Flavored tobacco
[1] According to a 2013 survey of internet tobacco retailers, the most common flavors are apple, cherry, chocolate, honey, grape, menthol, mint, peach, rum, strawberry, "sweet" (including bubble gum, candy, mango, blueberry, strawberry, orange, gum mint, and toffee) and vanilla.
[3] Cigarette flavors include anise, clove, cinnamon, spearmint, wintergreen, citrus, fruit, and alcohol (especially rum and cocktails).
[10] Menthol is a chemical found in plants of the mint family that produces a cooling sensation in the throat.
There had been internal resistance to tobacco sponsorship, and some organizations are now rejecting nicotine funding as a matter of policy.
[19] Tobacco company Lorillard even gave out free menthol cigarette samples to children in black neighborhoods in the U.S. in the 1950s.
[24] Tobacco companies have targeted the LGBT community with advertising for menthol cigarettes, most notably through Project SCUM.
[9] Flavored cigarillos are popular with lower income and younger people in part because they are inexpensive and are promoted by tobacco companies as affordable alternatives to cigarettes.
[28] In many jurisdictions, cigarillos and other cigars are taxed at lower rates than cigarettes, making them more appealing to low-income populations, including youth, young adults, and the unemployed.
[39] A 2018 in vitro study found that exposing lung cells to liquid or vapor containing cinnamaldehyde causes significant and rapid damage to their cilia and mitochondria.
[40] This led the authors of the study to conclude that "inhalational exposures of cinnamaldehyde may increase the risk of respiratory infections in e-cigarette users.
[42] A 2014 in vitro study demonstrated that e-cigarette use of a "balsamic" flavor with no nicotine can activate the release of proinflammatory cytokine in lung epithelial cells and keratinocytes.
[46] A 2015 review recommended for specific regulation of diacetyl and acetyl propionyl in e-liquid, which are safe when ingested but have been associated with respiratory harm when inhaled.
[46] Concerns exist that the flavors and additives in e-cigarettes might lead to diseases, including the popcorn lung.
[49] The irritants butyl acetate, diethyl carbonate, benzoic acid, quinoline, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, and 2,6-dimethyl phenol were present as undeclared ingredients in the e-liquid.
[51] With the current popular trend of flavored e-cigarettes use among young generations, there is concern about the potential long-term health of the public.
[57] Heating these flavorings releases toxic chemicals and carcinogens such as carbon monoxide (CO), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), furans, phenols, aldehydes (such as acrolein), and acids, in addition to nitrogenous carcinogens, alcohols, and heavy metals, all of which are dangerous to human health.
[1] Flavored cigarettes have been advertised in magazines frequently read by kids, such as Sports Illustrated, Cosmopolitan, and Rolling Stone and on television programs watched by adolescents.
[9] A majority of adolescents and young adults are exposed to cigarillo advertising in magazines and storefronts and on social media.
[87] However, some tobacco companies have rebranded their flavored cigarettes as “little” or “filtered” cigars in order to circumvent this ban.
[88] Canada banned flavored additives in combustible tobacco products—cigarettes, little cigars, and rolling papers—in 2009, excluding menthol.
[95] In June 2018, San Francisco residents voted to outlaw the sale of flavored tobacco products, including e-liquids and menthol cigarettes, in the city.
[96] Similar bans have passed in California in the cities of Oakland and Sonoma as well as in San Mateo, Contra Costa and Yolo counties.
[98][99] As of January 2019[update], 180 localities in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Rhode Island as well as two US states—Maine and New Jersey—restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products.
[100] In June 2019, San Francisco became the first major U.S. city to put a ban on the sale and distribution of all e-cigarettes including flavored ones.
The major e-cigarette company in San Francisco, JUUL spent over $18.6 million to the Proposition C campaign into a November ballot initiative in hopes to overturn the ban.
It shows that out of 201519 votes, nearly 82% of people were against Prop C.[103] Which means that the citywide ban on e-cigarette products will be effective in 2020.
