Broad access to e-cigarettes and vaping products is critical to advancing harm reduction and health equity among Black and LGBTQ+ communities.
Our mission is simple but important: to promote multinational Black and LGBTQ+ individuals, allies, and community-based organizations dedicated to achieving equality and social justice for our communities through economic, health, and social equity.
We have partnered with Dr. Robert J. Shapiro, a noted economist and advisor to three Democratic presidential administrations, in creating a groundbreaking new study that will advance national health equity conversations on the critically important topic of tobacco harm reduction.
Dr. Shapiro’s first-of-its-kind analysis, available at the download link below, presents compelling new evidence that quantifies the economic benefits and improved health outcomes across demographic groups of switching from smoking to vaping. Among the key findings are that, between 2010 and 2022, the availability of vaping products:
Saved 113,000 lives
Preserved $137 billion in GDP
Prevented $39 billion in healthcare costs
Reduced the number of smokers in the U.S. by 6.1 million
It is well documented that the principal victims of smoking-related deaths are marginalized populations, and tobacco use is a critical topic for the CBE, as Black and LGBTQ+ communities smoke at disproportionately high rates.
More vaping means less smoking, and less smoking means less cancer for Black and LGBTQ+ Americans. Dr. Shapiro’s research details that the benefits of shifting from smoking to vaping will be felt most acutely among the communities most at risk and whom the CBE serves – Black and LGBTQ+ populations.
Download the report authored by Dr. Robert J. Shapiro that quantifies the economic benefits and improved health outcomes across demographic groups of switching from smoking to vaping.
E-Cigarettes and Vaping Products are Critical Tools for Harm Reduction, Particularly for Black and LGBTQ+ Individuals Who Smoke at Disproportionately High Rates.
“Across hundreds of peer-reviewed studies of the physiological effects of vaping, little evidence has emerged that e-cigarettes pose any substantial health risks, especially compared to smoking cigarettes. … There is substantial scientific evidence that vaping can help people cut down or stop smoking. ”
“The FDA and the Center for Tobacco Products have an obligation to support harm-reduction and health equity…and must acknowledge the evidence-based benefits of switching from smoking to vaping….”
The science is clear: broad approval of e-cigarette and vaping products, including flavored vaping products, will save lives, reduce smoking rates, and drive meaningful progress in lowering preventable cancer rates in the U.S. across demographics, and especially for Black and LGBTQ+ populations.
The principal victims of smoking-related deaths are marginalized populations. Smoking is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, and accounts for 90% of all lung cancer diagnoses, and Black and LGBTQ+ individuals smoke and suffer from cancer at disproportionately higher rates than their white and straight counterparts.
Current U.S. Food and Drug Administration Regulations Effectively Outlaw Vaping Products and Prevent Access to Critical Harm-Reduction by Marginalized Populations.
“In practice, the FDA has rejected virtually all applications for vaping products and devices.”
“If the Biden administration and the FDA are serious about health equity and harm reduction, the science is clear: broad approval of flavored vaping products will save Black and LGBTQ+ lives, reduce smoking, and drive meaningful progress in lowering preventable cancer rates in the U.S., especially among the most vulnerable populations.”
Out of the 1.2 million e-cigarette product applications formally reviewed by the FDA, just 23 related products – including only eight individual vaping devices, all made by Big Tobacco – have been technically approved for sale. At the same time, the FDA approved 900 new cigarettes during the same period.
Supporting access to a variety of nicotine harm-reduction productions – including flavored vaping products – is consistent with science-based harm reduction and health equity strategies that will lead to more adults quitting smoking, result in fewer cancer diagnoses, and will eliminate the most preventable and persistent cause of cancer in the U.S.
The FDA and the Center for Tobacco Products Must Approve a Wide Range of E-Cigarettes to Ensure Black and LGBTQ+ Americans Can Access Effective Tobacco Harm-Reduction Options.
“The single most effective way to help people stop smoking, which kills 480,000 people per year, is to encourage them to switch to vaping, which kills no people per year.”
“Failure to approve a wide range of vaping products is an abdication by the FDA of its public health responsibility to Black and LGBTQ+ individuals across the country who desperately want to access a way to quit smoking that actually works. ”
The FDA and the Center for Tobacco Products have an obligation to follow the science and, in doing so, support harm reduction and health equity strategies for Black and LGBTQ+ populations. The FDA must acknowledge the evidence-based benefits of switching from smoking to vaping and aggressively educate Black, LGBTQ+, and other smokers about those benefits.
The Center for Black Equity calls on the FDA and the Center for Tobacco Products to grant broad approval for a full range of nicotine e-cigarettes and vaping products in a major step toward closing the significant harm-reduction and health equity gaps perpetuated by current FDA tobacco policies.