Daughter: Targeted advertisements lead to my mom's 'early, yet slow, death'
Mom's death still haunts me
Like many Black kids of the 1970s, my mom, Kathy Jean, was introduced to smoking cigarettes through targeted advertisements in her neighborhood and a middle school boyfriend. They killed her shortly after her 61st birthday.
My mom could go years without picking up a cigarette, but one stressful workday was enough to relapse. Up until her death, there were varying degrees of begging, fighting, pleading, gums, patches, medication, support groups and more. Nothing stuck.
More: Hightower: Tobacco industry's racist tactics enticing Black people with Menthol cigarettes
While my mom fell victim to the menthol movement, that is, using menthol flavoring to initiate nicotine addiction. She wasn’t the only one. Nearly 9 in 10 Black youth ages 12 and older who smoke use menthol cigarettes, along with 85% all Black smokers. Higher amounts of menthol flavor make cigarettes taste less harsh, appealing to new smokers and young people.
I had spent 25 years willing her—imploring her—to quit.
One desperate daughter’s efforts will never be enough. I am haunted by knowing how smoking leads to an early, yet slow, death. It’s time for nicotine addiction to receive the same attention as its illegal counterparts. Systemic reform is necessary.
More: Former Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman has personal reason to seek menthol cigarette ban
Legislation to lift the tobacco purchase age from 18 to 21 sparked a movement to ban flavored tobacco including menthols. This initiative needs traction, funding, and commitment.
Because while my mom never stopped smoking, she never stopped trying to quit either – and our policies should not quit on Black women like her.
Hope A. Lane-Gavin, The Center for Community Solutions, Fellow, Health Equity
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'Fact-free activist' wrong about natural gas
Steve Rissing's June 26 column, "Natural gas is cleaner than coal, but that's not saying very much," criticizing Congressman Troy Balderson for proposing the House recognize natural gas as a green and clean energy source quoted a line from “Promises” by Eric Clapton: " I’ve got a woman calling love hate."
Clapton’s song also includes the line, “Keep on rowin' away on a distant sea,” which is a perfect metaphor for the tired, fact-free activist position that natural gas is not a clean energy solution. This disingenuous fear-mongering ignores the fact that natural gas helped the U.S. lower emissions more than any other nation over the past two decades.
More: Balderson: Tone deaf green-at-all-cost argument empowered Putin. It is bad for Ohio
As a net exporter of natural gas, our allies substitute this for higher carbon fuels abroad. Moreover, the lower carbon content makes carbon capture and storage easier; that’s useful as the world seeks deeper decarbonization.
Further, consider that Ohio’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 20% even as the state’s natural gas output surged almost 3,000% over two decades, an analysis by Consumer Energy Alliance found.
As opposed to the author’s contention, even the U.S. EPA notes that methane emissions associated with natural gas and oil output declined by nearly a quarter from 1990-2018. Plus, oil and natural gas companies representing 70% of our onshore production are striving to reduce methane emissions in every major U.S. basin, too.
We hope Balderson receives bipartisan approval for his house resolution. It’s the right move for our environment and especially for consumers who are paying far too much because of wrong-headed energy policies.
Chris Ventura, Ohio State Director, Consumer Energy Alliance
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Letters: 'Fact-free activist' wrong about natural gas
