As students across Minnesota go back to school, Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation warns that Big Tobacco may be in their backpacks. The coalition of more than 60 organizations working to reduce youth tobacco use is sending a warning to parents, educators and students and urging lawmakers to do more to protect youth. A new generation of tobacco products threatens Minnesota’s progress to reduce teen smoking, and e-cigarettes, flavored cigars and snus are easy to mistake for candy or school supplies.
Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation released a graphic that displays some tobacco products that parents may not recognize, including e-cigarettes, flavored cigars and snus. The goal is to raise awareness of these products before addiction sets in.
More than 26 percent of high-school students reported using tobacco products in the 2017 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey. The high-school tobacco use rate increased for the first time since the survey began in 2000, and is up 7 percent since 2014. This is driven by a sharp rise in e-cigarette use, which is up 50 percent since 2014 in Minnesota. The dramatic surge is a result of Big Tobacco’s aggressive marketing to youth, which includes prolific advertising, trendy devices, easy access to products and kid-friendly flavors.
Some popular e-cigarette devices are delivering a massive amount of nicotine, yet youth often don’t realize or underestimate the amount of nicotine in these products, and are becoming hooked at a young age. Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm the adolescent brain no matter how it’s delivered. Nicotine also primes the adolescent brain for addiction, and youth exposed to it are more likely to use other substances and develop dependence.
The rise of e-cigarette use and nicotine addiction is gaining state and national attention. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently called the surge in teen e-cigarette use a dangerous epidemic. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) also issued a new advisory on youth nicotine addiction, calling it a major health concern.
There are several actions Minnesota can take to address and reverse this alarming trend. Raising the tobacco age to 21, restricting the sale of flavored tobacco products, investing in prevention and including e-cigarettes in smoke-free air laws are all common-sense steps to curb the threat of youth addiction.
Read the full press release here.
Learn more about tobacco issues at www.smokefreegenmn.org/issues.
MDH e-cigarette resources are available at: health.mn.gov/ecigarettes.
