No Menthol Buffalo launches campaign

BUFFALO, NY — The No Menthol Buffalo Coalition has launched a campaign to ban the sale of menthol-flavored tobacco in the city of Buffalo.

“It’s just a product that, if you use it correctly, will kill you,” said George Nicholas of Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church and CEO of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity.

The coalition announced a Menthol-Free Sunday on May 19 at local churches to raise awareness.

This comes as President Joe Biden’s administration announced delayed action by the Food and Drug Administration on the sale of menthol cigarettes.

“It’s not hyperbole for me to say this is a matter of life and death,” Nicholas said. “We say that all the time, right? But for that, the data, the statistics show us that this product really kills.

Smoking claims the lives of 28,000 New Yorkers each year in the form of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and emphysema, according to Dr. Maansi Bansal-Travers, associate professor of oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

She said that thanks to targeted advertising, Black Americans are 11 times more likely to smoke menthols in New York.

“Even though they’re easier to use, they’re harder to stop,” Bansal-Travers said.

Anyone trying to quit smoking can contact the NYS Smokers’ Quitline at 1-866-697-8487 or text “QUITNOW” to 333-888.