Trusted Organizations Urge Lawmakers to Pass S.18
Vermont Business Magazine The Flavors Hook Kids Vermont Campaign and the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Vermont announced today that 50 Vermont organizations signed a letter to the Vermont House Health and Human Services Committee, urging lawmakers to end the sale of flavored tobacco. The letter advocates for the passage of S.18, which has already passed the Senate. The bill is in front of the House Committee this week.
Included in the list of organizations in support of the bill is The Vermont Medical Society, The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital, the Windham County NAACP, Outright Vermont, Prevention Works VT, and Recovery VT/The Vermont Association of Mental Health & Addiction Recovery, The American Heart Association, The American Lung Association, The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
Wichie Artu, member of the Windham County NAACP, said: “Tobacco companies have been ruthlessly targeting the Black community with menthol ads for generations, using aggressive marketing tactics to appeal to new users and then profit from their addiction. We need to get these deadly products off the market. It is past time that Vermont lawmakers prioritize Vermonters’ health over Big Tobacco profits.”
Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death among Black Americans, claiming 45,000 Black lives each year. Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by tobacco use and die at higher rates than other groups from tobacco-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the Black community.
“Our members, school leaders throughout the state, are seeing drastic numbers of students become addicted to nicotine through vaping,” notes Jay Nichols, head of the Vermont Principals Association. “Vaping often starts because flavored vaping products appeal to our kids, getting them ‘hooked’ as early as middle school. And we know nearly all of these kids are using flavored products.”
Vermont pediatric pulmonologist, Dr. L.E. Faricy said: "Pediatricians, parents, and schools continue to struggle to support a large number of youths with nicotine dependence. Young people tell us they start using electronic cigarettes in part because the flavors are appealing and make the product seem benign. Flavors in tobacco products help introduce kids to nicotine at a critical developmental stage and can be very damaging to brain development. Young people in the state of Vermont deserve to have a good chance of reaching adulthood without being targeted for addiction to substances by corporations. The bill before you is what prevention looks like – reduce the appeal of and demand for harmful products by eliminating flavors as a hook.”
In a poll released in December, 68% of Vermonters support legislation to end the sale of flavored tobacco products.
Governor Scott at his January 10 press conference said he would likely sign the bill if it were to reach his desk.
The Flavors Hook Kids Vermont campaign includes the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Vermont and dozens of local, state, and national organizations dedicated to protecting kids from all tobacco products and addiction. More details can be found at https://flavorshookkidsvt.org/.
See the letter to the House Health and Human Services Committee and full list of signatories below:
January 8, 2024
To: Madame Chair Wood & Members of the House Human Services Committee
From: Flavors Hook Kids Vermont Coalition
Re: Support S.18 to Ban the Sale of Menthol and Flavored Tobacco
Dear Madame Chair Wood & Members of the House Human Services Committee,
The Flavors Hook Kids Vermont Coalition urges you to support S.18, the bill to ban the sale of menthol and flavored tobacco in Vermont and prevent the addiction of the next generation of Vermont kids.
Our kids are in crisis. After the decades-long progress Vermont has made in reducing youth tobacco use, the tobacco industry is targeting our kids by using flavors to entice their use and fueling an epidemic.
The tobacco industry knows that 95% of adult smokers start by age 21 and they are using menthol and other flavored products to target our kids and addict new customers.
They know flavors hook kids. More than 8 in 10 youth who have ever used tobacco products started with flavored products. With 15,500 unique e-cigarette flavors, it’s no surprise that 89% of youth e-cigarette users report using flavored products and say that flavored products are a key reason for their use.
The tobacco industry argues only older smokers use menthol cigarettes, yet the data shows young smokers, ages 12-17, are the highest users of menthol cigarettes.
Candy, fruit, and menthol/mint flavored tobacco products are making the tobacco industry billions and are incredibly appealing to kids.
The 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows that even when students were learning remotely, and didn’t have social interactions with other youth, still 23% of high school seniors in Vermont vaped and 30% did so daily, indicating likely addiction.
Even middle schoolers weren’t immune with 7% of 8th graders vaping. Post-pandemic, school administrators are saying the problem has become even worse.
A UVMMC pediatrician reports her teenage patients say they use flavored nicotine-containing vapes every day within 5 minutes of waking up, continue to use them throughout the day, and it’s the last thing they do before they fall asleep.
This is a social justice issue. Disparities in access to wealth, education, health care, housing, transportation, and social support contribute to higher tobacco use among many communities, including LGBTQ+ Vermonters, BIPOC, lower income Vermonters, and youth and young adults.
The tobacco industry heavily markets menthol cigarettes in these communities, further driving higher rates of tobacco use and resulting in huge disparities in health equity. This is the effect of predatory targeting, not preference.
There is no evidence that flavored tobacco products are healthier, nor used successfully for cessation. The evidence however does show that flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, are easier to smoke, more likely to addict youth and harder to quit.
Massachusetts passed legislation in November 2019 eliminating the sale of flavored and menthol tobacco products and it is working.
From 2019 to 2021, MA youth smoking rates decreased from 4.3% to 2.9% and youth vaping rates decreased from 32% to 17.6%. MA Adult cigarette smoking declined from 12.1% to 10.6% and retailers have not gone out of business.
Now is the time to act. Please protect our residents from the predatory tactics of the tobacco industry by ending the sale of flavored tobacco in Vermont.
All Vermonters deserve to be free from nicotine addiction in order to live a long, healthy life.
Sincerely,
American Academy of Pediatrics Vermont Chapter
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American College of Cardiology
American Heart Association
American Lung Association
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Vergennes
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
Care Partners Adult Day Center
Central Vermont Medical Center
City of Winooski
Coalition for a Tobacco Free Vermont
Dad Guild
Greater Burlington YMCA
Interfaith Public Health Network
Lamoille Family Center/Healthy Lamoille Valley
Meeting Waters Vermont
Mosaic Vermont
Northwest Medical Center
Outright Vermont
Porter Medical Center
Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation/Tobacco 21
Prevention Works VT!
Recovery VT/The Vermont Association of Mental Health & Addiction Recovery
SHAPE Vermont
The Collaborative Prevention Coalition
Town of Weybridge
United Way of Addison County
United Way of Northwest Vermont
University of Vermont Children’s Hospital
University of Vermont Health Network
University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group
University of Vermont Medical Center
Vermont Academy of Family Physicians
Vermont Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs
Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems
Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility
Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health
Vermont Dental Society
Vermont Medical Society
Vermont Moms
Vermont-NEA
Vermont Principals' Association
Vermont Public Health Association
Vermont School Boards Association
Vermont State School Nurses Association
Vermont State Youth Council
Voices for Vermont’s Children
Windham NAACP
YMCA Alliance of Northern New England
