As a doctor, I’ve been working with patients in Hawaii for more than 20 years. Each year, I sadly see more and more residents with nicotine addiction.

In late April, we saw a national push from the Biden administration to take action against menthol cigarettes. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would initiate rulemaking to prohibit menthol cigarettes within the following year. The evidence is clear that this is a step in the right direction.

According to the 2018 World Health Organization’s “Case Studies for Regulatory Approaches to Tobacco Product: Menthol in Tobacco Products,” menthol’s anesthetic and cooling qualities allow smokers to inhale much more deeply, causing harmful particles to settle deeper inside the lungs. The cooling effect of menthol makes it easier to start and harder to quit.

Menthol-flavored tobacco products affect two main groups: minorities and youth. Research of tobacco industry documents has shown that for 60 years, the industry has deliberately targeted the Black community and that those tactics created generations of loyal and addicted users. Now, 85% of Black smokers use menthol cigarettes, compared to less than 10% in the 1950s.

In Hawaii, we also have seen and felt this targeting strategy. The tobacco industry used the same menthol playbook in Hawaii for many decades and used aspects of Hawaii’s culture as a marketing strategy. The tobacco-related health disparities we see in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities is not a coincidence.

According to the 2010 “Report on Smoking and Tobacco Use in Hawaii,” by the state Department of Health, 78% of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders who smoke use menthol cigarettes. Native Hawaiian and Filipinos die from lung cancer at higher rates than others here in Hawaii. Although the overall smoking prevalence among Native Hawaiians and Caucasians is slowly decreasing, it has been steadily increasing among Filipinos and people who designate their ethnicity as “Other.”

Due to the “success” in marketing to various minority audiences in Hawaii, the tobacco industry has deemed the state a “menthol market.” That is not something we should be proud of or strive toward.

Some may be concerned that the FDA’s menthol ban could criminalize smoking and might cause more police harassment toward minority communities. However, the FDA states that any ban on menthol cigarettes will not criminalize the use of the product or lead to law-enforcement action against smokers. Any ban would only apply to manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers (not to individual consumers).

Other flavored cigarettes were banned in the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act; however, menthol was exempted from the law. Knowing the Biden administration and the FDA will be moving to finally close the door on menthol, Hawaii should continue to advocate for the end of all flavored tobacco products — including e-cigarettes, which unfortunately are creating an entirely new generation of smokers.

We need to protect our residents and act now to stop tobacco companies from hooking more of our loved ones to a lifetime of addiction and health problems. I don’t want to end up treating more people from a preventable addiction and watch as people continue to die from tobacco-related illnesses every year.

I urge our political leaders and decision-makers to support a ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products next year. We must be proactive about tobacco prevention and cessation before it’s too late.