Editor’s note: This commentary is by Shamura Awayle and Safiya Ibrahim, who are students at Burlington High School.
When you feel like your community is under attack you have two choices. Retreat, or stand up to the bully. We chose the latter, and that’s why we, along with several other students at Burlington High who are part of Above the Influence, a youth substance abuse prevention leadership group, testified recently at a hearing at the Statehouse in favor of a bill (S.288) that would eliminate the sales of flavored tobacco products, including menthol.
We spoke out of our concern about flavored tobacco products and the epidemic of youth flavored tobacco use and addiction. We are a diverse group and we are committed to making sure that all voices are heard. We decided it’s time to stand up to the bully called Big Tobacco because Big Tobacco especially targets minority communities and youth with menthol products.
There are more tobacco retailers in areas with larger black, multicultural, and low-income communities. Study after study has shown marketing to these communities is much greater than in other neighborhoods. In some minority communities there are 10 times more ads than in other communities. These are some of the groups with the least power and voice in our society. Big Tobacco has sponsored college scholarship programs and cultural events, and has placed advertising in public places that are popular with minority groups.
These are all intentional efforts to forge ties with the African American community and build a misleading positive brand. And sadly, it’s worked because nearly 90% of African American smokers age 12 and up use menthol. Those numbers are no mistake. Menthol is the only flavoring still allowed in cigarettes and is frequently left out in discussions about flavor bans and it’s time to speak out against this injustice.
It comes down to a matter of health equity. This intentional targeting threatens all of the most important parts of our lives — our friends, our family members, our community, and our futures. We feel a responsibility to educate and inform our peers and community members about the harm menthol does.
We’ve seen firsthand the debilitating impact of all kinds of tobacco use — including e-cigarettes — has. From family members battling cancer to friends who can’t quit no matter how many times they’ve tried. Many of our older family members are immigrants and never had the opportunity to get educated about the harms of tobacco, or the knowledge that they were being profiled by Big Tobacco.
Big Tobacco has fed off of addiction for decades and has taken the lives of so many in our community. And all for what? Money! There is not enough money in the world the tobacco industry can give back to these struggling communities to make up for the lives they have taken.
That’s why we created a campaign called Our Lives Our Lungs to raise awareness about, and protect future generations, about these issues. We were inspired by the documentary and campaign Black Lives Black Lungs, which raises awareness of the tobacco industry’s successful infiltration into the black community.
As youth under the age of 18, we shouldn’t have to beg lawmakers for help to protect us and the lives of the people we love. That is a basic privilege we deserve. We should have been protected before the epidemic began.
We are incredibly grateful to Sen. Ginny Lyons and Rep. Jessica Brumsted for sponsoring the bill that would eliminate the sale of flavored tobacco products, menthol included. Thousands of kids are counting on legislators to pass this bill. Before it’s too late.
