Flavored Tobacco Products Target Maine Youth

Today, April 25, 2023, the Maine legislature is hearing public comments regarding L.D. 1215, “An Act to End the Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products.” Healthy Acadia, in partnership with Flavors Hook Kids Maine and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, will join organizations and community members to speak in favor of the measure.

For several decades the tobacco industry has used flavored tobacco products minty menthol cigarettes, dessert-flavored little cigars, and more recently, flavored e-cigarettes, to attract young people, especially in communities of color. 

In fact, 4 out of 5 kids who have used tobacco started with a flavored product.

Flavored tobacco products are a major concern, especially among young people. These products are designed to appeal to youth with flavors like cotton candy, bubblegum, and fruit, making them more enticing and easier to use, and it’s working - more than two million U.S. kids are vaping.

Tobacco use among Maine youth has been skyrocketing. Maine high school students are now smoking cigarettes and using e-cigarettes (vaping) at rates much higher than the national average. An overwhelming majority of them say flavors are the reason why.

According to the results of Maine Department of Health & Human Services & Maine Department of Education’s 2021, Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey,

  • 1 in 3 Maine high school students has used e-cigarettes

  • 85% of middle and high school students who use e-cigarettes use flavored products

  • 1 in 5 Maine high school students is currently using a tobacco product – rates well above the national average

The harmful chemicals in tobacco products can lead to serious health problems, and we need to do everything in our power to keep these products out of the hands of our youth.

As a community coalition working to support improved health and health outcomes, tobacco use prevention is integral to Healthy Acadia’s mission. Many of the gains we have made in reducing tobacco use in our community have been undermined by the introduction of flavored e-cigarettes and the continued promotion of menthol cigarettes.

Bar Harbor, Portland, South Portland, Brunswick, and Bangor have all taken a crucial step towards protecting our youth from the dangers of flavored tobacco products by banning their sale. We need to take action and ban the sale of flavored tobacco products in all of Maine.

Click here to review the proposed legislative ban on flavored tobacco products.

Learn more about Flavors Hook Kids Maine here.

Tracey Carlson