Eric Garner’s mother Gwen Carr urges Senator Schumer to oppose Biden’s menthol cigarette ban: 'Could hurt blacks and Hispanics’
STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK: Gwen Carr, Eric Garner's mother, wrote to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on November 9, asking him to oppose the Biden administration's proposed menthol cigarette ban.
Carr claims the ban will result in "increased negative encounters with police in communities of color."
Eric Garner died in July 2014 after an NYPD officer put him in an illegal chokehold while attempting to arrest the 43-year-old Staten Island resident for selling untaxed cigarettes.
President Biden's Food and Drug Administration announced in April 2021 a proposed federal rule to restrict minty cigarettes and flavored cigars, both of which are disproportionately popular among black smokers.
What did Gwen Carr say in her letter to Chuck Schumer?
Gwen Carr wrote in a November 9 letter to the New York Senator, “Senator Schumer, you have been a longstanding advocate for the people of New York and have shown a commitment to tackling tough issues with both courage and compassion.”
“It is with respect for your role and faith in your leadership that I urge you to lend your voice to those of us who harbor legitimate concerns about the FDA’s proposed menthol ban.” she continued.
She said, “I do not encourage, support, or promote smoking. However, while the intentions behind the FDA’s proposed menthol cigarette ban are to improve the health of Black people, the potential for it to hurt Blacks and Hispanics cannot be overlooked.”
“A ban on these products risks creating an illicit market, which could, in turn, lead to increased negative encounters with police in communities of color,” Carr noted.
She also wrote, “We have seen the dangerous interactions that can occur when the sale of loose cigarettes is criminalized, as was tragically the case with my son, Eric. I am afraid that well-intentioned policies, without thorough and inclusive study, may ultimately serve to make systemic inequities worse.”
“I, along with other members of affected communities of color, propose that the Biden-Harris Administration and its allies in Congress take a step back to review the implications of a menthol ban,” Carr concluded in her letter to Schumer.
What was Chuck Schumer’s response?
Senator Chuck Schumer’s spokesman Angelo Roefaro told The Post in a statement, “For nearly a decade, Senator Schumer has led the fight against marketers and e-cig makers that use child-friendly flavors and marketing tactics to peddle their dangerous products to children.”
The FDA has sent its final rule for the ban of menthol cigarettes to the White House's Office of Management and Budget for review on October 13, 2023.
This indicates that the menthol mandate is in its final stages of approval. According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)'s website, regulatory interviews are still planned to discuss the rule over the next three months.
As per a source, the change could be implemented as early as November 15, which is a day before the American Cancer Society's ‘Great American Smokeout’, an event that encourages citizens to quit smoking.
David Ozgo, President of the Cigar Association of America, has presented evidence to the Biden administration.
Ozgo claims that the proposed ban on flavored cigars not only falls outside the scope of the Tobacco Control Act but also has “little or no public health benefit.”
Ozgo said in a press release, “FDA claims the product standard will reduce youth usage of cigars and that prohibiting flavored cigars will address health disparities in minority adult subpopulations,”
However, the Cigar Association of America has presented government data that demonstrates that neither of these claims is true.
Ozgo also mentioned that police departments are reluctant to enforce a crime with “no victim.”
According to him, the police officers would rather not start with tobacco after just finishing policing marijuana.
“These people have just gotten done policing marijuana,” he told The Post. “The last thing police officers want to do is start up with tobacco.”