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1-12-21 <br />Flavored products mask the <br />harshness of tobacco, AND <br />ARE LURING KIDS INTO ADDICTION. <br />• The tobacco industry deliberately uses flavors to attract <br />the next generation of smokers.5 <br />• Nicotine is highly addictive, harms the adolescent brain <br />and primes youth for addiction.6 <br />• Today’s popular e-cigarettes contain high levels of nicotine.7 <br />• Flavorings in e-liquids are harmful when inhaled and can damage <br />airway and lung tissue.8,9,10,11 <br />Flavored products are a key <br />reason Minnesota is facing a <br />youth TOBACCO epidemic. <br />• FDA’s failure to end all flavored e-cigarette sales has led to dramatic increases among products still available, including a 1000 percent increase in disposable e-cigarette use by high-schoolers.1 <br />• Nearly 3 million students in the U.S. reported using flavored e-cigarettes, including 1.9 million using mint or menthol.1 <br />Weak federal rules allow the tobacco industry to use flavors to attract new TOBACCO users. <br />• In Minnesota, more than a quarter of 11th-graders <br />use e-cigarettes, and 8th-grade vaping rates <br />doubled from 2016 to 2019.2 <br />• Seven in 10 youth say they use e-cigarettes <br />“because they come in flavors [they] like.”3 <br />• In Minnesota, 67 percent of high-school tobacco <br />users use flavored products.4 <br />Minnesotans agree: We can do more to prevent kids from becoming addicted. Minnesotans <br />for a Smoke-Free Generation supports ending the sale of all flavored tobacco products, to create a <br />healthier future for our kids and address tobacco-related health disparities. <br />END the sale <br />of all flavored tobacco products <br />The tobacco industry targets <br />Black, LGBTQ and young people <br />with menthol tobacco. <br />• Menthol flavoring makes it easier for kids to start <br />smoking and harder for adults to quit.12 <br />• For decades, tobacco companies have channeled menthol tobacco <br />products into Black communities, causing death and disease.13,14 <br />• Nationally, 85 percent of Black smokers smoke menthols, <br />versus 29 percent of white smokers.14 <br />• The tobacco industry uses menthol to target Black Americans, <br />LGBTQ communities, and youth.13,15 <br />The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the need for strong public health policies <br />to improve lung health and reduce commercial tobacco addiction.