So Long, Flavor Country...

Our long battle to get restrictions on tobacco companies has finally paid off as the FDA announced an official ban on fruit-, candy- or clove-flavored cigarettes. This is a huge milestone for youth because the number of young people who begin smoking will dramatically start to decrease.

According to research, flavored cigarettes have been found to be more appealing among adolescents. A study published last year in Nicotine & Tobacco Research revealed that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25. But wait a second, shouldn’t tobacco companies be trying to appeal to people over the age of 18, not under? I mean 18 is when it’s actually legal to smoke. The way tobacco companies obviously think is “the earlier the better!” “Almost 90% of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers,” Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, FDA commissioner, said in a press release. “These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers. The FDA will utilize regulatory authority to reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco products to enhance our nation's public health.” “Youth are twice as likely to report seeing advertising for these flavored products as adults are," Joshua Sharfstein, MD, FDA principal deputy commissioner, said in a press release. Research has also shown that marketing campaigns for products with sweet candy and fruit flavors mislead young people into thinking that these products are less addictive and less harmful.”

The ban on all flavored cigarettes made possible when President Barack Obama signed The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Unfortunately, the new law won’t let the FDA ban nicotine or tobacco outright, but will be able to regulate what goes into tobacco products, make public the ingredients, and prohibit marketing campaigns, especially those geared toward children. Despite the fact that our fight is not over, we are slowly but surely showing these big tobacco companies who’s boss.