Although proponents of the ban say it is an important step toward reducing inequalities in disease in the United States, the move has somewhat divided black communities. The Rev. Al Sharpton sharply criticized him and recently met with White House officials along with King & Spalding, a lobbying firm with extensive experience in advocating for RAI Services Company, a cigarette maker formerly known as RJ Reynolds.
Mr Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, wrote a letter to Susan Rice, director of the Home Affairs Council, saying the ban would force black smokers to counterfeit cigarettes or use unregulated herbal menthol, which would ” encourage criminal activity. ” Mr Sharpton acknowledged that Reynolds had supported his organization for two decades, but declined to say how much it had contributed.
Reynolds is one of the largest cigarette companies in the world and a manufacturer of Newport menthol cigarettes, which it calls “the menthol brand № 1 in America.”
Reynolds expressed similar concerns in a letter to White House officials, urging the FDA to extend the ban to ensure that local law enforcement is not deployed “in a way that creates negative effects, such as different impacts on color communities.”
A ban on menthol would pose serious risks, Mr Sharpton writes, “including an increase in the illegal sale of smuggled menthol cigarettes on the black market, as well as street sales of individual menthol cigarettes -” loose “and in turn put smokers menthol at significant risk of entering the criminal justice system. “
Carol McGruder, co-founder of the African-American Leadership Council on Tobacco Control, said it was “shameful” for Mr. Sharpton and others to take funding for tobacco. She said the need for police reform was real, but that the lives taken early from menthol tobacco were much longer.
“Cynically using our pain to say, ‘Oh, we want to protect you from this by leaving these products on the market that kill you,’ is crazy,” Ms. McGruder said.
Add Comment