CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- An ordinance was introduced at Wednesday's City Council meeting that would end the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol, in the city of Chicago.
The American Lung Association supports this ordinance and applauds city officials for their action to end the youth e-cigarette epidemic.
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“Thank you to Mayor Lightfoot and Alderman Matt O’Shea, who sponsored the ordinance, for proposing bold action against the youth e-cigarette epidemic by working to end all flavored tobacco product sales in Chicago,” said Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the Lung Association, in a statement. “The Lung Association has long advocated for the removal of all flavored tobacco products, including mint and menthol, as flavors have been shown to initiate kids to tobacco use, and a lifetime of addiction and tobacco-related death and disease. In fact, now more than 1 in 4 teens (27.5 percent) are vaping, a staggering 135 percent increase over the past two years."
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“This law is especially important with the COVID-19 pandemic because people who smoke and vape are at a 2.4 times higher risk for severe complications than non-smokers. Any condition that potentially effects the lungs such as smoking or vaping, regardless of the ingredients inhaled, could play a role in making someone more susceptible to complications from the disease,” Wimmer added. “We urge the members of the Chicago City Council to support this important ordinance.”
RELATED: Lawsuit: Juul E-Cigarettes Are Deliberately Highly Addictive | Probes Of E-Cigarette Giant Juul Under Way In Illinois, DC | Illinois' Tobacco Age Increases To 21 To learn more about e-cigarettes and lung health, visit Lung.org/ecigs.