Advocates continue to call on the tobacco industry to stop adding flavorings to all products.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently announced proposed product standards to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and prohibit all characterizing flavors, other than tobacco, in cigars.
Kristina Donders from Reality Check of New York says she's passionate about raising awareness about flavored tobacco. The 17-year-old says the products are dangerous.
“Because they're so like, they're almost always kid friendly," Donders said. "Like if you hear a flavor like cherry mango, tropical punch, you're gonna be like, 'oh, yeah, that's, that's tasty. That sounds nice.' And kids are gonna think like, 'oh, yeah, that's for me.' But these, these flavors and E-cigarettes and tobacco products are actually extremely dangerous.”
15-year-old Louisa Pelletier from New Hampshire’s Dover Youth to Youth program says she wants her generation to be a healthier one.
“And that everyone is able to live in a world where they aren't having to face these types of issues," said Pelletier. "That the big corporations are using us as youth who are very, very much in a vulnerable position, as we consume things in the world, and become whoever we want to be. And they take advantage of us because we are youth and try to trick us to get addicted to these things, and take our money and then end up taking our lives as well.“
Dr. Harlan Juster, retired New York state Department of Health Director of the Bureau of Tobacco Control, says big tobacco uses flavors as a marketing ploy.
“A lot of it is driven by kids’ curiosity," Juster said. "Different flavors, of course, what are they curious, and they're curious and what it tastes like what it feels like. The menthol flavors are used in a particularly insidious way by the industry as a marketing tool to attract folks in the Black community. “
Ritney Castine from the Center for Black Health and Equity says 85% of Black smokers use menthol cigarettes, and "it's time to ban menthol for good."
"The relationship between the tobacco industry and the African American community is long and complicated," said Castine. "But one thing for sure is that this notion of eliminating the sale and the predatory marketing of mentholated tobacco products is particularly urgent. Because as we were waiting for the FDA to take the action that is just starting to get in motion, that we're hearing so much about right now, is because annually, 40,000 Black folks died because of a tobacco related illness, which is directly tied to chronic menthol tobacco use.”
Amanda Mulhern is manager for St. Peter's Health Partners community health systems for tobacco free New York initiatives. She says tobacco cessation efforts and media awareness campaigns are effective tools.
"When we are in a position to run media campaigns, there's an uptick in calls to the New York State smokers quit line where they can get support from trained professionals who know how to help them through," Mulhern said. "And they're also provided the medications, tools and resources. So, yes, they work."
Tobacco giant Altria says it will continue to follow the regulatory process. The company issued a statement that says in part "Taking these products out of the legal marketplace will push them into unregulated, criminal markets that don’t follow any regulations and ignore minimum age laws."
