In a letter to President Joe Biden, leaders of three medical colleges, including one in Atlanta, urge him and the federal Food and Drug Administration to act on a proposed rule prohibiting menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
A debate has developed around the proposed new rule. A White House review of the proposal was supposed to be completed in March, but the deadline passed without any action. Advocates are concerned with the delays in finalizing the rule. Last week, anti-smoking groups sued the government over its failure to act.
The signatories are Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine, Dr. David M. Carlisle, president and CEO of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles, and Dr. James Earl King Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn.
Here is their letter to the president:
Dear President Biden:
As leaders of institutions committed to training the next generation of physicians, we and our students are extremely gratified when we can heal a patient who is sick, but we are equally frustrated when treating a patient that suffers needlessly from a preventable disease. There is much the federal government can do to improve the nation’s health and that includes decisive action from the Food and Drug Administration on the regulation of tobacco products.
With that in mind, we write to express our enthusiastic support for the announcement of proposed regulations prohibiting the manufacture and sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. We urge you to move as quickly as possible to finalize and implement these rules which will save Black lives and reduce the health disparities between Black Americans and the population as a whole.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
We can prevent the higher incidence of premature death in the Black community by reducing the number of Black people who smoke, in particular, those who smoke menthol cigarettes which make smoking easier for youth to start and make quitting smoking harder.
We know all too well that three of the leading causes of death for Black Americans are heart disease, cancer and stroke. It’s no coincidence that tobacco use is a major contributing factor for each. In fact, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the Black community, and smoking is responsible for 81% of lung cancer deaths. While Black Americans represented 12% of the population, they accounted for 41% of smoking-related premature deaths and 50% of the estimated years of life lost associated with smoking menthols between 1980 and 2018.
While Black and white women are equally stricken with lung cancer, Black men have 51 deaths from the disease per 100,000 men, versus 44.7 deaths per 100,000 white men. We were encouraged by a recent study that found a ban on menthol cigarette sales would close the disparities in U.S. lung cancer death rates between Black Americans and other racial and ethnic groups within five years, 25 years sooner than it otherwise would have. That makes expeditious action on the FDA’s proposed rule even more critical.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
Menthol cigarettes weren’t always as prevalent in Black communities as they are today. In the 1950s, fewer than 10% of Black smokers used menthols but today, as the result of the tobacco industry targeting Black communities with marketing for menthol cigarettes for decades, 85% of Black smokers use menthols, nearly triple the rate of white smokers (29%). Black smokers have a harder time quitting, largely because menthol cigarettes are more addictive.
Tobacco is the leading cause of cancer in our country, and that harm falls disproportionately on Black Americans who disproportionately smoke menthol cigarettes. The prohibition on the sale of menthol cigarettes is long overdue.
Black youth also have the highest rate of cigar use compared to other races and ethnicities. Cigars, which come in kid-friendly flavors such as “cherry dynamite” and “banana smash,” are the second most popular product among all youth, and each day, 800 youth will try cigar smoking for the first time. It is with that in mind that we also urge you to move quickly to finalize and put into effect the FDA’s proposal the flavored cigar rules.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
As you know, the tobacco industry and their allies continue their disingenuous arguments against eliminating menthol cigarettes, saying it unfairly targets Black smokers and gives police an excuse for racial profiling. We appreciate the fact that FDA ‘s rule will apply only to manufacturers and retailers. It will not criminalize individuals who possess or use menthol cigarettes. The FDA cannot and will not enforce against individual consumers. Further, the rule specifically states that law enforcement does not and cannot take enforcement actions against violations on FDA’s behalf.
Thank you for your Administration’s leadership on cancer control in general and for these proposals in particular. We encourage you to finish the job and eliminate menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars to save Black lives and advance health equity.
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