Reynolds' instrumentalization of African-American associations around the ban on menthol

Several lobbying situations aimed at preventing the ban of menthol have recently been established, involving African-American associations funded by the cigarette company Reynolds American.

The investigation conducted by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Los Angeles Times uncovered several lobbying situations orchestrated by Reynolds American around local projects to ban menthol in tobacco products in California and Denver.[1]Local plans to ban menthol, already underway for several years, are intended to address the delays experienced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in this regard. While the principle of this ban was adopted in April 2021 and the FDA has expressed its willingness to implement it quickly, foreseeable legal challenges from the tobacco industry could delay it by several months, or even years.[2].

The particularity of the lobbying actions identified is that they were conducted by African-American associations which all received funds from Reynolds American, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT), or by African-American lobbyists working more or less covertly for Reynolds.

Paid protesters in Los Angeles

One such operation took place in Los Angeles on June 15, 2021. It was a protest rally in front of City Hall, organized by the Neighborhood Forward organization. This new and little-known organization was protesting the proposed ban on menthol in cigarettes in California. The organization is led by Pastor KW Tulloss, who hails from the National Action Network, a civil rights organization led by Reverend Al Sharpton and funded by Reynolds American. While very vocal about menthol, Tulloss declined to reveal who funded Neighborhood Forward. Representatives of this organization in Missouri, where she is from, also declined to comment on their funding, as did the cigarette company. The protesters received a T-shirt with a slogan against the menthol ban, as well as a stipend of 80 US dollars for the morning. One of the main arguments put forward was that the menthol ban would discriminate against Black people by depriving them of their favorite cigarettes.

Arguments of illicit trafficking and police violence in Atlanta

Another lobbying scene unfolded in Atlanta on December 2, 2021, during the annual gathering of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, an association bringing together African-American legislators. During a luncheon, Wayne Harris, a retired police officer, gave a lecture on the need to prevent the proposed ban on menthol in cigarettes. The PowerPoint presentation for his speech opened with a photo of George Floyd, his neck pinned under the knee of police officer Derek Chauvin. George Floyd had supposedly gone to a Minneapolis store known for its low prices to buy menthol cigarettes. Harris deduced that a menthol ban would generate a significant illicit trade in menthol cigarettes, resulting in increased racism and police repression against small, mostly African-American, illegal dealers.

Harris, however, failed to mention that he was a board member of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, an organization that received a third of its funding from Reynolds American in 2019. Attendees were also warned that the $40,000 meal had been paid for by Reynolds.

In 2014, Reverend Al Sharpton similarly used the image of Eric Garner, an illegal cigarette dealer who also died in a police raid in 2014, to call for a halt to the proposed menthol ban, citing a possible upsurge in cigarette trafficking.

Denver Consulting Ballet

Another scene unfolded in Denver, a city that was preparing a ban on flavored tobacco products, including menthol. In October 2021, Wellington Webb, the city's former mayor and still a highly respected local figure, published an op-ed in the press calling for menthol to be removed from the bill, citing the case of Eric Garner. However, the op-ed was removed from the newspaper's website a few weeks later after it was revealed that Webb had become a consultant for Reynolds American.

A member of the committee in charge of this project, Kevin Flynn, was also approached by Denice Edwards, a former Webb collaborator, also a consultant for Reynolds without disclosing it, who silently attended all the committee meetings. In November 2021, Flynn distinguished himself by submitting an amendment proposing to exclude menthol from the flavor ban. However, the amendment was rejected, the committee voted to ban menthol, and Flynn had to justify his meetings with Edwards. The day after the committee vote, another Reynolds Tobacco lobbyist, Art Way, wrote an email to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, asking him to use his veto power, after having flooded him with a dozen other emails on the same subject. The day after this email, Hancock used his veto power for the second time in his term to overturn the committee's decision.[3].

It is therefore by stirring up fears of police violence, galvanizing feelings of social injustice, and asserting that this constitutes discrimination in terms of freedoms that Reynolds recently turned to African-American associations and actors to oppose the ban on menthol flavors. A strategy that is not exclusive to Reynolds, since Altria, the US branch of Philip Morris International, donated US$5 million in 2020 to African-American associations to fight racism and promote social equity.[4].

