1. Other Tobacco Products: Candy Coated Addiction
Who is Using OTPs?
Tobacco manufacturers are using “flavors”
and packaging to target youth smokers. Tobacco Use Prevalence in Maine -
Youths are using OTPs at much
Tobacco industry documents show
higher rates
clear patterns of designing tobacco
products to target youth. Adult Youth Adult Data: 2011, BRFSS
Youth Data: 2011, YRBSS
Other Tobacco Products (OTPs) now 25% 23%
come advertised with names of 20%
appealing fruit and candy flavors like 15%
15% 13%
chocolate and strawberry.
Manufacturers are circumventing 10% 8%
4%
Maine’s law banning these products 5% 3%
though clever word-smithing that 0%
allows them to use the same marketing Cigarettes Cigars, Little Smokeless
Cigars, Cigarillos
while not claiming to add flavors.
Candy-themed tobacco is meant to attract new users, appeal to youth and they are cheap.
Other Tobacco Products include items like “peach” and “grape” little cigars that appear
in every way to be a cigarette, except they retail for as little as $1.65 for a pack of 20.
Some OTPs, like little cigars sold as single items, can retail for less than $1, increasing
their attractiveness to youth.
Other Tobacco Products are a gateway From 2001 to 2011, Maine's High School
meant to lure kids to future tobacco smoking rate dropped significantly.
dependence. However, use of Cigars and Smokeless
Tobacco have not followed.
Nearly 90% of adult smokers began 24%
20% Smokeless
using tobacco before the age of 18 – 5% Cigars
tobacco use is a pediatric epidemic! 0% Cigarettes
-20%
Every year 1,500 Maine kids become Data: Maine
YRBSS, 2001-2011
new daily smokers. -40% -39%
Equalizing the excise tax on OTPs to the rate of a pack of cigarettes will
close tax loopholes and keep kids from becoming addicted to tobacco.
Prepared by the Maine Public Health Association – February 13, 2013