Youth and Tobacco: A New Crisis
The
tobacco endgame – the path to ending tobacco use and nicotine addiction in the
U.S. – is within sight. This could save millions of lives.
But e-cigarettes and other products like cigarillos, hookah and smokeless tobacco pose a significant threat. They are gaining popularity, especially with kids and young adults.
But e-cigarettes and other products like cigarillos, hookah and smokeless tobacco pose a significant threat. They are gaining popularity, especially with kids and young adults.
Addicting a New Generation
·
Not only are more kids and young adults using e-cigarettes, they
are using them more often.
·
1 in 5 high school age kids now report using e-cigs (vaping).
They are the most popular tobacco product used by adolescents.
·
Nearly 90 percent of smokers first try a tobacco product by age
18. But if someone has not started using tobacco by age 26, they are likely to
never start.
·
Many adolescents falsely believe these new products are safe.
Some don’t even realize they contain nicotine. But they can deliver much higher
concentrations of addictive nicotine than traditional cigarettes.
·
There is evidence that kids and young adults may transition from
these products to cigarettes and other drugs.
Seeing Through the Smoke Screen
Tobacco
companies have grown bolder in their efforts to keep people addicted and
misinformed:
·
They fund lawsuits to prevent or weaken tobacco-control
policies.
·
They spend millions lobbying lawmakers to oppose such policies.
·
They target products and promotions to youth and at-risk
populations.
·
They support watered-down and less effective tobacco-control
measures as a public relations ploy.
·
They fund organizations and groups that claim to address the
tobacco epidemic but instead divert attention from proven measures.
What Is Needed
Reaching
the tobacco endgame and preventing use by kids and young adults will require
strong government oversight. We need stronger regulation of the design,
manufacturing, sales and marketing of all tobacco products. For example:
·
Restrict marketing efforts like celebrity endorsements, movie
placements, price promotions, event sponsorship's and merchandise branding.
·
Ban flavors and sweeteners to reduce appeal to kids.
·
Put graphic warning labels and nicotine concentration info on
all products.
·
Verify the effectiveness of products marketed to help people
stop smoking.
What Works
We must
also continue to support proven strategies and public policy:
·
public education campaigns
·
clean indoor air laws
·
access to and coverage of evidence-based methods to quit tobacco
use and nicotine addiction
·
tobacco excise taxes
·
raise the tobacco sales age to 21
What You Can Do
1.
Advocate for strong,
comprehensive tobacco policies.
2.
Talk with young people in
your life about the dangers of any tobacco or nicotine use.
3.
Join local efforts in your
community and state at yourethecure.org.
Learn
more at heart.org/tobaccoendgame
© Copyright 2019 American Heart Association, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.
© Copyright 2019 American Heart Association, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.
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