The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gave over $600,000 to Rutgers for a study on the effects of “anti-disinformation” messages about menthol cigarettes in the African-American community starting in July, according to a government website.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed banning menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in April 2022 to increase “health equity,” and soon after, the tobacco industry “promulgated disinformation in African American communities,” according to the grant’s abstract. The study proposes to use a four-step process to study how “anti-disinformation messages” affect African Americans’ views of the proposed FDA ban. (RELATED: ‘Very, Very Significant’: A Quiet New Move Could Spell Disaster For Biden With Black Voters)
“The tobacco industry and its sources promulgated disinformation in African American communities about the increased criminalization and police discrimination for using tobacco products when the rules are enforced,” the study’s abstract reads.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 09: People hold signs during a rally for the George Floyd Policing Act and Say ‘No To The Menthol Ban’ on the steps of City Hall on March 09, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The study will take a four-step approach, including “community-based participatory research methods,” and characterizing the tobaccos industry rhetoric, and tracking participants feelings about the ban, according to the grant. It will then use the information learned about participants feelings to conduct randomized testing and evaluate the effectiveness of the “anti-disinformation” campaign.
“African Americans have high rates of menthol cigarette and flavored cigar use, which likely contributes to their disproportionate experience of tobacco-related health conditions,” the study’s abstract reads.
Over 18 million Americans smoke menthol cigarettes, and a ban would reduce tobacco-related deaths in the country, according to the FDA. Between 1980 and 2018, 40% of excess deaths from menthol cigarette smoking were African Americans.
The FDA sent a final draft of the menthol cigarette ban to the White House on Oct 13. The information learned in the study will help guide the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products Communication Office and local public health departments’ approach to communicating about the proposed ban to African Americans, according to the grant. The grant’s funding started July 19, 2023, and is slated to end Jan. 31, 2028.
“The FDA does not regulate the possession of tobacco products by individuals for personal use and the proposed rules do not prohibit individual consumer possession or use of menthol cigarettes or make it a crime. In other words, the proposed rules would affect commercial activity: manufacture, importation, distribution and sale of these products. Moreover, state and local law enforcement do not enforce the tobacco authorities in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and so could not enforce such rules on FDA’s behalf,” the FDA told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“We take very seriously the concerns that have been raised about discriminatory policing. Addressing racial bias in policing is a priority for this administration,” the FDA continued.
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