When nearly 90% of tobacco users started as minors, it’s time to face the reasons why youth use tobacco.

Studies show that kids are three times more sensitive to tobacco advertising than adults. The tobacco industry spends an estimated $120.6 million in marketing costs each year. Because of Big Tobacco’s investment to market tobacco products to youth, it’s no surprise that one third of underage experimentation with smoking is attributable to tobacco company advertising.

We know that using tobacco and nicotine products at a young age can lead to lifelong addiction. There is evidence that youth can feel dependent on nicotine sooner than adults and that genetic factors may make quitting smoking harder for young people. It’s not a coincidence that young people are drawn to tobacco and nicotine products.

In Oklahoma there are Big Tobacco policies in place that directly harm our youth. What are they?

• PUP laws - Youth purchase, use, or possession (PUP) laws unfairly punish and stigmatize children, many of whom became addicted at a young age as a result of the tobacco industry’s aggressive marketing to kids.
• Preemption – Oklahoma is one of only five states that have preemption on licensure, youth access, and smoke-free indoor air. Preemption limits local authority to regulate the use and sale of tobacco and vapor products.
• Lack of e-cigarette, vapor, and nicotine-only licensure – Oklahoma is only 1 of 20 states without retail licensure for e-cigarettes, vapor, and other nicotine products. Licensure laws not only reduce the number of vaping retailers in a community, they can also provide an additional level of regulation that allows for the fining, suspension, or revocation of licenses from retailers that sell vaping products to minors.

That’s why in partnership with the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET), we have started an education and policy campaign called CounterAct Tobacco to move the power out of Big Tobacco’s hands and into ours. Together we can stand up for our youth and advocate for statewide comprehensive tobacco retail licensing!

Alex Handfinger
Sr. Account Manager, CounterAct Tobacco

References

1. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US) Office on Smoking and Health. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US); 2012. 5, The Tobacco Industry’s Influences on the Use of Tobacco Among Youth. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK99238/
2. TSET. (2020). Summary Sheet on Youth Access to Tobacco. Prevention of Youth Access to Tobacco. https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&cx=6738ab8a1877305a7&q=https://www.ok.gov/okswat/documents/summary%2520sheet%2520on%2520youth%2520access%2520to%2520tobacco.doc&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwix8JfL1cfyAhXmkWoFHdnKDTMQFjAAegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw0DvE8Mv98WPmwrhk4ZQ0K2
3. Youth and Tobacco Use. (2021, April 22). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/index.htm