A columnist praises the Multnomah County Commission for banning flavored tobacco products, including vaping products.Â
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Thank you for your leadership!
Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury and commissioners have just taken action to protect lives, especially for people of color, other marginalized communities and for our kids. The commission’s unanimous approval to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products is a meaningful change that will make kids safer.
As head of a non-profit that represents 19 community-based organizations that advocate for racial, economic, educational and environmental justice, we see firsthand the devastating impact of flavored tobacco products.
MUNDY
Flavors get our kids hooked on smoking. Cotton Candy, Bubble Gum and Orange Soda flavors, along with colorful packaging, clearly entice young people to start smoking and keep them smoking. Local and national data shows us middle and high school kids seek out flavors:
Four out of five young users start with flavored products
85% of youth e-cigarette users report using flavored products
Big Tobacco preys on the Black community
There’s a long history of Big Tobacco targeting communities of color with its addictive and harmful product. Beginning in the 1950s, Black neighborhoods saw more menthol-flavored ads and price promotions compared to other areas. And the tactics clearly worked — 85% of Blacks use menthol compared to 29% of white smokers. It’s also led to a long history of Black health disparities. No product is responsible for the death of more Black people each year than menthol-flavored tobacco.
It's this same kind of explicit targeting that has impacted other racial and minority groups. The LGBTQ community, women, people with low income, and people with mental health conditions use menthol and other flavored tobacco at higher levels than other population groups.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Oregon, killing 8,000 Oregonians a year. For more than a decade, Multnomah County health equity experts have been sounding the alarm on this issue. Studies show that ending the sale of flavored tobacco products leads to decreases in new tobacco additions and increases in people quitting smoking. Ending retail sales will improve the overall health of our county, while simultaneously reducing overall health costs to taxpayers. An ounce of prevention is, actually, worth a pound of cure.
There are many pressing issues that affect the safety and health of our children, including safe street crossings, housing and food insecurity and equitable school resources. But with flavored tobacco, the choice is simple and clear: getting these predatory products off the shelves will drive down youth tobacco use, and save lives.
Finally, we need to end sales statewide
Multnomah County now joins Washington County in passing ordinances to end the sale of flavored tobacco products, centering the health and lives of our communities. But we must do more.
As Oregon’s two largest counties have stepped up, we call on the Oregon Legislature to address the racial justice and health equity issues related to flavored tobacco. Help save lives and end the sale of flavored tobacco.
Marcus C. Mundy is executive director of the Coalition of Communities of Color and a partner with Flavors Hook Oregon Kids, a statewide coalition of over 35 diverse organizations focused on ending the sale of flavored tobacco products.
