Under the guise of “protecting the children,” lawmakers in Maine are attempting to ban the sale of flavored tobacco and vapor products.
While protecting children from the harms of adult products is laudable, this prohibition is effectively punishing adults for the failures of poorly executed and inadequately funded tobacco control programs. Worse, Maine stands to lose millions (if not billions of dollars) in the long term from tobacco-generated revenues that would otherwise help to fund said tobacco control programs.
The sponsor of the bill claims the legislation is monumental and that lawmakers have “few other bills [they] have considered together that have the potential to make such a significant impact on the health of Maine kids and communities.”
Unfortunately, there are a plethora of other ways Maine legislators can address youth use of age-restricted products. Legislation that allocates existing tobacco monies procured by both taxes and settlement payments borne by cigarettes toward programs that can help adult smokers quit, as well as prevent youth use, should be implemented immediately.
Lindsey Stroud – InsideSources – 2021-05-16.
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