For World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2023, NYC Smoke-Free joined members of the Menthol Kills NYC Coalition, City Councilwoman Rita Joseph, Dr. Hazel N. Dukes of the NAACP New York State Conference, and other community and health advocates for a press event at City Hall regarding the negative impact of menthol tobacco products on New Yorkers, specifically young people and the African-American community.
World No Tobacco Day, occurring every May 31st, was created to bring awareness to the health risks and preventable deaths associated with tobacco use.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the US, and targeted marketing of menthol tobacco products have encouraged continued tobacco use in New York specifically. In NYC, 2/3 young smokers start with menthol tobacco products. Menthol also disproportionately affects Black communities, with 89% of Black New York smokers choosing menthol compared to ~20% of their white counterparts. NYC Smoke-Free, along with our peers from Menthol Kills NYC, aims to educate communities about the harms of menthol use to combat the deadly tobacco epidemic. A snippet of the press conference can be found here.