The Food and Drug Administration is poised to institute a complete ban on menthol cigarettes, spurring black community activists and public safety experts to raise the alarm on how illicit markets created in response to the measure will disproportionately affect communities of color.

“Menthol has not killed anyone, it’s nicotine,” said Gwen Carr, an activist and the mother of Eric Garner. “If you’re going to ban smoking, don’t make it a racist thing. Ban it all or ban none.”