The tobacco industry’s replacement customers can’t legally buy their products but that hasn’t stopped the billion-dollar, Big Tobacco marketing machine from targeting our kids with social media ads, fun flavors, and products that appear less harmful than their parent’s cigarettes.
The tobacco industry has doubled down on addicting young people as their business model—harming kids’ health as they experiment with new products and flavors to see what sticks. Flavors such as menthol, Blue Razz, Banana Ice, and Arctic Cool Mint were created by the industry to mask the harsh taste of tobacco, which kids don’t like, making tobacco products easier to start using and even harder to quit. Big Tobacco depends on young people using their products to make a profit and keep them in business. Flavored vapes are kids’ product of choice. And teens who vape are 3x more likely to become daily cigarette smokers.
Most California high school students who use tobacco use vapes. Vaping allows higher concentrations of nicotine to be inhaled and absorbed more easily than other tobacco products like cigarettes. Nicotine—which is as addictive as heroin—is poison for the developing brain and rewires the brain to crave more of it. This creates nicotine withdrawal symptoms like headaches, restlessness, and the inability to concentrate. We know that nicotine can affect learning and increase anxiety, mood swings, and irritability.
It’s not all about vapes though. Other tobacco products are just as appealing for their wide array of flavors and low-cost ease of purchasing, such as smokeless tobacco like snus or chew, and little cigars and cigarillos. Unfortunately, these are also harmful to the developing brain and body because they also contain nicotine.
This is the moment to break the cycle of addiction. We have the power to create a better, future for our kids, and that starts with keeping Big Tobacco from targeting our kids for disease and death. We need your leadership on every aspect of the youth vaping epidemic now more urgently than ever.
Thank you for your leadership in the fight to stop the tobacco industry from targeting our kids. Banning the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes was an important step. Unfortunately, despite our local ban and a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy, menthol-flavored products are still on the market and available to kids. So the flavor widely recognized as Big Tobacco’s starter product is still on the market.
The FDA’s dangerous policy loophole is a win for tobacco companies. And when they win, our kids lose—with addiction, lung damage, and brain changes that could last their lifetimes.
Let’s not let the tobacco industry get away with this. Over 90 California jurisdictions have already restricted the sale of ALL flavored tobacco products, including menthol, to protect their kids. We need your continued leadership on every aspect of the youth vaping epidemic now more urgently than ever.
Thank you for your leadership in the fight to protect our kids from targeting by the tobacco industry. I’m so grateful that our city has banned the sale of flavored tobacco products. We’re helping to keep kids safe from the serious health risks of nicotine.
Sadly, underage vaping continues to grow. I hope more people will work toward reversing the rise in teen vaping. California kids deserve the chance to live a healthy, nicotine-free childhood.
