Civil Rights, Health Groups Call Out Albany Lawmakers with Billboard in Times Sq, Demand They Ban Menthol

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Ad in Times Square

NEW YORK, NY (04/19/2023) (readMedia)-- Today, while Albany lawmakers work to finalize the state budget, Tobacco Kills NY – a diverse, statewide campaign of civil rights and health advocates, including the NAACP, the ARC of Justice, faith-leaders, public health groups, and others – launched an ad in Times Square calling on Albany to protect Black lives and end the sale of flavored tobacco in New York.

The ad – which is located at 1560 Broadway – will run until Saturday. The massive ad depicts a young Black man asking the State Legislature "If Black Lives Matter, Shouldn't You Protect Mine? Albany whose side are you on? Big Tobacco or our kids? End the sale of all flavored tobacco." The ad is attached.

Video of press conference here.

Governor Hochul included the proposal in her executive budget, yet the legislature has refused to advance the proposal despite menthol cigarettes being easier to start and harder to quit. Each year, more than 72,000 Black Americans are diagnosed with a tobacco-related cancer and more than 39,000 die from a tobacco-related cancer.

"It is time that Black lives matter," said Dr. Hazel N. Dukes, President of the NAACP New York State Conference. "Then let's show up and get this legislation done in the state and in the city. It is true that we know that our children as young as thirteen and fourteen are getting addicted to this substance. It's personal for me to continue to fight and ban menthol cigarettes."

"Lawmakers must do more than just say Black Lives Matter - they have to act like they actually believe it. They must legislate like it across the board, not just when it comes to police brutality, and start protecting young Black teens from their most deadly enemy - Big Tobacco. By allowing menthol cigarettes to be so accessible, lawmakers are enabling and subsidizing Big Tobacco's exploitation of Black and Brown communities. It's time for lawmakers to heed the Governor's proposal and get this ban done to start saving Black lives," said Rev. Kirsten John Foy, Arc of Justice.

The NYC Health Department estimates that if the sale of menthol tobacco products were ended now, 90,000 New Yorkers would quit smoking over the next two years, the majority being Black and Latino adults-and 1,500 young New Yorkers will not start smoking each year who would have otherwise. One-third to half of those young people who would smoke would die from a smoking-related illness if they smoked long-term.

A recent poll from Siena College showed a significant majority of New Yorkers surveyed were in favor of the proposed ban on menthol-flavored tobacco products, with 57% in favor versus 35% against. New Yorkers are also in favor of a one-dollar tax increase on cigarettes, with only a third of respondents against the measure, according to the poll. Additionally, a poll conducted by Global Strategy Group paid for by Tobacco Kills NY showed that three-out-of-five Black and Latino New Yorkers support a ban on menthol-flavored tobacco products.

The proposed ban was recently endorsed by the Daily News Editorial Board. And as bill sponsor AM Rodneyse Bichotte wrote in the Daily News, Black smokers die of smoking-related diseases at a disproportionate rate. NYC Council Member Rita Joseph also wrote in the Daily News that 90 percent of Black teenagers who smoke use menthol cigarettes.

New York State made great strides to prevent youth tobacco use by restricting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in 2020–but the new regulations still allowed other dangerous flavored tobacco products known to increase addiction to continue to be sold. Menthol cigarettes, which are much easier to smoke and more addictive than regular tobacco, are still available on shelves and the number one way Big Tobacco hooks young smokers and keeps Black New Yorkers addicted.

For generations, Big Tobacco has aggressively marketed flavored tobacco products to underage users and communities of color, creating disproportionately negative health outcomes for African-Americans in particular. In New York State, menthol cigarettes are used by over half of all adult smokers (52%). 86% of Black smokers and 72% of Hispanic smokers smoke menthols. Now 62% of Americans support a ban on menthol, including two-thirds of Black Americans. Half of young people (ages 12-17) who had ever tried smoking start with menthol cigarettes. In 2021, 41.1% of high school smokers reported using menthol cigarettes.

Supporters of Tobacco Kills NY

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, NYS Association of County Health Officials, New York State Conference of Blue Cross, NYS Association of County Health Offic ials, 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., 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).