Flavored smoking products targeted at our youth
By Heather Demorest
Tobacco Prevention Specialist
Gallatin City-County Health Department
On June 26, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) proposed a rule to eliminate the sale, marketing, advertising and distribution of flavored electronic smoking products in Montana. Despite support from health organizations, schools, elected officials and youth throughout Montana, including Bozeman city commissioners, Bozeman Health and other local organizations, the rule was withdrawn.
In Gallatin County, flavored electronic tobacco products have negatively impacted the youth in our community. According to 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, over half of local high school students had tried vaping, and over 37% are current users (used once or more in past 30 days). These staggering statistics are higher than the national average. To put these numbers in perspective, only 4% of Gallatin County adults use electronic vapor products (BRFFS, 2017). Nicotine is highly addictive in any form, and it can have lasting effects on the developing brain.
Various studies, including the National Youth Tobacco Survey (2018), indicate most youth start with a flavored product, and cite flavors as their primary reason to use e-cigarettes. Flavored tobacco products are cheap, accessible, and heavily advertised in gas stations, grocery stores, and other venues frequented by children. In Gallatin County alone, 124 tobacco retailers sell electronic vapor products. Of those, 110 are accessible by everyone under 21.
The tobacco industry has used flavors for decades to attract youth, knowing they are more likely to get addicted and continue to use these products than those who initiate tobacco use later in life. Fortunately, the rule proposed by the Montana DPHHS will not be the last aimed at protecting our youth from e-cigarettes. Future initiatives to eliminate flavored products should garner support from individuals concerned about the health and wellbeing of youth in our community.
Kudos to those keeping kids safe from big tobacco
By Matt Kelley
Health Officer
Gallatin City-County Health Department
Parents in the Gallatin Valley now have one more option for shopping in an environment free from big tobacco’s pervasive efforts to recruit children into the ranks of the addicted.
Heeb’s Fresh Market recently opened its doors to a store free from tobacco and tobacco advertising. The store – a locally owned operation run by Montanans Mitch and Sherri Bradley – will join a small but growing number of establishments that do not sell tobacco products. Other stores refusing to sell tobacco products include the Community Food Co-Op in Bozeman; El Mercadito Mexican grocery and the Ridge Run Drive Thru Grocery in Four Corners; and national chain stores CVS and Target.
Why is this noteworthy?
The motivation for these appeals is clear. Nearly nine out of 10 smokers try their first cigarette before the age of 18, and 98 percent start smoking by age 26, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Research published in scientific journals has found significant correlation between youth exposure to in-store tobacco advertising with smoking initiation and intentions by youth to use tobacco products. One 2010 study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that adolescents who reported moderate frequency of visits to stores with tobacco advertising were over 60 percent more likely to initiate tobacco use when compared to adolescents who reported lower frequency of store visits. The odds of initiation increased the more youth visited stores with tobacco ads.
This should not be surprising. Why would tobacco companies spend so much on in-store advertising if the tactics were not effective?
The potential impact of youth use of tobacco products is enormous. In 2014, the U.S. Surgeon General estimated that 19,000 youth in Montana would die prematurely from smoking. Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of premature disease and death in the United States.
This can seem overwhelming, even hopeless, for parents who would prefer their children not be exposed to these ads with every visit to a grocery store, gas station or corner market. That’s why we should celebrate and acknowledge the proactive steps taken by retailers such as Heeb’s that forego big tobacco’s push to recruit our kids.
Parents seeking to shop free from tobacco marketing can find tobacco-free retailers throughout the U.S. at shoptobaccofree.org.
Various studies, including the National Youth Tobacco Survey (2018), indicate most youth start with a flavored product, and cite flavors as their primary reason to use e-cigarettes. Flavored tobacco products are cheap, accessible, and heavily advertised in gas stations, grocery stores, and other venues frequented by children. In Gallatin County alone, 124 tobacco retailers sell electronic vapor products. Of those, 110 are accessible by everyone under 21.
