Letter to the editor: Eliminate flavored tobacco in Evanston

Jul 09, 2023

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As a resident of Evanston and on behalf of Illinois family physicians, I am voicing our strong support for the proposed ordinance to eliminate the sale of all flavored tobacco products within our city. We urge you, as leaders in our state for advancing tobacco reduction policies, to once again protect the health of the people who call Evanston home by championing this crucial policy change.

Nearly a decade ago, Evanston lawmakers worked to make our city the first in Illinois to increase the tobacco sales age from 18 to 21 through the passage of Tobacco 21 (T-21). After seeing the success of the policy, other Illinois cities followed suit, protecting countless teens from addiction to and health problems from dangerous tobacco products.

Now our city leaders have the chance to again be on the right side of history and science by passing the ordinance that would remove all flavored tobacco products – including menthol cigarettes, fruit-flavored cigars and the e-cigarettes that come in thousands of kid-friendly flavors like gummy bear and berry crunch cereal – from store shelves.

In fact, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report found that more than 80% of high school students and nearly 75% of middle school students who reported using a tobacco product in the last 30 days said they used a flavored one. Given the thousands of flavors offered in e-cigarettes, it’s no surprise flavors are fueling the youth and young adult e-cigarette epidemic.

We know tobacco and nicotine products are dangerous. But flavors up the ante and disguise the danger. They mask the taste and harshness of the smoke in a cigarette or a cigar or the aerosol in an e-cigarette, making it easier for a user to inhale more deeply and use more frequently. This makes them more palatable to new users and gives the individual a greater hit of nicotine, increasing addiction potential.

Flavored cigarettes and nicotine products are additionally an issue of health equity. The disproportionate use of menthol tobacco and nicotine products by Black and Latino adults, women and members of the LGBTQ community is well-documented. Menthol users, on average, also make more attempts to quit and are less successful in those attempts. While other flavors, such as fruity- or candy-flavored products, are newer to the market and less studied, they appear to be following similar demographic trends.

By passing a comprehensive tobacco and nicotine flavors elimination ordinance that removes all flavored tobacco products from the market, Evanston lawmakers have an opportunity to take a bold step forward in safeguarding the health and well-being of the people who live, work and go to school here. This ordinance will not only protect our youth and minority residents from the harmful effects of flavored tobacco products, but will also send a clear message that our community prioritizes health over the interests of the tobacco industry.

Emma Daisy, M.D.President-elect, Illinois Academy of Family Physicians

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