Letter to the Editor: End Tobacco Sales That Hook Marginalized Youth

Letter to the Editor: Edgewater must end the sales of tobacco products that hook historically marginalized kids and groups

The tobacco industry is relentless in targeting historically marginalized youth and groups to its addictive and deadly tobacco products. Unfortunately, it’s no surprise that young people continue to get hooked. The industry targets youth by using massive, million-dollar marketing campaigns and harmful tobacco products that taste like candy.

As the principal at Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School, a pediatrician in the community and the Health Services Director and Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator with Jeffco Public Schools, we are joining forces to urge our Edgewater leaders to take a bold step forward. We are calling on the Edgewater City Council to adopt a policy to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products. For decades, we have known that tobacco and nicotine can harm the growing adolescent brain and ultimately lead to long-term health consequences. The City of Edgewater has been a consistent leader in youth tobacco prevention in Colorado. Now, Edgewater can once again protect young people and join more than 300 other communities across the country, including five in Colorado, that have passed flavored tobacco policies.

Flavored tobacco products often lead to a lifetime of nicotine dependence. Among teens and young adults in the U.S. who have ever used tobacco, 81 percent of teens and 86 percent of young adults reported that their first product was flavored. The tobacco industry has been particularly aggressive with marketing menthol-flavored tobacco products to youth, low-income communities, LGBTQ+ communities and communities of color. Menthol-flavored cigarettes and little cigars remain key contributors of preventable death and disease, particularly within communities of color, where nine out of ten Black Americans who smoke use menthol cigarettes.

According to the 2019 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, youth tobacco use remains problematic locally, with more than one in four Jefferson County youth reporting current e-cigarette use (also known as vaping). More recent national data, the National Youth Tobacco Survey, found that more than eight out of ten youth who used e-cigarettes reported that they used flavored e-cigarettes in 2020.

The tobacco industry will argue that adults who use tobacco products have the right to make informed choices about what they put into their bodies. Yet, they may also fail to mention that nine out of ten adults who smoke cigarettes started before the age of 18. The industry’s argument also conveniently ignores that chronic use of nicotine is far from a choice. It is an addiction.

We must not wait to act locally as community members continue to get lured into tobacco use and gaps in health disparities continue to widen. As we assess the social, behavioral health, educational and economic impacts of COVID-19 on our community, our schools and healthcare providers face similar challenges to prevent and address the effects of health disparities that limit youth opportunities.

By advancing policy solutions grounded in scientific evidence and the very real experience of parents, youth, healthcare providers and educators in our community, we encourage the Edgewater City Council to continue leading the way in reducing youth use of tobacco and reversing years of targeting by the tobacco industry on youth, low-income communities, LGBTQ+ communities and communities of color.

In Solidarity for Youth Health,

Jessica L. Garza​, Principal, Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School
Brian Gablehouse, MD, FAAP, Peak Pediatrics & American Academy of Pediatrics, Colorado Chapter
Julie Wilken, Director of Health Services, Jeffco Public Schools
Keke Stickney, Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator, Jeffco Public Schools

Joel Newton

Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.