#10 Blacks and Menthol

Why do Black people like menthol (cigarettes), ask Dave Chappelle on “I Know Black People”. The contestants said they did not know, which turned out to be the correct answer. Chappelle said, ‘nobody knows’. Well, I may have dug up the answer in a 1979 study by RJReynolds (here).

It seems that before the introduction of light cigarettes, Black folks conjured up the notion that menthol was less hazardous to your health, compared to White smokers. Of course, this was not true, but the belief supported a behavior whereby Blacks, as 12% of the population, accounted for 80% of the menthol cigarettes consumed.

The original idea of flavored cigarettes seems to come from figuring out what to do with the remnant tobacco that was below usable grade. They flavored it and sold it cheap, and discovered that Blacks thought this product tasted better and did not burn the throat. The ‘more healthy’ label came later.

Interestingly, President Obama, a smoker himself, signed into law, in 2009, a bill that restricts advertising and fruit-flavors in cigarettes, but ‘grandfathered’ menthol cigarettes as legal (here). So we can thank or blame him for the lasting effects of menthol on the Black community. The CDC reports that the smoking-related cancer death rate for Black men is 38% higher, per 1000, than for White men (here).

There you have it – entertainment aside, if you smoke, please give those damn things up already, before they kill you. You too, Mr. Barry.

James C. Collier

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