Tobacco Kills NY Runs Ads in Newspapers Across NYS, Calling Out Lawmakers Who Are Failing to Protect Kids

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NEW YORK, NY (04/07/2023) (readMedia)-- Tobacco Kills NY – a diverse, statewide campaign of civil rights and health advocates, including the New York NAACP, faith-leaders, public health groups, and others – called out the New York State Legislature today in dramatic, full-page ads in newspapers across the state. The six-figure buy in support of Governor Hochul's historic proposal to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, reads "It's time to choose: Profits for Big Tobacco or the lives of our children".

The ad – which is attached – will run in the Albany Times Union, Buffalo News, Westchester Journal News, Newsday and New York Daily News.

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.

"Black and brown New Yorkers have been targeted by Big Tobacco for generations with lies and dangerous products, making our rates of disease and death far higher than white smokers'," said Dr. Hazel N. Dukes, President of the NAACP New York State Conference. "Now Big Tobacco continues to fund misinformation campaigns that confuse the facts about our important legislation to remove deadly menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products from stores. We will not let Big Tobacco win by fighting dirty by sharing the truth with New Yorkers."

"Lawmakers must do more than just say Black lives matter within the context of police abuse. They must legislate like it across the board 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 to get this ban done and start saving Black lives," said Rev. Kirsten Foy, Arc of Justice.

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 Officials, 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).