As New York debates flavored tobacco ban, this Massachusetts law shows promise | Opinion

In proposing to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul aims to curtail the tobacco industry’s most pernicious tactic for targeting and addicting kids, Black people and other communities. Hochul’s plan, which also includes a proposed increase in New York’s cigarette tax, can help create the first tobacco-free generation and save lives for decades to come, especially among Black New Yorkers.

Not surprisingly, the tobacco companies are attacking Hochul’s plan with a fusillade of misleading claims and scare tactics. In particular, they are grossly misrepresenting developments in Massachusetts, which made history by becoming the first state to fully implement a ban on flavored tobacco sales in 2020. In fact, Massachusetts’ positive experience shows why New York can and should move forward with similar action. As former health commissioners in these two states, we want to set the record straight.

Since Massachusetts implemented its law, the state has seen a decline in adult smoking rates and in sales of e-cigarettes and menthol cigarettes, as well as overall cigarette sales. Notably, a recent study in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal found that the law was associated with an additional one percentage point decrease in smoking among adults ages 25 and older, compared to states without flavor restrictions.  

Importantly, the law did not cause the doom-and-gloom outcomes predicted by the tobacco industry. It did not lead to a substantial increase in cross-border sales, has not put retail stores out of business, and has not resulted in more negative community interactions with police.

A JAMA Network Open study found the drop in cigarette sales in Massachusetts far exceeded any increase in border states, with a net decrease of 2.32 million packs per month in the first 13 months after the law was implemented. Another study concluded the law had “no significant impact on cross-border sales in neighboring states where menthol cigarettes are sold.”

In addition, data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health shows that the number of tobacco retailers did not decrease between February 2020 and April 2022. This is consistent with other research showing that when tobacco users quit because of strong policies, the money spent on tobacco products in retail stores, instead of disappearing from the local economy, simply shifts to consumer spending on other products or services.

In effect since June 2020, the Massachusetts policy shows no evidence of a cynical argument shamelessly adopted by the tobacco industry to stoke fears in minority communities — that banning sales of menthol cigarettes will increase negative interactions with law enforcement. Like the proposed New York legislation, the Massachusetts law focuses enforcement on retailers, not individuals, and does not prohibit the purchase, use or possession of tobacco products. To date, there have been no reports of individuals being questioned, cited, arrested or otherwise harassed by law enforcement because of the Massachusetts law; officials are tracking these trends carefully.

The tobacco industry wants to distract New York legislators from the devastating toll of flavored tobacco products, especially menthol cigarettes, on kids and the Black community.

Research shows that nearly 80% of all U.S. kids who currently use tobacco reported using flavored products. Menthol cools the throat and reduces the harshness of cigarette smoke, so it’s not surprising that fully half of all kids who have ever tried smoking cigarettes started with menthol.

In addition, Big Tobacco has spent billions of dollars over the past 60 years to deliberately target Black Americans, through sponsorship of community and music events, free samples of cigarettes, magazine advertising, retail promotions and other tactics. This predatory marketing has had deadly consequences: Today, 85% of Black smokers use menthol cigarettes — compared to less than 10% in the 1950s — while only 30% of White smokers use them. Cigarettes, menthols in particular, kill 45,000 Black people each year, and they die at higher rates from tobacco-related diseases like cancer, heart disease and stroke.

The opening years of Massachusetts’ historic experience demonstrate that bans on flavored tobacco products can improve public health without exacerbating or increasing interactions between law enforcement and individual smokers. New York can make history too. As New York legislators consider adopting a similar law, they should heed the evidence, not the fears being peddled by the tobacco industry.

Bassett is the former commissioner of the New York State Department of Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Koh is theformer United States Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the former commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Health.