Menthol Cigarettes and Social Justice Views

young woman smoking with cloud puff smoke in front of face

Problem

The marketing of menthol cigarettes has disproportionately targeted Black Americans for decades.

Major tobacco companies have strategically advertised top-selling menthol brands, such as Newport and Kool, in Black communities, leading to 17 out of every 20 Black American smokers using menthol cigarettes. This targeted marketing has contributed to severe health differences, including higher rates of tobacco-related illnesses and mortality among Black Americans who are menthol cigarette smokers.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes in 2022 to close the gap in regulatoin as sales of menthol cigarettes were unrestricted unlike sales of all other flavored cigarettes, which were banned in 2009.

Solution

NORC examined whether Black youth and young adults viewed menthol cigarette regulation as a social justice issue.

With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NORC conducted surveys and focus groups, oversampling Black and Hispanic participants, to assess attitudes toward menthol cigarette regulation. The research also incorporated expert interviews with tobacco-control policymakers and researchers alongside social media analysis to evaluate messaging trends in tobacco-related discussions.

Result

Young people overwhelmingly support efforts to regulate menthol cigarettes.

Youth and young adults do not widely perceive the targeted marketing of menthol cigarettes as a social justice issue. Additionally, younger audiences report lower concern about marketing practices that disproportionately impact communities of color. These findings highlight the need for public health messaging that resonates with younger audiences while reinforcing the evidence-based rationale for menthol cigarette regulation.