There was a time when it felt like this nation had Big Tobacco licked. Some of the baby boomers who had grown up smoking tossed their packs in the trash after watching their parents die of lung cancer. Generation X kids grew up knowing that cigarettes led to an early grave and simply had fewer role models lighting up.
Millennials grew up in a society where smoking was taboo. Even in New York City, club smokers were exiled to the street, and it all didn’t seem worth the hassle or the stigma.
But we’ve let our guard down.
There’s a good chance that a significant number of this next generation has been hooked on nicotine.
According to data from the 2017 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, 34% of high school students said they definitely or probably would use an electronic vapor product in the next year, and 27% of students reported having used an electronic vapor product in the past 30 days.
We must stop this epidemic.
While vaping is likely not as harmful on the lungs as a cigarette, the American Lung Association cautions that most products that use a heated liquid solution to deliver nicotine also include chemicals that are harmful. Nicotine is still not good for our developing children’s brains, and no addiction — especially a strong one that can lead to dangerous products like cigarettes — is healthy.
So what can we do?
Fortunately, there’s much on the table at the state and local level to respond to this epidemic. We just need elected officials to have the political courage to respond even as the industry lobbies for the opposite. Here’s our three-pronged list for action:
The age to buy products with nicotine needs to be raised to 21. It’s an easy and effective way to shut down the senior-straw-purchase pipeline that exists in every high school in the state. Municipalities are leading the way in this regard, with Aspen passing the first Tobacco 21 law in 2017. Denver is considering an ordinance now and we hope it passes; eventually, the state should follow suit. We’re puzzled that a bill wasn’t brought this year in the General Assembly.
Going hand-in-hand with that change, Colorado must start cracking down on those who sell tobacco products to underage kids. The Healthy Kids survey paints a dire picture. Of students under the age of 18 (the current legal age to buy tobacco products in Colorado) who reported regularly using vapor products, 23% said they were able to purchase the product at a store. The city of Denver should create a registry of stores that sell tobacco products to ensure none fall through the cracks when it comes time to check for compliance with the law. It could do so as it changes the smoking age.
Finally, Gov. Jared Polis is proposing to eliminate a loophole that allows vaping products to be sold without Colorado’s additional tobacco taxes being levied. It makes zero sense that a cigarette would face heavy sin taxes but other nicotine products would not. Polis also wants to increase the overall tobacco tax to help push smokers to cessation or discourage them from starting. But Polis must not only get the bills through the Capitol, he also must persuade voters to approve the sin tax at the ballot box. While we regret the taxes are so regressive, we are swayed by statistics that show increasing the price of tobacco products is an effective way to keep teens from smoking.
Together we can prevent kids from picking up a dangerous habit.
— The Denver Post
