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Noah Chang

Mr. Ryan Smith

English 11 Section 5

23 March 2021

The Truth About Tobacco: Flavors Hook Kids

Introduction

Every year, tobacco claims more than 480,000 American lives, and this number is

estimated to drastically increase due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, most tobacco users

started smoking at a young age which can directly be tied to the candy-flavored products that

82.9 percent of youth use. With these statistics in mind, it becomes clear that these flavored

products are harmful and addictive. The casualty rate can be diminished, and over 480,000

deaths can be prevented if we act right now.

Many different organizations have been tackling this problem for decades such as

the Center for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, and the World Health

Organization. Currently, the most widespread solution to tackle this problem is spreading

awareness and educating other people; if this is done correctly, it will not only bring attention to

the dangers of vaping to the common public, but it will also influence people at a young age

before they have the chance to experiment with it once. A more complicated solution these

organizations carry out is to propose bills to Congress either on the state or federal level.

However, even though numerous bills have been passed through the legislature, they usually

were not comprehensive enough to prevent certain loopholes.

While the national scale may be difficult for the time being, it would extremely help the

cause if comprehensive legislation were passed on the state level in Hawaii. For this project, I
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will be working with the  Hawaii Public Health Institute Coalition for a Tobacco-Free

Hawaii.   I will support and make sure that a new bill, which is currently being heard in the

House, gets passed into law by giving a talk at the Rotary youth camp, attending sign waiving

events while encouraging people to submit personal testimonies, and creating a flyer that is

specific to Covid-19 and the effects of smoking to every legislator in Hawaii.

The Problem

In terms of tobacco products, the one most commonly used among youth is e-cigarettes.

This is especially dangerous according to an article by a Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:

“Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development, particularly the parts

of the brain responsible for attention, memory, and learning.” Even though it is commonly

believed that e-cigarettes are less harmful than most tobacco products, studies have shown that

minors who smoke are affected mentally with their attention, memory, and learning. This means

that the students who use e-cigarettes early on will have a more difficult time with their

schoolwork and brain development which will impact the rest of their lives. Furthermore,

menthol e-cigarettes pose the same physical risks of lung cancer, heart diseases, and strokes.

The article also provides evidence for flavored e-cigarettes being addictive for kids:

“Nearly 40% of high school e-cigarette users are vaping at least 20 days a month, and over

730,000 middle and high school students are vaping every single day.” In addition to the health

risks, these vaping products are extremely addictive to youth smokers. Each Juul pod contains as

much nicotine as twenty cigarettes. Of course, when kids are smoking these products every day,

this will greatly strengthen the harmful mental and physical effects that come with it. Creating

addictive products is not only a way to generate a renewable source of income, but it also makes
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kids want to expand to other types of tobacco products as well that may contain even more

nicotine, continuing a vicious cycle of addiction.

The youth vaping epidemic directly links to the creation of flavored tobacco products.

Linking the tobacco flavors to the youth vaping epidemic, the article says, “82.9% of youth e-

cigarette users use flavored products.” It goes on to say, “E-cigarettes are sold in over 15,000

flavors, from mint and menthol to gummy bear and cotton candy.” The statistics in these studies

clearly show the dramatic increase in flavored e-cigarette use for minors. It becomes obvious that

these products are purposefully targeted towards kids since there are thousands of flavors to

choose from with names that are similar to other popular candy brands. This, combined with the

bright packaging and advertisements, easily attracts unsuspecting youth. These types of candy-

flavored tobacco products are what hook kids for the rest of their lives. The systemic causes of

this problem lie with the tobacco industry which is also called “Big Tobacco”; they are solely

responsible for harming addicted minors. 

According to a press release with California legislators, “Big Tobacco has hidden behind

smoke and lies for years to hook generations of young people on deadly tobacco products.” It is

because of their marketing of eye-catching candy flavors that kids become hooked to their

products. Not only this, but they are also responsible for spreading numerous lies to the public

and the courts to make it seem like their products are harmless and non-addictive. These

companies go through all of this effort so that they do not lose a large source of their income.

On top of this, the tobacco industry does not market towards everyone equally; they

unfairly target certain communities. “This referendum is more evidence that Big Tobacco will go

to any length to keep their hooks in our low-income and Black communities after spending

decades targeting our communities with predatory marketing all to make a profit off Black
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people,” says Dr. Phil Gardiner, Co-Chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership

Council. Within the youth community, there are certain groups that Big Tobacco markets their

products to more than others. More specifically, minority groups such as African Americans and

low-income families. Looking at statistics, a majority of Big Tobacco’s consumers come from

minority groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans; this will of

course lead to the tobacco industry wanting to continue their unfair marketing plan. This shows

that minorities will continue to be targeted and harmed in the future by tobacco companies if

nothing is done to limit their power.

