Opinion: How does Tobacco industry target bisexual women, lesbian – The Columbus Dispatch

• Columbus City Council is being asked to ban the sale of menthol and flavored tobacco products.

Joanne G. Patterson is assistant professor for The Ohio State University College of Public Health Division of Health Behavior and Health Promotion.

I vividly remember hitting my first cigarette.

I was 19 years old and coming to terms with my own sexual orientation, trying to figure out how to tell my parents I was LGBTQ.

I lived in a state where being a member of the LBGTQ community wasn’t accepted. I knew LGBTQ individuals who’d been bullied, beaten up, and rejected by family members.

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I was scared.

My first drag was short. The smoke hit the back of my throat, smoothed out by the cool menthol.

My head buzzed, and as I exhaled smoke from my lungs, my shoulders relaxed. For the duration of that menthol cigarette, I let the fear go, but I kept smoking for years.

I smoked to relieve stress. I smoked to socialize. I smoked because I had easy access to cheap — or free — cigarettes handed out at local bars and gas stations around our college campus. I smoked because nicotine is addictive.

My story isn’t unique.

In 2020, 25% of lesbian, gay, or bisexual adults used tobacco, compared to 19% of heterosexual adults. LGBTQ youth are also prey to Big Tobacco: In 2021, 17% of lesbian, gay, or bisexual high school students used tobacco—compared to 11% of their heterosexual peers.

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Menthol cigarette use is especially high in the LGBTQ community, especially among women: lesbian and bisexual women begin smoking at younger ages than heterosexual women and a majority use menthols as their first cigarette.

By adulthood, 56% of lesbian and bisexual women smokers use menthols, compared to 44% of heterosexual women smokers. Tobacco is the leading cause of death in the United States — and menthol cigarettes contribute to that burden, especially for lesbian and bisexual women.

Women like me.

The tobacco industry began targeting LGBTQ Americans in the 1990s.

Ads depicting LGBTQ people using tobacco proliferated in LGBTQ print media and have since moved to Internet retailers and social media. Slogans such as “Take Pride in Your Flavor” are paired with iconic rainbow imagery.

Over time, tobacco companies have taken predatory marketing one step further by sponsoring Pride parades, donating to LGBTQ causes, and promoting brands and flavors, including menthol, in LGBTQ bars and clubs.

This is concerning because young people exposed to predatory tobacco marketing are more likely to start using tobacco, and repeated exposure to tobacco marketing reinforces continued smoking among adults.

I know from my own experience that, once hooked, it’s hard to quit smoking. This is especially true for LGBTQ people, who report smoking to relieve stress arising from discrimination and victimization, which is also a barrier to quitting.

Discrimination plays out in the places where LGBTQ Americans live, work, and seek healthcare —and is codified in our laws and policies. Until recently, LGBTQ Americans were not protected in the workplace and, today, over a third of states lack policy protections for housing and public accommodations. All of these stressors reinforce smoking, including menthol and flavored tobacco use, in the LGBTQ community.

Ending the sale of flavored tobacco, and especially menthol cigarettes, could dramatically reduce smoking rates among LGBTQ Americans.

A ban on menthol, for example, could deter LGBTQ youth from trying cigarettes for the first time.

It could also reduce the appeal of continued smoking for established menthol users, encouraging them to shift away from combustible tobacco. While the Food and Drug Administration intends to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, it could take years before they can successfully enact and enforce such measures.

Local government can take decisive action to restrict the sale of flavored and menthol tobacco products—protecting our most vulnerable communities from tobacco use.

The Coalition to End Tobacco Targeting is petitioning our city’s leaders to protect the Columbus community — including LGBTQ and other historically marginalized groups who’ve been targeted by the tobacco industry — by ending the sale of flavored tobacco.

Local tobacco control efforts to restrict flavored tobacco sales are just the beginning.

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To completely eliminate high rates of tobacco use among LGBTQ youth and adults, we must address root causes.

This will require our leaders to implement policies to eliminate LGBTQ discrimination, deter predatory marketing, and increase access to LGBTQ culturally competent services for LGBTQ smokers who are ready to quit.

Columbus can be a leader in reducing tobacco disparities; banning menthol and flavored tobacco products is the first step.Joanne G. Patterson is assistant professor for The Ohio State University College of Public Health Division of Health Behavior and Health Promotion.