What Does Menthol Have to Do with It? Everything!
Tobacco and Social Injustice - A Soiree
WHO: The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC)
WHAT: An evening reception to update tobacco control advocates, local community members, and the media on the national movement to prohibit the sale of menthol and other flavored tobacco products. From Chicago to San Francisco, local municipalities across the country are taking action and doing what the FDA will not: prohibit/restrict the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.
Attendees will learn the latest on how these tobacco products contribute to the social injustices facing African Americans and other marginalized communities. Attendees will also learn how the tobacco industry uses national African American organizations as front groups to diffuse efforts to regulate menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.
WHERE: The Hilton Hotel-Austin
500 East 4th Street
Meeting Rm. 412
Austin, TX 78701
WHEN: Thursday, March 23, 2017
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
WHY: Why do over 80% of Black smokers smoke mentholated tobacco products?Since the Civil Rights Era, Big Tobacco companies have perniciously targeted the African American Community with mentholated tobacco products. These marketing campaigns included dumping cheap products in our communities, giving away free cigarettes to children, and cultivating relationships with the Black press and leadership groups.
45,000 African Americans die annually from tobacco related diseases - more than police-involved shootings, homicides, AIDS, car accidents, diabetes; and all other preventable causes of death combined.
The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council is calling for the greater tobacco control community to work strategically to restrict the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products. All communities should be healthy and prosperous.
Presented in Partnership with:
AATCLC -The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), a collective of tobacco control experts dedicated to research, community collaboration and public engagement, is working to stop the 45, 000 preventable deaths of African Americans due to tobacco related diseases.
Available for on-going print, radio, television and Internet interviews:
Carol McGruder, AATCLC Co-Chair
Phillip Gardiner, Dr.PH, AATCLC Co-Chair
Valerie Yerger, ND, University California, San Francisco
Contact: Jackie Wright
