Presented by Interact For Health, Sunday, May 17th is No Menthol Sunday – a national interfaith effort to educate communities about the negative impact of tobacco use. The current pandemic has exacerbated African Americans’ smoking-related health outcomes, increasing our risk for more severe COVID-19 complications and even death.
One of Interact for Health’s priorities is to reduce the rate of tobacco use in our region. In Cincinnati, 24% of adults smoke. However, 7 in 10 (68%) African American smokers usually smoke menthol cigarettes compared with just 2 in 10 (19%) white smokers. That’s not an accident. The tobacco industry has a history of targeting menthol cigarette advertising toward African Americans. We are using this national day of education to work with churches and organizations in our community to start furthering the conversation about the dangers of flavored tobacco on our community.
For more information visit www.nomentholsunday.org.
