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FLAVORED PRODUCTS ARE A KEY REASON MINNESOTA IS FACING A YOUTH TOBACCO EPIDEMIC • In Minnesota, one in seven 11th graders uses e-cigarettes, and 88 percent of those students use flavored e-cigarettes.1 • More than 70 percent of youth e-cigarette users in Minnesota are showing signs of nicotine dependence.2 • Seven in 10 youth say they use e-cigarettes “because they come in flavors [they] like.”3 • In Minnesota, 78 percent of 8th-graders and 85 percent of 11th-grade tobacco users report they use a flavored product.4 FLAVORED PRODUCTS MASK THE HARSHNESS OF TOBACCO, AND ARE LURING KIDS INTO ADDICTION • The tobacco industry deliberately uses flavors to attract the next generation of tobacco users.5 • Today’s popular e-cigarettes contain high levels of nicotine which harms the adolescent brain development and primes youth for addiction.6,7 • Candy and fruit flavored tobacco products mask the harsh taste of tobacco and are often perceived to be “safer,” but the use of such products, including menthol cigarettes, can still lead to cancer, heart disease and chronic pulmonary disease.8,9,10,11 • Flavored hookah products are also targeted at youth. Hookah use is not unique to any community or culture and is becoming increasingly common among young people from many different backgrounds.12 • According to doctors and health experts, tobacco use sets kids up for a lifetime of nicotine addiction and serious health conditions like heart disease and cancer. THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY TARGETS BLACK, LGBTQ+, AMERICAN INDIANS AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH MENTHOL TOBACCO • Menthol flavoring makes it easier for kids to start smoking and harder for adults to quit.13 • For decades, tobacco companies have channeled menthol tobacco products into Black communities, causing death and disease.14,15 • Nationally, 85 percent of Black people who smoke use menthols, versus 29 percent of white smokers.15 • The tobacco industry uses menthol to target Black Americans, LGBTQ communities, and youth.14,16 • Among Minnesota teens who smoke, 33 percent report smoking menthol cigarettes.17 • In Minnesota, smoking rates among American Indians are at epidemic levels (59 percent), and 42 percent of urban American Indians who smoke use menthol cigarettes.18,19 WEAK FEDERAL RULES ALLOW THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY TO USE FLAVORS TO TARGET YOUTH, MINNESOTANS • 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.20 • Today, disposable e-cigarette Puff Bar is the brand most used by middle and high school e-cigarette users.21 • 2.11 million students in the U.S. reported using flavored e-cigarettes, including 1.17 million using mint or menthol.21 TO LEARN MORE OR TO GET INVOLVED, VISIT www.smokefreegenmn.org END THE SALE OF ALL MENTHOL AND FLAVORED COMMERCIAL TOBACCO PRODUCTS Minnesotans agree: We can do more to prevent kids from becoming addicted Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation supports ending the sale of all flavored commercial tobacco products -- including menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars, e-cigarettes, hookah, and smokeless tobacco -- to prevent youth addiction, advance racial and health equity and create a healthier future for everyone. Every time Big Tobacco addicts another generation of kids to smoking, they put all taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars in healthcare costs to treat tobacco-related diseases.