In recent years, Massachusetts, New York, California, and Washington, D.C., have impose a ban Flavored tobacco products in an attempt to reduce smoking rates among young people. Despite these bans, flavored tobacco products remain readily available—and this has never been more evident.
Walk into your nearest convenience store and you’ll likely find a wide variety of flavored tobacco products to choose from—strawberry banana, blue raspberry, spearmint, black cherry. Regardless of whether these products are banned in your city or state, they are likely in stock and available to you.
2021 DC Council prohibit Sell flavored tobacco products within a quarter mile of middle schools and high schools. New York City goes one step further prohibit It sells flavored tobacco products in its five boroughs.
However, a citywide ban on the sale and purchase of flavored tobacco products has completely failed. Two new studies by market researcher WSPM Group reveal just how much tobacco products are being consumed and disposed of. Washington DCand New York City. Researchers examined trash in the two cities and found that more than 99 percent of e-cigarettes collected from city trash cans were flavored tobacco products, even though consumers in those cities were prohibited from legally purchasing the products.
Something similar happened in Massachusetts prohibit Menthol Cigarettes 2019. primary consumer Menthol tobacco products. In fact, smoking rates are high among black adults Increase After the ban, sales of menthol cigarettes also declined. Neighboring countries. Bay State residents drove out of state to buy more menthol cigarettes for their own use or to sell on the newly created black market. There’s no denying that things got worse for smokers after state governments took away their options and forced them into the black market.
Who supplies the vendors with these illegal flavors of e-cigarettes that are flooding the shelves of corner stores across the country? ChinaOf course, although most consumers may not realize this. Among the 2,000 electronic vapor products collected from trash in Washington, D.C., and surrounding cities such as Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda and Silver Spring, 99.5% of packaging and products exported from China. When the nearest 7-Eleven convenience store sells various flavors of e-cigarettes, few consider their origin or consider them to be illegally imported items. Last year the FDA issued notify 22 retailers have warned they will face fines if they don’t stop selling unauthorized e-cigarettes, but the banned products can still be seen on store shelves and in the hands of smokers across the country.
Adults should be able to buy any tobacco product they like – rubbish tells us they will. Banning flavored tobacco products will never stop people from smoking, instead, lawmakers are once again allowing an unregulated and potentially dangerous black market to arise and feed demand. It’s time for policymakers to abandon the idea that they can control individual choices.
