TOBACCO-FREE CNY, OCTOBER 4, 2024 – Now that October is here, the Halloween festivities are beginning, and candy is on everyone’s mind. What about candy like Swedish gummies, jolly candy, or rainbow candy? These sound like candy, but they’re not. They are flavors of tobacco products. The tobacco industry continues to release new products with fun flavors that can lead youth to start using these products. Of youth that have ever used a tobacco product, 90% used a flavored product. These flavors can be enticing for youth and lead them to use e-cigarettes at a young age. Because of the fun flavors, many kids are unaware of what is in these products and the risks of using them.
In reality, e-cigarettes, or vapes, have many harmful health impacts, especially for younger users. One of the common additives in vapes is a flavoring called diacetyl. This is a chemical that is commonly used in microwave popcorn that is safe to consume, but not to inhale. Inhaling diacetyl can lead to a condition known as popcorn lung, which can cause inflammation in the lungs and irreversible lung disease. Some other harmful chemicals that are found in vapes include: formaldehyde, arsenic, nickel, lead, acetone, cadmium, benzene, and more. Many of these chemicals are known carcinogens, or cancer-causing compounds.
Additionally, some youth are not aware that nicotine is in these products, or what the harms of nicotine are. Nicotine use in adolescence can impair brain development and harm the areas of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control. Many youth turn to nicotine use to help with mental health struggles. In reality, nicotine cane make symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression worse. Nicotine can give the illusion of stress-relief in the short term, but once dependent on nicotine, the body will feel more depressed and anxious without it. Vaping in youth can not only lead to a strong addiction to nicotine in the present, it can also make youth more susceptible to other forms of addiction in the future. Flavors can increase the risk of addiction by having products easier to start using and much harder to quit.
Menthol
Besides the candy flavors that are attractive to youth, the tobacco industry also markets menthol disproportionately to different groups of people. Menthol is a chemical that is naturally found in peppermint and other mint plants that is added to tobacco products. It is added to reduce the harshness of tobacco smoke on the throat and to give the products a minty taste, rather than the taste of tobacco. Menthol makes smoking easier to start and harder to quit because of the way that menthol enhances the addictive effects of nicotine in the brain. Menthol has been used to target multiple communities. 85% of Black smokers smoke menthol cigarettes, and there are up to 10x more ads in neighborhoods with a higher Black population than those without. Menthol is not just a flavor. Menthol makes starting smoking easier to do and harder to quit. The industry has lied about the health impacts of menthol, marketed these products to vulnerable groups, and addicted generations on menthol tobacco products. To learn more about menthol, visit notjustmenthol.org.
Seen Enough Tobacco Day
To raise awareness on the harms of menthol and other flavors in tobacco products, New York State youth have declared October 13th as Seen Enough Tobacco Day. This day is used to educate communities about tobacco flavors, the harms of tobacco use, and how changes could be made to improve the health of these communities. There are many ways in which people can participate in activities on Seen Enough Tobacco Day. You can help to spread the message by posting on social media with the hashtag #SeenEnoughTobacco with a statement on why you are passionate about ending the sale of menthol tobacco products. You can speak to your friends, family, or community on the harms of flavored tobacco. To find out more on how to take action on October 13th, read over our Seen Enough Tobacco Day Guide.
For more information on Seen Enough Tobacco Day, visit tobaccofreenys.org/our-focus/seenenoughtobacco/.
To learn more about flavored tobacco, you can read Truth Initiative’s report HERE.
Find out more about the harms of tobacco at Tobacco-Free CNY website.