When Florida’s Stores are the Front Lines of Tobacco Control

We as Floridians are encountering something that kills an average of three Floridians an hour, every hour of every day. It kills an estimated total of 32,300 Floridians each year. It’s being colorfully promoted and is readily available at a place you visit frequently – your local convenience store or gas station. It’s tobacco products like cigarettes, dip and chew. And tobacco companies spend billions of dollars a year to market these addictive products at the “point of sale” – retail locations where tobacco products are sold. They increased advertising dollars at the point of sale by more than 28% in just one year. When it comes to recruiting new youth to use tobacco, studies show this tactic has been effective – the likelihood of starting can more than double for youth who visit a store with point-of-sale tobacco ads at least twice a week.

Tobacco executives view youth as “replacement smokers,” the next generation of customers replacing those lost by the leading cause of preventable death in our state and our nation. To attract new youth smokers the tobacco industry continues to evolve the market with new products, like electronic cigarettes and heat-not-burn devices.

E-cigarettes are not safe, especially for youth and young adults. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, a dangerous and addictive chemical. E-cigarette companies market their products by promoting flavors, including many that are especially appealing to youth. According to the 2016 Surgeon General’s Report on e-cigarette use among youth and young adults, flavors were the leading reason for youth e-cigarette use. Though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the sale of flavored pod or cartridge-based e-cigarettes, new, disposable products (like Puff Bars, Stig and Smok) popular among youth are not covered under that policy. By evolving product design to get around FDA regulations, the e-cigarette industry is continuing to disregard the best interest of communities. Further, while the FDA policy bans mint flavored e-cigarettes, menthol flavored e-cigarettes can still be sold. 

The front line in the ongoing work to save these lives is at the point of sale. What is the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County doing to counter act the millions of dollars being spent marketing cigarettes and other tobacco products, often at retail locations next to our schools?  Tobacco Prevention Program staff and community partners are collecting data about the tobacco retail environment.  Findings will help to identify tobacco retailers who need to improve or work on how they display advertising and with this become a more responsible store. Community partners and Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) youth have been providing education and outreach through presentations to the community about the dangers and harmful effects of tobacco products including electronic vapor products (EVPs) like e-cigarettes, in an effort to counteract the marketing/advertisement towards youth.

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