Op-Ed By Erica Peterson
The threats posed by tobacco use to the future of New York’s kids are as alarming as they’ve ever been. I see this firsthand every day in the school I teach at. For decades, overall tobacco use among kids was on the decline. Over the past couple of years, I have seen a big increase.
Smoking still kills more people each year than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined — and thousands more die from other tobacco-related causes — such as fires caused by smoking and smokeless tobacco use.
New York State has made some efforts to address tobacco use by young people in recent years, with lawmakers in Albany increasing the age of sale to 21 and passing a statewide ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. But until all flavored tobacco products are removed from the market in New York, Big Tobacco will continue to use those that remain to relentlessly target our kids. Now is time to stop kicking the can down the road and end the sale of all flavored tobacco products.
In Westchester County, we have an opportunity right now to take an important step toward protecting the health and safety of young people. This month, the Board of Legislators will consider a bill to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products in retail stores countywide – and it’s critical that we make sure it passes before the year ends.
Eliminating these dangerous products will have the most significant impact on kids in communities of color like mine. Big Tobacco has aggressively targeted communities of color since the 1950s with menthol flavored tobacco products. They know that menthol masks the harshness of tobacco, makes it easier for kids to start smoking, and more difficult to quit.
Flavored cigars, which can be smoked like cigarettes, have become especially popular among kids at the schools I work in. These products are sold in a wide assortment of kid-friendly flavors like Cherry Dynamite and Chocolate and can be as cheap as three for 99 cents, making them highly appealing.
And these flavored tobacco products are intentionally designed to attract kids. Although tobacco companies claim adult tobacco users demand variety, flavored tobacco products play a crucial role in enticing new users—predominantly under 18—to a lifetime of addiction. According to the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, 85% of middle and high school e-cigarette users use flavored products – with fruit, candy, desserts, mint, and menthol reported as the most popular flavors. These sweet tobacco flavors create the false impression that a tobacco product is less harmful than it really is.
Anyone who spends a lot of time with kids knows just how impressionable they are. And the tobacco industry knows it too. Published research studies have found that kids are twice as sensitive to tobacco advertising as adults and are more likely to be influenced to smoke by cigarette marketing than by peer pressure. Big Tobacco wants to addict kids early with appealing flavors to make them lifelong customers. Annually $177.3 million is spent by Big Tobacco on advertising in New York.
Ending the sale of flavored tobacco products will save the lives of countless numbers of my students and young people across Westchester County. It’s time to end the sale of these dangerous products.
Erica Peterson is the Parent Resource Center Coordinator at Mount Vernon School District in Westchester County.
