The tobacco industry is addicting our kids
The tobacco industry’s replacement customers can’t legally buy their products but that hasn’t stopped the billion-dollar, Big Tobacco marketing machine from targeting kids with social media ads, fun flavors, and products that appear less harmful than their parent’s cigarettes.1
The tobacco industry has doubled down on addicting young people as their business model – harming kids’ health as they experiment with new products and flavors to see what sticks. Flavors such as menthol, Blue Razz, Banana Ice, and Arctic Cool Mint were created by the industry to mask the harsh taste of tobacco, which kids don’t like, making tobacco products easier to start using and even harder to quit.2 3 Big Tobacco depends on young people using their products to make a profit and keep them in business.4 And flavored vapes are kids’ product of choice.5 Teens who vape are 3x more likely to become daily cigarette smokers.6
Most California high school students who use tobacco use vapes.7 Vaping allows higher concentrations of nicotine to be inhaled and absorbed more easily than other tobacco products like cigarettes.8 Nicotine – which is as addictive as heroin9– is poison for the developing brain and rewires the brain to crave more of it.10 This creates nicotine withdrawal symptoms like headaches, restlessness, and the inability to concentrate.11 12 13 We know that nicotine can affect learning14 and increase anxiety,15 mood swings,16 and irritability.17
It’s not all about vapes though. Other tobacco products are just as appealing for their wide array of flavors and low-cost ease of purchasing, such as smokeless tobacco like snus or chew, and little cigars and cigarillos. Unfortunately, these are also harmful to the developing brain and body because they also contain nicotine.
This is the moment to break the cycle of addiction. We have the power to create a better, tobacco-free future in California and that starts with keeping Big Tobacco from targeting our kids for disease and death.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health 2016.
- Park-Lee E, Ren C, Sawdey MD, et al. Notes from the Field: E-Cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:1387–1389. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7039a4.
- Zhu S, Braden K, Zhuang Y et al. Results Of The Statewide 2019-20 California Student Tobacco Survey. San Diego: Center for Research and Intervention in Tobacco Control (CRITC), University of California San Diego; 2021.
- Maloney J. Against All Odds, the U.S. Tobacco Industry Is Rolling in Money; Profits are booming, despite government regulation, huge legal settlements and fewer smokers. The Wall Street Journal. April 27, 2017. Accessed March 11, 2019.
- Zhu S, Braden K, Zhuang Y et al. Results Of The Statewide 2019-20 California Student Tobacco Survey. San Diego: Center for Research and Intervention in Tobacco Control (CRITC), University of California San Diego; 2021.
- Pierce JP, Chen R, Leas EC, et al. Use of E-cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products and Progression to Daily Cigarette Smoking. Pediatrics. 2021;147(2):e2020025122. doi:10.1542/peds.2020-025122.
- Zhu S, Braden K, Zhuang Y et al. Results Of The Statewide 2019-20 California Student Tobacco Survey. San Diego: Center for Research and Intervention in Tobacco Control (CRITC), University of California San Diego; 2021. https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DCDIC/CTCB/CDPH%20Document%20Library/ResearchandEvaluation/FactsandFigures/2019-20CSTSBiennialReport_7-27-2021.pdf. Accessed December 3, 2021.
- Truth Initiative. E-cigarettes: Facts, stats and regulations. truthinitiative.org. https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/e-cigarettes-facts-stats-and-regulations. Published June 15, 2021. Accessed February 16, 2022.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: Nicotine Addiction A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, Center for Health Promotion and Education, Office on Smoking and Health, 1988.
- U.S. Surgeon General. Know the Risks. e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov. https://e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov/knowtherisks.html. Accessed March 10, 2022.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults. Cdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/Quick-Facts-on-the-Risks-of-E-cigarettes-for-Kids-Teens-and-Young-Adults.html. Reviewed April 7, 2022. Accessed April 14, 2022.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 7 Common Withdrawal Symptomscdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/quit-smoking/7-common-withdrawal-symptoms/index.html. Reviewed June 18, 2021. Accessed April 14, 2022.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nicotine. Cdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0446.html. Reviewed October 30, 2019. Accessed April 14, 2022.
- U.S. Surgeon General. Surgeon General’s Advisory on E-cigarette Use Among Youth. e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov. . 2018. Accessed April 18, 2019.
- Kutlu MG, Gould TJ. Nicotine modulation of fear memories and anxiety: Implications for learning and anxiety disorders. Biochem Pharmacol. 2015;97(4):498–511. doi:10.1016/j.bcp.2015.07.029.
- Etter JF, Ussher M, Hughes JR. A Test of Proposed New Tobacco Withdrawal Symptoms. Addiction. 2012;108(1):50-59. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03981.x.
- Hughes JR. Effects of abstinence from tobacco: Valid symptoms and time course. Nicotine Tob Res. 2007;9(3):315-327. doi:10.1080/14622200701188919.
