September 22, 2023 by Sam Ford

WASHINGTON (7News) — A panel at the Congressional Black Caucus' annual meeting Friday is pushing for the federal government to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes nationwide.

The proponents say 85% of Black people who smoke, smoke menthol cigarettes.

Menthol cigarettes are more difficult to quit and are the greatest contributor to disease and death among Black people, panelists said.

“Menthol cigarettes kill 45,000 Black people in the country more than anything else,” said Carol McGruder of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council.

Panelists also talked about events of the past like “The Kool Jazz Festivals” in many cities which sometimes involved giving away cigarettes.

Former Columbus, Ohio Mayor Michael Coleman recalled attending the concerts as a college student.

“I grabbed as many as I could to get something free. Went back and smoked them and was addicted for the next 30 years,” said Coleman.

Coleman noted that Columbus was among the jurisdictions that recently banned the sale of menthol cigarettes within its boundaries.

Massachusetts and California have also banned the sale of menthol cigarettes.

Washington, D.C. banned them in December 2022.

However, District resident Ron Hampton of the National Blacks in Law Enforcement has spoken out against the ban as another way of driving a wedge between Black people and others.

“Nicotine is detrimental to their health, not the menthol they put in cigarettes,” Hampton, a non-smoker, said.

District resident Chris Anderson is a menthol smoker and says getting the cigarettes are not difficult for him.

Anderson said he can go into Virginia and get them or buy single cigarettes off the street.

One smoke shop in Northwest, D.C. said it’s lost 25% to 30% of its business since the ban took effect in D.C. last December.

Panel members expressed concern that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is dragging its feet on announcing a nationwide ban.

The agency said it would announce when the ban would take effect in August 2023.

That date came and went with no announcement.