Retailers should contact their state legislatures to explain how flavored tobacco bans impact their business.
Back in 2009, the federal government issued its first flavored tobacco restriction by prohibiting the sale of flavored combustible cigarettes other than menthol and traditional tobacco. Since then, cities, states and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) all have enacted bans of varying degrees on flavored tobacco. Why are lawmakers so determined to pull these products from back bars?
The standard response is to prevent young people from picking up a nicotine habit that could graduate to cigarette smoking. Annual surveys of youth tobacco use have documented the increased popularity of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) among middle and high school students.
According to the Monitoring the Future survey, the percentage of teens who vape doubled between 2017 and 2019. In 2019, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Jerome Adams declared youth vaping a national epidemic. Anti-vaping advocates assert that fruit, candy and dessert flavors for ENDS, smokeless tobacco and cigarillos entice young people.
Anne Baye Ericksen – CStoreDecisions – 2021-05-17.
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