ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

Tobacco companies have been hooking our kids for years with enticing flavors, and now they’re scheming to addict another generation of kids by selling e-cigarettes in flavors like gummy bear, cotton candy, pink lemonade, mango and menthol.

Youth e-cigarette use remains a serious public health problem. Kids aren’t just experimenting with e-cigarettes — nationally, more than 1 in 4 current youth e-cigarette users use e-cigarettes daily. Additionally, flavored products are driving youth use. Nearly 90% of youth e-cigarette users use flavored products, with fruit, candy/desserts/other sweets, mint and menthol reported as the most popular flavors.

While Juul, a high-tech, easily hidable e-cigarette ignited the nationwide e-cigarette public health crisis by intentionally marketing to kids with sweet flavors, there are now thousands of e-cigarette flavors and hundreds of brands selling flavored e-cigarettes. Brands have developed products with dessert-inspired and blended flavors like Watermelon Ice, flashy packaging with cartoon imagery, interactive features like video games, adjustable nicotine strength, and more to keep youth hooked. Some of these flavored products can contain as much or more nicotine as 200 cigarettes.

Several loopholes in the 2020 law that prohibited these products in New York State, like the exemption for FDA authorized products, are being taken advantage of by distributors and retailers to enable continued access to and promotion of these products to youth. We are dedicated to making sure that these laws are enforceable and that those who violate them are held accountable.

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