in mind, we urge our members of Congress in Northern Florida to press the FDA to approve their historic proposal to prohibit menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. These products have especially plagued the Black community for decades.
We’ve lost many church and community members to tobacco-related disease and menthol cigarettes have been largely responsible. Years of predatory marketing that included free samples, price discounts and heavy advertising in Black publications have brought devastating consequences for our neighborhoods.
By eliminating the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, we can extend the breath of life to this and future generations. If your household includes a teenager, remember that flavors play a key role in getting young people started on the path of tobacco use. That includes menthol cigarettes and flavored products. Flavored cigars, the second most popular tobacco product among all teenagers, are the top choice among Black teenage boys.
Flavored cigarettes were removed from the market in 2009, but menthol cigarettes were allowed to remain, despite clear evidence that the Black community and kids of all backgrounds have been targeted by the tobacco industry for more than 60 years. Menthol makes it easier and more appealing for youth to start smoking and become addicted, masking the harshness of tobacco smoke. By cooling and numbing the throat, menthol also makes it harder for smokers to quit. Half of youth who have tried smoking started with menthol cigarettes.
The cruel effectiveness of Big Tobacco’s marketing is shown in those who smoke menthols. In the 1950s, 10 percent of Black smokers used menthol. Today, 85 percent of Black smokers prefer menthol cigarettes compared to 29 percent of white smokers.
The tobacco industry argues that banning menthol products will harm the people it has turned into addicts — without a second thought to shortened life expectancy, emphysema, asthma, heart disease and cancers of the lung, mouth or throat caused by tobacco use. Health equity insists that we prohibit manufacture and sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars to effectively reduce youth tobacco use and the number of people harmed by life-shortening addiction to nicotine.
Evidence overwhelmingly shows that menthol cigarettes are a substantial harm to public health. That is why so many public health, medical and civil rights groups support removing menthol and flavored tobacco products from the market, including the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, the American Medical Association, NAACP and others.
It is critical that the FDA finalize and quickly implement this rule. We hope Rep. Lawson, Rep. Rutherford and Florida members of Congress will urge the FDA and the Biden Administration to keep our breath free from nicotine addiction.
Pastor R.L Gundy, Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church, African American Ministers in Action and Reverend Russell Meyer, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Jacksonville
This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.
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