May 15, 2022
No Menthol Sunday
NAATPN -
Almost half of African Americans would quit smoking if menthol cigarettes were banned.
About No Menthol Sunday 2022
Sunday | May 15, 2022
No Menthol Sunday is The Center for Black Health & Equity’s annual faith-based observance day. It is an opportunity to engage faith communities in tough conversations about how menthol and tobacco addiction have robbed us of community health for generations. The tobacco industry has stripped our community's finances, engaged in targeted unethical marketing, and attempted to dupe young people with flavors like spearmint and menthol. Their industry execs have once said that they don't smoke their own deadly products -- they reserve that right for "the young, the poor, the Black and stupid."
Those are fighting words.
Now, after a decades-long battle for health justice in tobacco control, we are embarking upon a major win. In 2022, we anticipate that the Food & Drug Administration will finally issue standard regulations that will prohibit the sale of tobacco products with any characterizing flavors like menthol. This is historic! Just as it was written in Isaiah 55:11, we are now seeing the fulfillment of what we had long set out to accomplish!
It's time for final round intensity.
While we expect total victory, we know we can also expect opposition from every side. That means we must prepare for a bare knuckle final fight to the finish. No longer will we stand for shallow arguments or the social systems that have perpetuated health disparities and kept tobacco use at status quo.
Faith communities can secure support within their congregations by ensuring they understand the benefits of this needed policy change. We've got to be bolder and more confident than ever in our efforts to raise awareness. This will require fearless determination and final round intensity.
Use No Menthol Sunday 2022 to trample the opposition. The No Menthol Sunday toolkit will equip participants with strategies and talking points to be bold in this final fight against tobacco. Decades of work are now coming to fruition and we must maintain momentum until it is accomplished. Don't be afraid to get in the ring, we've already won.