On sale of tobacco products
Dear Editor:
On Tuesday, February 21st the Revere Board of Health will decide whether to restrict the sale of flavored tobacco to stores dedicated only to selling tobacco products. Right now they are available everywhere in convenience stores and gas stations. This restriction is important because the tobacco industry targets our kids with products flavored like gummy bears, peach, and cotton candy in order to create a new generation that’s addicted to tobacco. Big Tobacco needs replacement smokers since their products kill over 400,000 people a year.
The tobacco industry also wants these products widely available in our community’s corner stores.  They want kids to easily see and get them whether from friends or other sources. Our environment affects our decisions.  The easier it is to get a product, the more likely we are to buy it. The same goes for our youth. If it’s convenient to get cheap, sweet, flavored tobacco products in stores near home and school, youth are more likely to use these products than if they were only sold in adult tobacco stores.
These products are also cheap! Hookah sticks, vaping pens, little cigars and chew are taxed at much lower rates than cigarettes and can be sold separately, making them much more affordable and accessible to kids.
The research also demonstrates that flavors attract young people. Data from the 2013-2014 Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study found that 80.8 percent of 12-17 year olds who had ever used a tobacco product initiated tobacco use with a flavored product.
Approving the flavor restriction means protecting our young people from the predatory tactics of Big Tobacco, while still maintaining access in tobacco only stores to anyone who can legally buy cigarettes.
If you support this restriction please let the Revere Board of Health know by signing the petition at:
http://bit.ly/2jvu4G0
Revere CARES Coalition
