15,500 FLAVORS AND COUNTING….
“We don’t smoke that s_ _ _. We just sell it. We reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and stupid.”
The Loophole - The Science - The Risk
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act prohibits the sale of cigarettes with characterizing flavors other than menthol or tobacco, including candy and fruit flavors.
This prohibition, however, does not apply to other tobacco products. In recent years, tobacco companies have significantly stepped up the introduction and marketing of other flavored tobacco products, especially electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and cigars.
The ban on flavored cigarettes was associated with a 17% reduction in the probability of middle and high school youth becoming smokers and a 58% reduction in cigarettes smoked by current youth smokers.
However, the ban was also associated with a 45% increase in use of menthol cigarettes, a 34% increase in use of cigars, and a 55% increase in use of pipes, indicating that youth may be substituting menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products in place of flavored cigarettes.
Tobacco products like cigarettes, hookah, chewing tobacco, cigarillos, cigars, dry snuff, dip, and nicotine dissolvables have flavorings added to increase their appeal and palatability. Many come in a variety of flavors such as menthol, vanilla, orange, apple, cola, chocolate, cherry, coffee, and grape.
Research shows that flavored tobacco products are widely considered as “starter” products, and people who use them are more likely to become “hooked” than someone trying non-flavored tobacco products for the first time. The flavoring masks the harshness of the tobacco products which makes them more addictive and harder to quit. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), flavored tobacco is more addictive than regular tobacco products.