Councilmember Joseph stood alongside civil rights, religious and community leaders from the NAACP, Arc of Justice, African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and more, to send a resounding message to the NYC Council: though Big Tobacco remains committed to addicting New Yorkers to menthol cigarettes, advocates will continue to fight to save lives and lungs from the harms of menthols
In fact, because the filter causes the smoker to inhale more deeply and more frequently to obtain the needed nicotine and the flavor, thus increasing exposure to poison gases like carbon monoxide, cyanide, and ammonia, filtered cigarettes increase the risk of emphysema, lung cancer, and heart disease
When California enacted its menthol ban in December 2022, the big tobacco companiesRJ Reynolds (makers of Newport menthol cigarettes) and ITG (makers of Kool menthol cigarettes)introduced non-menthol cigarette brands as menthol substitutes, with very similar packaging and marketing strategies as their menthol counterparts
Nonetheless, this article demonstrates that there are simple solutions to stop it from occurring in the first place