A market segment closely monitored by cigarette manufacturers

The interest of tobacco companies in African-American organizations is not recent and began in the 1950s, with the civil rights movement. This interest grew during the following decade, with the success of Kool, then Newport, cigarettes among the Black population. This population would be the subject of numerous studies by tobacco companies for several decades.[5], who decoded its cultural constituents, against a backdrop of racist marketing and ideology, the black population being strongly despised by the tobacco industryIt was following the Surgeon General's 1964 report on the harmful effects of tobacco that cigarette manufacturers began to look at new marketing targets, particularly ethnic minorities.

Marketing focused on African-American smokers has been heavily focused on menthol products. For example, manufacturers have offered discounts on these types of cigarettes to stores located in areas with a high concentration of African-Americans, in order to promote this segment by keeping menthol cigarettes low in price. The menthol cigarette market has since become highly ethnicized in the United States, thanks to extensive marketing efforts.[7]. While this type of cigarette is currently consumed by 30% of white smokers, it attracts 85% of black smokers. However, the latter suffer much more quickly than other smokers from the multiple pathologies of tobacco, which has drawn attention to the specific harmfulness of menthol cigarettes.

Not all African-American associations are affiliated with the tobacco industry. The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), for its part, advocates for a ban on the sale of menthol tobacco products without criminalizing users. Along with Action for Smoking and Health (ASH), the AATCLC has also sued the FDA for its inaction on the menthol issue, citing the detriment suffered by the Black minority.[8]Other African-American associations, such as the NAACP or the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which was long funded by the tobacco industry and played a decisive role in 2008 in excluding menthol from a law on flavored tobacco products, have also taken a position in favor of banning menthol.

Menthol, a growth sector and key ingredient in tobacco addiction

Menthol cigarette sales are booming in the United States. They accounted for only 31% of the US market in the 1950s, before taking off in the following decades, particularly since 2000. A rapidly growing segment, which accounted for 27% of the market in 2009, before reaching 36% in 2018.[9]Menthol flavors therefore represent a major challenge for manufacturers and more particularly for Reynolds, manufacturer of the Newport brand which dominates the US market.

The presence of menthol in tobacco has a bronchodilator effect which facilitates the passage of nicotine into the blood and reinforces the addictiveness of tobacco.[10]. For this reason, 90% of the cigarettes in circulation contain menthol, even when they are not labeled as such. Furthermore, menthol reduces the throat irritation caused by tobacco, making it easier for young people to start smoking. Menthol cigarette smokers also have a harder time quitting and resume smoking more quickly if they do quit. These are all reasons that explain the industry's enthusiasm and interest in menthol flavors. Reynolds and Altria reportedly spent US$20 million on the campaign alone to oppose the menthol ban in California.

To learn more about the menthol issue: At the heart of the cigarette manufacturers' strategy: menthol

Keywords: menthol, African Americans, United States, lobbying, Reynolds

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[1] Paid protesters, free lunches and backroom chats: Inside the menthol lobbying machine, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, published October 23, 2020, accessed April 26, 2022.

[2] Roubein R, The Biden administration is about to propose a menthol cigarette ban, The Washington Post, published April 27, 2022, accessed April 28, 2022.

[3] Del Giudice V, Denver Mayor Vetoes Ban on Menthol Cigarettes, Flavored Tobacco, Bloomberg, published December 10, 2021, accessed April 26, 2022.

[4] Racial tensions in the United States serve Philip Morris' image strategy, Generation Without Tobacco, published June 10, 2020, accessed April 26, 2022.

[5] Wailoo K, Pushing Cool. Big Tobacco, Racial Marketing, and the Untold Story of the Menthol Cigarette, Chicago, University Of Chicago Press, 2021.

[6] Proctor R, Golden Holocaust, The Tobacco Industry Conspiracy, Paris, Ed. Equateurs, 2014.

[7] A campaign to denounce the targeting of the black community by the tobacco industry, Generation Without Tobacco, published October 23, 2020, accessed April 26, 2022.

[8] FDA Sued for Inaction on Menthol Ban, Generation Without Tobacco, published June 19, 2020, accessed April 27, 2022.

[9] Flavored and Menthol Tobacco, Tobacco Tactics, published March 8, 2022, accessed April 27, 2022.

[10] At the heart of the cigarette manufacturers' strategy: menthol, Generation Without Tobacco, published May 20, 2020, accessed April 26, 2022.