Siena: New Yorkers Strongly in Favor of Proposal to End the Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products

ALBANY, NY (02/27/2023) (readMedia)-- Today, a new poll out from Siena College on Governor Hochul's agenda found that 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 on cigarettes, with only a third of respondents were against the measure, according to the poll.

"Banning the sale of dangerous and deadly flavored tobacco products in New York urgently needs to be enacted. Every day that we do nothing, another child loses their parent to flavored tobacco; and another child becomes addicted themselves. Youth tobacco use has skyrocketed for the first time in decades, while Black and colored communities are disproportionately sickened or die from menthol cigarette usage. New Yorkers agree with our common-sense measure to protect the health of our loved ones," said NYS Assembly Majority Whip Rodneyse Bichotte.

"The fact that the vast majority of menthol smokers are Black and brown is not an accident-it's an injustice created by generations of aggressive marketing by Big Tobacco. For decades, Big Tobacco has targeted communities of color to profit off of the death of our brothers and sisters with easier-to-smoke, harder-to-quit products like menthol cigarettes. Civil Rights leaders like me and health advocates think it is high-time to ban these dangerous products, and I'm glad New Yorkers agree," said New York State NAACP President Hazel Dukes.

New York State made great strides to prevent youth smoking by restricting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in 2020–but the new regulations still allowed dangerous tobacco products known to increase addiction to continue to be sold. Menthol, which is much easier to smoke and more addictive than regular tobacco, is 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.

According to an analysis done by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), a ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes would result in nearly 90,000 New Yorkers (the majority of whom would be Black and Latino adults) quitting smoking in just two years. The analysis also estimated that nearly 3,000 young adults would not start smoking who would have otherwise.

Neither the City nor the State legislation will lead to the arrest or incarceration of more Black and Brown New Yorkers. Sponsors of the legislation have pledged to enact language ensuring that only brick-and-mortar retailers are the focus of any enforcement actions, not individuals. Individual purchase, use, and possession of products covered by the law is explicitly exempted from any enforcement activity or citation under the policy. They have also said that they would specifically direct the NYPD and others not to make any arrests for unregulated individual sales of cigarettes (menthol or otherwise). Police will not be tasked with enforcing flavored tobacco restrictions-and assertions to the contrary are false.

Supporters

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).

Governor Kathy Hochul, State Senators Brad Hoylman, James Sanders Jr, and Liz Kreuger, Assembly Members Rodneyse Bichotte, Linda Rosenthal, Kimberly Jean-Pierre, Rebecca Seawright, Inez E. Dickens, Jo Anne Simon, Harvey Epstein, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Deborah Glick, Phil Steck, Jonathan Jacobson, Demond Meeks, Stefani Zinerman and Chantel Jackson, and City Council Members Rita C. Joseph, Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, Farah N. Louis, Shekar Krishnan, Francisco P. Moya, Carlina Rivera , Diana I. Ayala, Keith Powers , Erik D. Bottcher, Lincoln Restler, Gale A. Brewer, James F. Gennaro, Eric Dinowitz, Rafael Salamanca, Jr., Pierina Ana Sanchez, Kevin C. Riley, Mercedes Narcisse, Oswald Feliz, Sandra Ung, and Lynn Schulman.