The co-founder of Africa Harm Reduction Alliance, Dr Kgosi Letlape, has cautioned against South Africa following any United States decision to ban menthol cigarettes.
The Biden administration is also considering requiring tobacco companies to lower the nicotine in all cigarettes sold in the US to levels at which they are no longer addictive.
Civil rights and Black health organizations in the US are putting pressure on the administration to ban menthol cigarettes, accusing the tobacco industry of targeting Black communities for decades.
Letlape says people should not be shielded from making their own informed decisions.
“When you ban something you are disabling yourself from controlling that thing. It goes underground and that continues to harm the community and it becomes something for law enforcement. What l would support is proper education and consumers being given proper information so that they can make informed decisions – saying to people this is an addictive substance and if you can avoid it please do. If you are addictive the first thing is to have assistance to quit.”
Health disparities
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, menthol cigarettes contribute to tobacco-related health disparities in the US.
This is because some groups of people are more likely to start smoking menthol cigarettes and keep smoking because of menthol cigarettes, which puts them at higher risk of getting tobacco-related diseases.
Even though fewer people are smoking any kind of cigarette now than in the past, the percentage of people who smoke menthol cigarettes is going down more slowly than the percentage of people who smoke non-menthol cigarettes.
Young people and African Americans are more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes than other groups. More than half (54%) of youth ages 12-17 years who smoke use menthol cigarettes. That percentage is higher than the percentage of adults 18 and older who smoke menthol cigarettes.
A nationwide study showed that among smokers who started smoking as young adults (over age 18), a majority first started smoking using menthol cigarettes. The majority of African Americans who smoke use menthol cigarettes.
Seven out of 10 African American youth ages 12-17 who smoke use menthol cigarettes.
A higher percentage of black adults who smoke started by using menthol cigarettes (93%) than white adults who smoke (44%).8
