Hawaii Honolulu Mayor Signs Ban on Flavored Tobacco Products
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi signed a measure prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products on Oahu. This move comes as a response to the growing concern over the vaping epidemic among youth.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, flavored e-cigarettes have been a significant driver of the vaping epidemic. Data shows that 97% of youth e-cigarette users report using a flavored product in the past month. Furthermore, e-cigarette use more than doubled among high school students and tripled among middle school students between 2017 and 2019.
Samantha, a senior at Roosevelt High School, expressed her support for the measure, stating, “We really want to make sure that youth who do get hooked in starting with these flavors that we can help prevent them even begin to vape in the first place, and falling into that trap of addiction.”
The ban on flavorings in conventional cigarettes has been in place since the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009.” Officials noted that this ban has been associated with a 58% decrease in the number of cigarettes smoked among youth and a 17% decrease in the likelihood of smoking cigarettes overall in this age group.
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