Unintended Consequences
Policies that amount to prohibition have serious racial justice implications.
ATTN: The Honorable Robert Califf
℅: Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
Dear Commissioner Califf,
I oppose the FDA’s proposed menthol cigarette ban, and I urge the FDA to reconsider its position. Prohibiting the preferred cigarette choice of Black smokers unfairly targets them and ignores what’s going on between police and communities of color.
Banning the sale of these mentholated cigarettes to adults, 21 and older, will trigger criminal prosecutions across the country (the sale and distribution of prohibited tobacco products is a crime in all 50 states, and in 37 of those, simple possession of prohibited tobacco triggers criminal penalties), increase the occurrence of negative interactions with police within your targeted communities, and likely lead to an increase in incarceration rates, just like in the War on Drugs.
Instead of a top-down approach that ignores community concerns, the FDA should evaluate the impact on our neighborhoods and take community-based health care approaches that are already proven to work for our communities.
I don’t want to see what happened to Eric Garner happen to any of my friends, my family, or any one else in my community.
Thank you for your time and deliberation on this matter.
Join the Conversation
LEAP will submit all comments. Your name (but not your contact info) will be publicly visible.
The FDA proposed a ban prohibiting menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes. Before this ban was proposed, the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), along with a bipartisan coalition of subject matter experts from various civil rights, drug policy, and law enforcement organizations, sent a letter to Secretary Xavier Beccara of the US Dept. of Health and Human Services and Commissioner Robert Califf of the US FDA stating that such a ban would adversely impact people of color and trigger unnecessary criminal penalties.
The idea that we should ban menthol flavored cigarettes, the preferred choice of Black smokers, disregards the tension between police and communities of color.
Tobacco-Related Bans in the News
More News
- Taser Used to Detain Teen Vaping at Atlanta Skate Park, Cops Say
- Flavored Tobacco Bans Won't Achieve Desired Outcomes
- Raising Cigarette Tax Will Further Stress Relationship Between Police, Vulnerable Communities | COMMENTARY
- Opinion: Education Will End Smoking Without Driving Up Illegal Sales. Banning Flavored Tobacco in San Jose Will Only Send Product Underground