It becomes obvious who is benefiting from youth being harmed when the website says,

“The delay [in SB 793 (Hill)] would enable Big Tobacco to generate $1.1 billion in revenue from

the sale of menthol cigarettes.” The youth are being robbed of their health and money, while

tobacco companies continue to gain billions of dollars off of them. Recently, a Senate bill was

introduced to the state of California which would ban candy-flavored tobacco products; however,

Big Tobacco created a referendum against the bill and spent twenty-one million dollars gathering

signatures to delay it. The bill was signed into law and California became the second state in the

nation to outlaw flavored tobacco, but this shows just how desperate Big Tobacco is to keep their

consumers.

Previous Efforts

To give perspective on what is being done, Mitch Zeller, director of the Center of

Tobacco Products at the Food and Drug Administration, says, “At FDA, we’re doing everything

we can using program and policy, first to get the word out to kids that this is not a harmless

product and to make sure that kids aren’t initiating and experimenting on any tobacco product.”

Currently, the most widespread solution to tackle this problem is spreading the word and
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educating other people. This is typically done by TV commercials, magazine ads, educational

talks at schools, and other forms of media. If this is done correctly, it will not only spread

awareness to the common public about the dangers of vaping, but it will also influence people at

a young age before they have the chance to experiment with it once. However, not every person

can be influenced; when spreading a message, it is important to catch the attention of a majority

without dissuading too many people.

Continuing his Ted Talk, Mitch goes on to propose what e-cigarettes should be used for

instead: “But think about e-cigarettes in a properly regulated marketplace as something that

could be of benefit to addicted adult cigarette smokers who are trying to transition away from

cigarettes.” This goal is possible to accomplish; Mitch is proposing that tobacco products such as

e-cigarettes should be regulated by the FDA. Instead of harming the youth, this product could

hold the potential to help smokers. However, of course, they would need to change the product to

make sure it is both non-addictive and not harmful to its users. If the FDA could regulate the sale

of the product and possibly create safe versions of it in the future, then it would be helpful to the

addicted youth and adult cigarette smokers.

Finally, Mitch explains his vision to eliminate this problem: “Imagine a world where

health-concerned cigarette smokers, especially if a policy goes into effect that takes the nicotine

levels down to minimally or non-addictive levels,” he also goes on to say later, “The marketing

of that product and the words of our law would be appropriate for the protection of the public

health.” For many years, organizations have tried to put regulations on flavored tobacco products

by passing bills at the state and federal legislature. In February 2020, the House of

Representatives signed a bill into federal law that supposedly banned the sale of all flavored

tobacco products and put an excise tax on nicotine. However, there was a loophole discovered
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that allowed tobacco companies to continue producing menthol flavoring. There have been bills

drafted in many states that propose a regulation bill to close the loophole, but only a few states

have signed their bills into law, not including Hawaii.

The Solutions

Kick Butts Day is a nationwide event in March where protesters march to the Capitol to

show support for banning flavored tobacco products. In a video on the Star Advertiser’s website,

a student that participated in Kick Butts Day 2019 says, “We are the Hawaii Public Health

institute’s youth council and we’re here today to take ownership of our own health with a group

of students all across the state.” One of the organizations hosting this event in the state of Hawaii

is the Hawaii Public Health Institute Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii. The youth council of

this organization brings together students from all of the Hawaiian Islands to talk to legislators

and request more comprehensive tobacco regulation policies. I was one of the students that

participated in this event on behalf of Maryknoll School, but sadly, this was the latest year that

hosted this event due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

           She goes on to say, “Today we are going to be talking with legislators, answering their

questions, and trying to gain their support to regulate vape.” Even with the challenges of the

pandemic, I was still able to come up with practical solutions that can be carried out this year.

My solution will be a mixture of policy creation and spreading awareness as mentioned in order

to still maintain the vigor of Kick Butts Day in Hawaii. As established already, to carry this out

effectively, it will have to be done on the state level and it must hammer out the loopholes within

current policy. Thankfully, there has already been a comprehensive regulation bill raised by

legislators; Therefore, my project’s success will be measured by whether or not this bill gets

signed into law.

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           Also in the video, Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii Josh Green shows his support for

the Hawaii Public Health Institute: “We have an incredible turnout from our student community,

young people who are fighting tobacco and the way it kills our families…They are fighting the

good fight and we’ve got to stop Big Tobacco.” Senate Bill 1147 is the last tobacco regulation

bill that is alive for this session in Hawaii, and it will be getting a hearing soon1. 

