'We are victims:' Milwaukee church holds 'menthol funeral' to raise awareness on how smoking affects Black Americans
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Each year, it's estimated that 45,000 Black Americans die from tobacco-related illnesses. Over the last two decades, that's nearly 1,000,000 people.
In Wisconsin, about 8,000 deaths from smoking occur annually. The state also has the second worst tobacco disparity between Black and white people in the country.
That's why on Sunday, June 23, leaders at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ and the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network (WAATPN) held a mock funeral for menthol cigarettes.
Currently, menthol is the only flavor allowed in cigarettes and while it can make starting smoking easier, it can also make quitting smoking harder.
“It’s that notion that it numbs your throat, so it makes that first puff easier to get down so rather than coughing it up and saying, 'oh, I don’t love this', it’s 'oh, this feels good, and it tastes good, it tastes minty,'" said WAATPN Co-Chair Adrienne Johnson. “The main addictive ingredient is nicotine which hits your brain within five seconds, so it hits your brain as fast as cocaine does, making it an extremely addictive substance.”
Johnson, who is also a mother of two young children, said smoking addiction is happening "earlier and earlier."
“It’s definitely hitting the middle school and sometimes the late elementary school ages where the youth are picking them up and they’re smoking them in bathrooms," Johnson said.
Experts said the menthol products have historically targeted Black communities. According to a report by UW-Milwaukee, nine in 10 Black smokers in the state use menthols.
"They prey on that innocence," said Pastor Sean Tatum, who added that he's currently helping youth who are battling addiction. “It’s detrimental to our community... nowadays, so much information, positive and negative information, is available to us and they need to make the right choice.”
The event comes two months after officials said the federal government delayed removing menthol and other flavored tobacco from the market as proposed by the FDA.
"According to the FDA, the changes would have made smoking less appealing to young adults and youth and make it easier for people to quit smoking," a news release said.
If menthol cigarettes were removed, experts estimate a 15% reduction in smoking within 40 years which could save hundreds of thousands of Black lives over the same time period.
“So, this is one hurdle that as the adults in the room, that we can take away out of our community and provide the appropriate resources," said Carol McGruder, the co-chair for the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC). “You know with the money that’s spent on these products is billions of dollars that could be used for educations, for houses, for college degrees instead of for killing ourselves slowly.”
McGruder said tobacco control is a "grassroots movement" that needs to start with cities and states enacting laws to protect Black youth and adults.
"It’s a piece here, a city here, a county here, and then you get a quilt, a protection where you can’t just go to the next city to buy because they don’t sell it there either," McGruder said. “We are victims of this industry and so we want our people to be survivors.”
If you or a loved one are in need of assistance, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW -- a national line aimed at helping smokers.