Laserfiche WebLink
Flavored Tobacco Products Are Pervasive <br /> A 2009 federal law, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, prohibited the sale of <br /> cigarettes with characterizing flavors other than menthol or tobacco, including candy and fruit flavors. <br /> While overall cigarette sales have been declining since the 2009 law, the proportion of smokers using <br /> menthol cigarettes (the only remaining flavored cigarette) has been increasing.' Menthol cigarettes <br /> comprised 37 percent of the market in 2019.4 <br /> The Tobacco Control Act's prohibition on characterizing flavors did not apply to other tobacco products, <br /> and as a result, tobacco companies have significantly stepped up the introduction and marketing of <br /> flavored non-cigarette tobacco products. In fact, the overall market for flavored tobacco products is <br /> actually growing. In recent years, there has been an explosion of sweet-flavored tobacco products, <br /> especially e-cigarettes and cigars. These products are available in a wide assortment of flavors— like <br /> mango, blue razz, pink punch and mint for e-cigarettes and chocolate, watermelon, and cherry dynamite <br /> for cigars. Tobacco companies are making and marketing deadly and addictive products that look and <br /> taste like a new line of flavors from a Ben and Jerry's ice cream store. <br /> Flavors are not just a critical part of the product design, but are a key <br /> marketing ploy for the industry. The 2016 Surgeon General Report on JUUU <br /> e-cigarettes concluded, "E-cigarettes are marketed by promoting = <br /> flavors and using a wide variety of media channels and approaches � �■ <br /> that have been used in the past for marketing conventional tobacco wwww 3100 MMG <br /> I <br /> products to youth and young adults."'The 2019 National Youth w°P IM <br /> This protluct contains `rreen9cerm. <br /> Tobacco Survey found that 69.3°/ of middle and high school O aaiuecnemi°ai. »8 <br /> students—over 18.2 million youth—had been exposed to e-cigarette <br /> advertisements from at least one source.6 <br /> Sales of cigars (i.e., large cigars, cigarillos, and small cigars) have more than <br /> doubled between 2000 and 2019, and much of the growth is attributable ZfIGARS <br /> to smaller types of cigars, many of which are flavored and inexpensive.' <br /> ,Ahl. o,o <br /> The number of unique cigar flavor names more than doubled from 2008 to . <br /> 2015, from 108 to 250.1 The top five most popular cigar brands among 12- <br /> SAVE-2 <br /> CHERRY <br /> DYNAMIT <br /> to 17-year olds who have used cigars—Black & Mild, Swisher Sweets, <br /> White Owl, Backwoods, and Dutch Masters—all come in flavor varieties.9 <br /> These products are often sold singly or can be priced as low as 3 or 4 for 99 <br /> cents, making them even more appealing to price-sensitive youth. Note <br /> that cigar smoke is composed of the same toxic and carcinogenic <br /> constituents found in cigarette smoke.10 <br />