Vital More Than Ever: No Menthol Sunday - May 17th

Column by Pat Turner, Tobacco Education Coordinator with Tobacco Free Allen County

The National African American Tobacco Prevention Network. (NAATPN) Inc. is a 20-year-old organization that facilitates, implements, and promotes comprehensive policies, community-led programs and culturally competent public health campaigns that benefit African Americans. One of their premier programs is No Menthol Sunday.

This is what we know and why No Menthol Sunday, this year on May 17, 2020, is so important. Smoking causes 1 out of every 5 deaths in the United States. There are now more than 8 million Black Americans who smoke. Each year more than 47,000 Blacks in the United States die from diseases they get just because they smoke. More American Blacks die from diseases caused by smoking than from murders, AIDS, drug and alcohol abuse, and car crashes put together, which totals around 27,000.

NAATPN’s annual No Menthol Sunday is important and can affect change in the health of congregations in the Fort Wayne community. Each year NAATPN encourages faith leaders to talk about the importance of living healthy--not only for the sake of one’s own health, but for the health of the Black community as a whole. NAATPN emphasizes the role using menthol tobacco products play in negatively impacting our community, but they don’t stop there; they speak out against social, economic and governmental systems that perpetuate health disparities and keep tobacco use at status quo.

This year’s 2020 theme, Awaken, encourages the Black community not to be deceived by the ill intentions of others. It exclaims that we must awaken ourselves to the truth, so that we may be wise and expose deception and complacency (Ephesians 5:5-15). In essence, the passage calls us to stay woke! NAATPN works to expose the tobacco industry's manipulative practices. The tobacco industry has developed aggressive marketing tactics targeting Black communities and addicted a young generation to nicotine through e-cigarettes and vaping products. What’s worse is that the current pandemic has exacerbated Black Americans’ health outcomes, increasing their risk for more severe COVID-19 and death related to the virus.

As a part of this year’s initiative we are asking the Black Church to join the COVID BIG QUIT, a smoking cessation effort. The current pandemic has created a greater need, now more than ever, for Black Americans to seek and obtain cessation services to help them quit smoking. Studies have shown that Black Americans want to quit smoking and yet they are unsuccessful. Experts attribute this struggle to menthol, which (1) is known to be most often smoked by Black Americans, and (2) is known to make it more difficult to quit. Smoking rates in the Black American community are particularly concerning since smoking weakens the immune system and increases one's risk of severe illness from COVID-19. No Menthol Sunday is the perfect time to raise our consciousness about these important issues. When people of faith remain vigilant, educate our youth, and inspire positive community action, we will begin to move toward total health justice.

This is how you can help. If you’re a pastor and reading this, contact me or have someone from your congregation contact me with your intentions to join this important effort. If you are a member of a congregation, reach out to me, as well, and we can get the ball rolling. The Black community is suffering, and you can help by being a part of No Menthol Sunday efforts. Since churches aren’t meeting at this time, I will supply you with a virtual toolkit with everything you need to engage your congregations and join this initiative. I will also supply any other technical assistance you might need.

Please contact me, Pat Turner, Tobacco Education Coordinator with Tobacco Free Allen County, at pturner@tobaccofree02.org. I look forward to hearing from you and to your participation in this important and critical effort.