The Maine Senate recently passed L.D. 1215, a bill to end the sale of flavored tobacco products. Our policymakers should see through the tobacco industry’s smokescreens and advance L.D. 1215 to protect future generations from the lasting harms of tobacco addiction and disease.

All tobacco products – cigarettes, chews, dissolvables, snuff or e-cigarettes – come with associated health risks: risk of cancer, lung damage, dental decay and cardiovascular disease. Studies have shown that people who use tobacco are more likely to develop other addictions because nicotine reprograms genes associated with addiction, increasing susceptibility.

If tobacco companies were serious about lowering smoking rates, as some of their representatives have claimed, they would stop selling addictive products altogether, not shift to peddling e-cigarettes. There’s insufficient evidence to support e-cigarettes as a safe and effective way to quit smoking cigarettes. While there are free resources available for smokers who want to quit, the most effective strategy is to keep kids from ever starting to use tobacco.

Tobacco products come in more than 15,000 flavors, according to one study, and more than a dozen forms; these are intended to attract and hook kids. That’s why it’s not surprising that nearly 90% of adult smokers start before the age of 18. It’s time to end the sale of flavored tobacco products in Maine.

Rebecca Boulos
South Portland