My grandfather once told me that to know a good cigar and what to do with it is a sign of maturity. Over the course of my adult life, I have met people from all walks of life and know a good cigar can level the playing field among all races and classes of people.
It is an opportunity to get together with a group of friends and fellow cigar enthusiasts for an evening of conversation and fellowship. Cigars have a way of bringing people together.
THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE MUST JUSTIFY HUNTER'S SPECIAL TREATMENT
Ninety-nine percent of my fellow cigar enthusiasts smoke only occasionally, enjoying the aroma and flavor of a good cigar. I was therefore very disappointed to learn that the Food and Drug Administration has proposed a ban on flavored cigars, which I enjoy on occasion.
The FDA claims the proposed flavor cigar ban is designed to address health disparities among certain adult subpopulations, including minority groups, and prevent youth usage of cigars. While FDA’s goal is noble, I doubt that the draconian flavored cigar ban will have any real impact on the health of minorities or further reduce already historically minuscule minority youth usage rates.
In my four decades spent as both a pastor and as a youth development specialist in Washington, D.C., I’ve seen many young people smoking blunts, cigarettes, and the like. But rarely — and I do mean rarely — have I seen minority youth smoke cigars, flavored or otherwise. So, a flavor ban cannot have much of an impact on youth usage, and there are much larger, more important problems that contribute to health disparities.
While youth cigar smoking is a rarity, I can attest to the fact nutrition is, perhaps, the most important driver of good health. Unfortunately, in 2021, 19.7% of black and 16.6% of Hispanic households experienced “food insecurity.” This compares to 6.7% of white families.
Lower income is undoubtedly one of the drivers behind this health inequity. Another problem is simply a lack of access to grocery stores, farmers markets, or restaurants in some minority communities. Such areas are known as food deserts, and an estimated 1 in 5 black families live in a food desert.
After nutrition, the second-biggest factor driving health disparities is access to medical care. This, of course, is a very complicated topic. But the fact that 63% of black adults believe a major cause of health inequalities is lack of access to quality medical care speaks volumes.
Ultimately, banning flavored cigars to reduce minority health disparities is the lowest priority on a large list of more important items. It is a “feel good” gesture, allowing those charged with improving public health to say they “did something.” It will, however, be a gesture worthless to those whom the FDA is “trying” to help.
In fact, it’s common knowledge that vaping has become the habit of choice among young people, especially minority groups. But adult cigar enthusiasts are not like those who vape.
Nevertheless, the FDA has taken that pathway and lumped adult cigar smokers into its anti-vaping crusade. Their proposed flavored cigar ban will merely deprive adult consumers of their right to purchase and enjoy a legal product.
Meanwhile, I understand that hookahs are often given an exemption from tobacco flavor bans in states and localities that have imposed their own flavor bans. This is because hookah smoking is important to Arab cultures. I fully support such exemptions on cultural grounds. An occasional flavored cigar is part of my culture.
As the co-chairman of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Clergy of the Leaf, I get together with colleagues and friends and enjoy cigars, flavored or otherwise — we entertain, educate, and support one another. Indeed, cigar smoking cuts across so many differences and becomes a bridge-builder for relationships across cultures and continents.
I think it is great that the FDA would like to reduce minority health disparities. But rather than ban flavored cigars, imposing an undue prohibition on adults of all backgrounds, the agency should enact policies that would actually move the needle on health disparities.
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Joseph K. Williams, a youth and community development expert, was a pastor at Temple Mission Baptist Church and a senior pastor at Cathedral Assembly of Reconciliation, both in the District of Columbia. He is the author of Move the Needle.