HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC Radio)—The Public Health Committee plans to introduce legislation to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products in an effort to keep Connecticut's youth tobacco-free.
After Connecticut lawmakers passed legislation in 2019 to make tobacco products unavailable for purchase to anyone under the age of 21, Public Health Committee Co-Chair Mary Daugherty Abrams (D-Meriden, Middlefield, Rockfall, Middletown, Cheshire) said banning all flavored products is the next step in protecting young people from the dangers of smoking.
"We know that 95% of addicted smokers begin before the age of 21 and we also know that there's been a very insidious yet very effective campaign to target our young people to have them become addicted at an early age," Abrams said.
That campaign, according to Abrams and other advocates, involves using flavors to target young people.
The ban would include all flavored products including flavored e-cigarettes and menthol cigarettes.
In 2020, the National Youth Tobacco Survey found that almost 20% of high school students and almost 5% of middle school students reported using vaping products, Abrams said.
The survey also found that food and mint were the flavors that most attracted young people to smoking or vaping as well as menthol cigarettes, she said.
Representatives from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and The NAACP in Bridgeport showed support for the bill during a virtual briefing Tuesday.