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ACancerActionlMetwork- American] <br />Heart TCLC' <br />Thlbr1/ I.rnlr,.T crob, ,Association.'aw <br />American AMERICANS FOR o0o <br />P+AD <br />1,110 <br />AMERICA Lung Association.SONONSMOKERS'RIGHiS m • a <br />ON TRACK California m <br />Creating Br;gljte Futures C O A L I T I O N <br />for Comvuur;ries d Yonrl slime l.'l'J <br />p <br />e. <br />o <br />a <br />qq <br />ryo 4-7 FiiSa 56$ <br />PAVEPartners4WeIIness L6BTQC(ENTER "vL v <br />r«me.ly NCADD O C SanK Agency•New Name fpanded SewAs I' <br />V <br />eC'a n6odsan FctmiL). <br />November 5, 2021 <br />The Honorable Vicente Sarmiento, Mayor <br />Santa Ana City Council <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br />Dear Mayor Sarmiento and Members of the Santa Ana City Council: <br />On behalf of our organizations, we are writing to express our strong support of a <br />comprehensive policy to end the sale of menthol and all other flavored tobacco products in <br />Santa Ana, without exemption. Ending the sale of these products will help protect youth and <br />communities of color from these addictive and deadly products. <br />We are in the midst of a youth tobacco-use epidemic, in which tobacco companies are luring <br />kids into a lifetime of nicotine addiction through the sale and targeted marketing of candy- <br />flavored tobacco products. Tobacco companies knowingly hide dangerous and addictive <br />nicotine—a chemical we know harms brain development— behind candy flavors gummy bear, <br />blue raz, fruity pebbles, and minty menthol in order to hook kids on tobacco. These products <br />often mimic popular candies, drinks, or snacks in both packaging and flavor, making them <br />particularly appealing to youth.Today, more than 2 million middle and high school students use <br />e-cigarettes nationally, and 70 percent of youth e-cigarette users say they use them "because <br />they come in flavors I like." <br />Youth are not the only targets of Big Tobacco's deceptive marketing campaigns. For decades, <br />the tobacco industry has targeted the African American community, hooking generations of <br />African Americans on minty menthol cigarettes and profiting off addiction, disease, and death. <br />Today, 85 percent of African Americans who smoke use minty menthols, smoking them at <br />higher rates than other demographics while quitting smoking at lower rates. African Americans