However, the section that banned menthol favoring was recently cut out of the bill. Menthol is a

compound that cools and soothes the throat to mask the harmful sensations of tobacco products,

but it does not remove the effects themselves. So, with this removed, even though the bill

outlaws certain flavors, it allows for a large loophole through menthol flavoring. Before I address

how my solution will support this bill, I will first address how my solution will attempt to get the

menthol ban written back in.

           The description for SB 1147 can be found on the Hawaii Capitol’s website; The purpose

is to “make unlawful the sale of flavored tobacco products, mislabeling of e-liquid products

containing nicotine, and sale of tobacco products other than through retail sales via in-person

exchange.” It is clear that this bill if passed, will bring about immense change in terms of

tobacco regulation. However, it will not be completely addressed due to the menthol loophole.

My project will consist of numerous solutions that will all impact Hawaii’s community and help

the bill to be passed as an act. First, I have participated and plan to participate in multiple sign-

waving events at the state capitol along with members of the Hawaii Public Health Institute’s

youth council to advocate support for adding menthol back into the bill. This alone got media

coverage on Hawaii News Now and KHON2 News.

The legislature states another purpose: “Establish the offense of unlawful shipment of

tobacco products.” This means there will be a strict penalty for the illegal shipment or sale of
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tobacco products. In addition to the stated events, I have asked the president of Maryknoll

School, Shana Tong to add Maryknoll to a list of schools that support a tobacco-free Hawaii on a

sign-on letter to be used at hearings. Other than this letter, I have contacted legislators

individually multiple times to give my personal testimony as well as to ask for their support by

signing onto the bill. I plan to do this in the future as my project progresses and plan to ask

others to contact their own legislators of their district.

           To establish another one of the bill’s purposes, the legislature writes in, “Include e-liquid

and electronic smoking device within the definition of “tobacco products” as used in the cigarette

tax and tobacco tax law.” This is a policy that should have already been written into law, but we

are still struggling to add it in today. Outside of the youth council, to raise awareness, I have

given a talk at the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards event on how flavored tobacco products will

negatively affect this generation of smokers and asked them to help the cause by submitting

testimonies of their own experiences to support SB 1147. And finally, I plan to create an original

flyer that is specific to Covid-19 and the effects it has on smokers since that message of a

widespread, ongoing problem will impact legislators the most. This flyer will be sent along with

other Hawaii Public Health Institute factsheets to every legislator in the capitol.

Conclusion

Although my topic is often seen as an old problem that has gotten better, this problem is

still extremely relevant and is still taking young adult’s lives every day. It is especially important

now since youth who smoke are five times more likely to contract Covid-19 than non-

smokers. Through my solution, I hope to bring awareness to this fact not only to the public but

also to the lawmakers of this state. With all of this being accomplished, and as long as I have the
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support of others who are also passionate, I have no doubt that not only Senate Bill 1147 will

pass, but also that there will be major systemic change within Hawaii.
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Notes

1. SB 1147 has died at the time of revising this paper. However, a few legislators have

added its policies to two bills, House Bill 826, and House Bill 598, both of which I will be

supporting through my project. These bills still do not include the menthol flavoring ban for e-

cigarettes though.
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Works Cited

“Big Tobacco Referendum Built on Lies Is Desperate Attempt to Keep Hooking Kids with

Candy-Flavored Tobacco.” Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Campaign for Tobacco-

Free Kids, 25 Nov. 2020, www.tobaccofreekids.org/press-

releases/2020_11_24_flavorshookkids-california.

“Ending the Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products.” Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Campaign

for Tobacco-Free Kids, 4 Jan. 2021, www.tobaccofreekids.org/what-we-do/us/flavored-

tobacco-products.

“Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students - United States,

2014.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6438a2.htm?s.

The State of Hawaii Thirty-First Legislature. “HB598 HD2 SD1.” Hawaii State Legislature.

https://capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=598&year=2021.

The State of Hawaii Thirty-First Legislature. “HB826 HD2 SD1.” Hawaii State Legislature.

https://capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=826&year=2021.

The State of Hawaii Thirty-First Legislature. “SB1147 SD2.” Hawaii State Legislature.

www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2021/bills/SB1147_SD2_.htm.

Tyne Phillips tphillips@staradvertiser.com March 21, 2019, director. Hawaii Youth Join Fight

against Flavored Tobacco on 'Kick Butts Day'. Advertiser, 21 Mar. 2019,

www.staradvertiser.com/2019/03/21/hawaii-news/isle-youth-join-fight-against-flavored-

tobacco/.
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Zeller, Mitch, director. “The Past, Present and Future of Nicotine Addiction.” TED,

www.ted.com/talks/mitch_zeller_the_past_present_and_future_of_nicotine_addiction/up-

next?language=en#t-649952.