I’m writing in support of L.D. 1215, An Act to End the Sale of Flavored Tobacco. I’m a health care professional at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, and much of my work involves patients from traditionally marginalized groups — from women, to people of color, to the LGBTQI+ population — that have been intentionally targeted and exploited by the tobacco industry.

Marketing tactics often sought to reframe smoking as an act of empowerment, from selling “Slims” as “torches of freedom” to newly enfranchised women; to marketing menthols to Black people in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement; to sponsoring Pride events. These have included highly targeted advertising and price breaks designed to lower the cost of getting addicted. As one example, menthols went from under 10% of the market among Black smokers in the 1950s to 85% today.

We see echoes of this history in the heavily youth-focused marketing of flavored tobacco products during the rollout of e-cigarettes in the mid-2010s. Sadly, youth are a lucrative market — seven of every eight adult smokers started before the age of 18. There are worrisome signs that this has worked, with one in three Maine high schoolers reporting smoking an e-cigarette and 85% of middle and high schoolers who use e-cigarettes using flavored products.

We can’t change the past, but it’s not too late to make a difference. We can act now and help stop the cycle of addiction before it starts.

Alexis Nolan
Brunswick

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