It was early 2001 — just over a year after Coleman had been elected to his first term as mayor — when his security team escorted him through the side door of OhioHealth Grant Medical Center. Sick and eager to avoid the media’s attention, Coleman was suffering from a severe throat infection, caused by his constant menthol cigarette smoking. He could barely breathe.
He recalled hearing doctors discuss the possibility of giving him a tracheotomy — a procedure where a breathing tube is inserted into the neck — or putting him on a ventilator. At that moment, he feared for his life.
“I begged them: ‘Don’t give me a tracheotomy — I’m just getting started,'” Coleman said. “I’ve got so much to do in life, and I’m a new mayor.”
While lying in that hospital bed, struggling to breathe, Coleman made a promise to God: if he survived the night, he would quit smoking for good.
“From that moment on, I never smoked another cigarette,” Coleman said. “I didn’t want to be around it anymore.”
A legacy of targeting
Today, Coleman considers himself a victim of the tobacco industry’s historical targeting of the Black community with advertisements for menthol-flavored tobacco.
In 1950, less than 10% of Black smokers used menthol cigarettes, according to Stopping Menthol, Saving Lives. Today, that number has risen to 85%.
Menthol is a common cigarette flavor that adds a minty taste, reducing the irritation and harshness of smoking, making it easier to inhale and potentially increasing nicotine’s addictive effects, according to the FDA.
Coleman first started smoking at 17. He remembers being bombarded with ads aimed at getting him hooked on menthol cigarettes while attending the University of Cincinnati.
“I remember free cigarettes being passed around in small packages, maybe three or four per pack,” Coleman said.
Victor Davis, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Columbus, also remembers how, growing up in North Carolina, menthol cigarette ads and free events like concerts and giveaways were prevalent.
From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, Brown & Williamson (the original manufacturers of Kool menthol cigarettes) held free jazz concerts and other promotional events to attract African Americans, according to Finding the Kool Mixx.
“I can’t think of more people (from my childhood) that didn’t smoke,” Davis said. “Most people in my family smoked.”
Coleman shared that the culture of menthol cigarette smoking was pervasive when he was a young adult.
“And it was just… you know, people at dances and parties, having a cigarette — and having Kool, K-O-O-L,” Coleman said. “I mean, who doesn’t want to be cool? They even called the cigarette ‘cool.’”
Recognizing a problem
Coleman had been Columbus City Council president for three years when he won his first mayoral election in 1999. At the time, he was smoking more than a pack of menthol cigarettes a day. While many knew he smoked, he was hiding his habit during his campaign.
It wasn’t until he was hospitalized that Coleman realized he felt victimized by the companies that marketed menthol cigarettes to the Black community.
“I started thinking about ‘How did I end up here like this? Why did I end up like this?’” Coleman reflected. “How did I become addicted the way I was?”
Imperial Tobacco Group (ITG Brands), which now owns the Kool cigarette brand, declined to comment on marketing actions taken by previous owners but affirmed they do not target any demographic group.
“We take our commitment as a responsible manufacturer of tobacco products seriously and do not target any individual demographic group as part of our marketing practices,” said ITG Brands spokesperson Alexandra Wich.
Advocates for banning flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, point to the rise in Black and young smokers as a direct result of marketing campaigns. According to the CDC, Black adults have the highest percentage of menthol cigarette use among all racial and ethnic groups.
A growing movement for change
Among adult Black smokers, 85% preferred menthol cigarettes, according to a 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Additionally, more than 70% of Black youth (ages 12-17) who smoke use menthol cigarettes, the CDC reported.
To combat this, Coleman has teamed up with the Coalition to End Tobacco Targeting, a group focused on supporting Columbus in enacting legislation to end the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes.
Sales restrictions on flavored tobacco products, including menthol, are gaining momentum at local and state levels. The Truth Initiative, an anti-tobacco advocacy group, reports that 361 localities and three Native American tribes have placed some type of restriction on flavored tobacco products, with 108 bans on menthol.
The Coalition has partnered with organizations like the Columbus Urban League and Columbus NAACP.
The impact of e-cigarettes and youth use
Amanda Turner, executive director of the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation/Tobacco 21, also part of the coalition, has documented a rise in teen nicotine use, partly due to flavored e-cigarettes.
“In 2021, 2.55 million students reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days,” Turner said. “It’s obvious — where they used to have candy, that’s where they now have these devices.”
The FDA has expressed concerns about the need for more regulation on menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products. In April, the FDA proposed a ban on menthol cigarette and flavored cigar sales, aiming to prevent youth smoking initiation and save lives. The FDA estimates that between 324,000 and 654,000 smoking-related deaths could be prevented over 40 years, with 92,000 to 238,000 of those among African Americans.
A step toward racial equity
In 2020, Columbus City Council declared racism a public health crisis, emphasizing the need to improve health and quality of life for minority residents. Coleman believes that addressing flavored tobacco is a critical step toward honoring that commitment.
“Racism is a public health crisis — well, this is where the rubber meets the road,” Coleman said. “As a victim, I can describe how I was targeted, and the Black community continues to be targeted.”
Dr. Mysheika Roberts, Columbus Health Department commissioner, emphasized the health disparities caused by smoking, particularly among marginalized communities.
“Smoking is harmful for everyone, but especially for minority communities who are disproportionately targeted with menthol and flavored tobaccos,” Roberts said. “There is no helpful benefit to smoking tobacco.”
Building a coalition for change
The coalition’s work is still in its early stages, and proposed legislation has yet to be drafted. However, the goal is to regulate tobacco sales, not criminalize possession. “Police will have no role — zero — in any of this,” Coleman said.
Retailers, like Alex Boehnke from the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, support consistent statewide regulations but warn that a patchwork of local laws could create an unregulated, illegal market for flavored tobacco products.
“The demand for these products could drive them underground,” Boehnke said.
A spokesperson for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, which manufactures Newport cigarettes and once made Kool cigarettes, argued that evidence from Canada and Europe shows little impact on cigarette consumption from similar bans. The company believes harm reduction efforts are a better focus than banning menthol cigarettes.
A call for action
Members of the coalition continue to push for a ban, driven by the knowledge of the harm tobacco causes in communities.
“It’s terrifying as a parent when you hear about e-cigarettes being found in elementary and middle schools,” Turner said.
Davis emphasized the importance of taking action to create a healthier community. “This is not just an economic issue — it’s a health crisis.”
As the coalition moves forward, Coleman is reminded of his own life-changing experience.
“This is one of the most important things I’ve worked on,” he said. “But this is about saving lives, saving generations in both Black and white communities. This impacts everybody.”
