Assignment task: Partnership to End Addiction applauds the Biden Administration's announcement of a nationwide ban on menthol cigarettes. This long overdue but welcome development will help prevent countless young people from using nicotine products. Menthol is the flavor that most commonly draws them to smoking and other forms of nicotine use. Likewise, this move will block decades-old aggressive marketing tactics by the tobacco industry, which specifically targets Black Americans with menthol products, contributing to the vast racial health disparities we see in this country today. Concerns about racial inequities in policing that might be triggered by this ban can and should be addressed through comprehensive criminal justice reform, not by allowing products that disproportionately harm youth and Black people to remain on the market.
Your journal entries should be thoughtful critiques of the briefs and their application to social work practice. Each critique should address the following prompts:
Q1. What is the relevant issue(s) for social work?
Q2. Why is this issue(s) relevant?
Q3. Using examples from your work, practicum, or life experience, what are the implications of this issue(s) for particular client groups?