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Thank you for making the health of DC kids a priority

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

Tobacco companies have been hooking our kids for decades with enticing flavors, and now they’re adding a new generation of kids by selling products in flavors like gummy bear, banana smash and mint.

Youth e-cigarette use has skyrocketed to what the Surgeon General and FDA have called “epidemic” levels. In 2018 alone, e-cigarette use among U.S. high school students jumped by 78 percent. The main cause of the problem is JUUL, a sleek, high-tech e-cigarette that looks like a USB flash drive – and is small and easy to hide, comes in sweet flavors that entice kids and delivers a powerful nicotine hit.

The time is now to end the youth e-cigarette epidemic by prohibiting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. We also call for the DC Council to address a long-standing public health crisis in the District caused by menthol cigarettes and other flavored products such as cigarillos by prohibiting the sale of those products as well. This will disproportionately benefit DC’s African American communities by reducing smoking and saving lives. We urge you to make sure no communities are left behind.

All of these flavored products are undermining the nation’s overall efforts to reduce youth tobacco use and putting a new generation of kids at risk of nicotine addiction and the serious health harms that result from tobacco use.

The District has always been regarded as a national leader in passing and implementing impactful, effective policies that are proven to prevent and reduce tobacco use. We are urging the DC council to continue that national leadership by amending and passing legislation to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products at all retailers in the District without exceptions. Please join us in this fight!

LATEST NEWS

Flavors Hook Kids DC Campaign Partners:

Action on Smoking & Health
Alice Deal Middle School Community Association
All Around Strong LLC
Attainable Resources
Black Nurses Association
Breathe DC
Bridging the Gap
Brightstart Childcare Center
Brown Strategy Group
Center for Minority Studies
Community Wellness Alliance
DC Asthma Coalition
DC Center for the LGBT Community
DC Federation of Civic Associations
DC Fights Back
Delta Omega, Omega Chapter
#DontMuteMyHealth DC Campaign
Dr. Larry F. McNair, DDS Cosmetic and
Family Dentistry
Earth Conservation Corps
East River Family Strengthening Collaborative
Encounter Church DC
Family First

Family Preservation Services
Family United, Ward 8
Family Wellness Center, Ward 7
First Rock Baptist Church
Fresh Food Factory Market
G III Associates
Glover Park Citizens Association
Green Spaces for DC
Holy Truth Church
Hunter’s Cleaning Services
Kiwanis Club of Shepherd Park
March of Dimes
Mahogany Books
Market Seven
M. I. Mother’s Keeper
Medical Society of the District of Columbia
NAACP – District of Columbia
National Black Church Initiative
National Black United Front
Order of the Eastern Star, Redemption
Chapter 14, Prince Hall Affiliate
Parents Against Vaping E-Cigarettes

Park Morton Resident Council 
Park Road Community Church
Prevent Cancer Foundation
Redstone Center for Prevention and Wellness, Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University
School Without Walls Francis-Stevens HSA
Society for Public Health Education
Syphax Gardens Resident Council
Training Grounds Inc.
Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Foundation
Thursday Network
United Food and Commercial Workers
WANDA: Women Advancing Nutrition Dietetics
and Agriculture
Ward 3 Democrats
Ward 5 Drug Free Coalition
Ward 7 and 8 Prevention Center
We Are Family
Westminster Presbyterian Church DC
YMCA of Metropolitan Washington

“Flavored tobacco products are really a social justice issue because many of these products were made and targeted to specifically reach out to black and brown communities. If we want to reduce tobacco disparities, we need to have a conversation about eliminating menthol.”

— Carla Williams, Cancer Center Director, Howard University

“Flavored tobacco products including JUUL are everywhere. It’s at every school in the city. We know nicotine is highly addictive and one pod of JUUL has the same amount of nicotine as 20 cigarettes.”

— Shellie Bressler, Volunteer Mom, Parents Against Vaping E-Cigarettes, Capitol Hill Resident

“The industry expands its customer base by targeting children with flavored tobacco. Enough is enough. It’s almost criminal.”

— Donnie Shaw, Community Outreach Director, YMCA of DC, Woodbridge Resident

“We know that our youth are being targeted. It’s our duty to protect them. It’s the Council’s duty to protect them. They must act now.”

— YaVonne Boyd, CEO of Community Wellness Associates, Columbia Heights Resident

GET THE FACTS

1 in 4 high school students in the United States use e-cigarettes.

4 out of 5 kids who have used tobacco started with a flavored product.

54%

Of youth smokers age 12-17 use menthol cigarettes.

97%

Of youth e-cigarette users report using a flavored product in the past month.

1 Juul pod delivers the same amount of nicotine as a full pack of 20 cigarettes.