Menthol Killed a Generation of Black Smokers. It’s Still Not Banned

This post was originally published on Word In Black. By: Jennifer Porter Gore Ethan B. had his first cigarette at age 10. Eight years later, after enlisting in the Army, he started smoking menthol cigarettes because the ads for them made them seem refreshing — and the men who smoked them looked smooth and sophisticated. “I wanted to look cool and be cool,” Ethan, now 59, says in the video. That image went up in smoke when he had his first stroke at age 56. Angie P., 62, smoked menthols for 26 years, but decided to quit when she learned Big Tobacco made big profits selling to people like her. “Tobacco companies target people like me with their menthol cigarette marketing,” she says. The two former smokers, both of whom are Black, are part of a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anti-smoking ad campaign, “Tips from Former Smokers,” launched in February. The videos show former smokers talking about the dangers of  cigarettes, and giving advice on how to kick the habit. What’s noteworthy about the campaign, however, is that the subjects in six of the seven new ads talk explicitly about menthol cigarettes. And it launches amid concerns...