Georgia advocates warn of rising tobacco risks after CDC closes smoking and health office

The Great American Smokeout, an annual event to encourage people to quit smoking, starts Thursday, and Georgia organizations said their work is more important than ever.

The Office of Smoking and Health was recently dismantled at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, causing the end of the nation’s leading public health authority on tobacco research and prevention. This is creating new gaps in support for organizations like No Menthol Movement ATL.

Nearly one in five adults in Georgia uses tobacco, and more than 18% of high school students also report using it, according to Public News Service.

D’Jillisser Kelly, lead project coordinator for No Menthol Movement ATL, told the Public News Service that menthol products are made to hide the taste and to be addictive.

“More than ever right now, we have to continue to be boots on the ground,” Kelly stressed. “We are being informative, we’re educating, and we’re training our young ones up to be able to advocate.”

Kelly said the African American community has been specifically targeted with marketing strategies, which has had extreme negative consequences.

“Eighty-five percent of African Americans use menthol cigarettes, and that was by design,” Kelly contended. “The industry has been targeting our communities for numerous of years from the 1960s all the way to where we are now.”

The No Menthol Movement ATL was launched in 2020, and Kelly said the need for their work is growing.

In the American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control report, Georgia received failing grades in all categories, and tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in Georgia, killing nearly 12,000 people a year.

No Menthol Movement ATL will host its “Amp Up the Block” event Nov. 20 to mark the Great American Smokeout at the West End Library from 3-5 p.m.