Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson Joins Fight to End the Sale of Menthol in NY

NEW YORK, NY (02/16/2023) (readMedia)-- Today, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson joined 19 Council Members and Borough Presidents Antonio Reynoso and Mark Levine in supporting an end to the sale of menthol in New York. Governor Hochul included language in her executive budget which will ban all flavored tobacco products. Councilwoman Rita Joseph carries similar legislation in the City Council.

"Menthol cigarettes are inherently dangerous products advertised to young New Yorkers, especially our Black and brown youth, known to be more addictive than regular tobacco," said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. "Big Tobacco has made products in different flavors to attract, and hook, a younger generation on a substance that can kill them. I am proud to support ending the sale of menthol in New York and close the loophole that has killed so many of our neighbors."

"The Menthols Kill NYC campaign is thrilled Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson supports protecting Black and brown lives and ending the sale of menthol in New York," said Candace Prince-Modeste, campaign manager of Menthols Kill NYC. "It's time for New York to lead and remove these easier to start – and harder to quit – cigarettes from the market. Lawmakers: restrict the sale of menthol before it's too late."

Menthol, which is an organic flavoring compound made from peppermint, masks the harsh taste of tobacco flavor, making it easier to start smoking and harder to quit. Big Tobacco has aggressively marketed flavored tobacco products to underage users for decades to hook new generations of smokers-particularly in communities of color, where menthol cigarettes are sold to young people, creating disproportionately negative health outcomes for African Americans.

In New York City, 89 percent of Black adults and 63 percent of Latino adults who smoke use menthol cigarettes, as compared to 32 percent of white adults. More than half of youth smokers and seven-out-of-ten young African Americans smoke menthols. Eight-out-of-ten African Americans prefer menthols overall. According to a study done by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) estimated that if the City implemented a ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes today, over the next two years, nearly 90,000 New Yorkers (the majority of whom being Black and Latino adults) would quit smoking, and nearly 3,000 young adults would not start smoking entirely who would have otherwise.

In 2013, the City Council enacted a local law that banned the sale of flavored tobacco products – but excluded menthol. In 2019, the New York City Council passed legislation banning flavored e-cigarettes, but a ban on menthol products was not brought for a vote.

Supporters of the ending the sale of menthol include: African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Nurses Association - New York, The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Capital Area, Brooklyn College Cancer Center, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Center for Black Health & Equity, Columbia University Herbert Irving, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Community Health Care Association of New York State, Community Healthcare Network, Healthy Alliance. Hispanic Federation, Interfaith Public Health Network, March of Dimes, Medical Society of the State of New York, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Mental Health Association in New York, Montefiore Health System, Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center, NAACP New York State Conference, New York Chapter American College of Physicians Services, Inc., New York Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, New York Public Interest Research Group, New York School-Based Health Alliances, NYS Academy of Family Physicians, NYS American Academy of Pediatrics, Chapters 1, 2, & 3, .NYS Association for Rural Health 31. NYS Association of County Health Officials, New York State Conference of Blue Cross, NYS Association of County Health Officials 34. New York State Conference of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans (NYSCOP), NYS Council of Health-system Pharmacists, NYS Council of School Superintendents, The NYS Neurological Society, NYS PTA, NYS Public Health Association, NYS School Boards Association, NYS Society of Anesthesiologists, NYS Society of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Inc. 43. The NYS Society of Plastic Surgeons, NYS United Teachers, NYU Langone, Parents Against Vaping E-Cigarettes, Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, Public Health Solutions, School Administrators Association of New York State, St. Peter's Health Partners, VIP Community Services, WNY United Against Drug & Alcohol Abuse, Inc, and Blue Shield Plans (NYSCOP).