Editor: I want to publicly thank State Senators Rhonda Fields and Kevin Priola for putting our children ahead of politics and introducing bipartisan House Bill 22-1064, to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Colorado. In 2018, Surgeon General Jerome Adams officially declared teen vaping an epidemic and encouraged not only parents and teachers to talk with children about the dangers of vaping, but also called for policy changes like what Senators Fields and Priola and others introduced in mid-January.
As a pediatric pulmonologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, I know all too well the impact flavored tobacco, like menthol and watermelon wave, have had in addicting a new generation of smokers. 85% of youth e-cigarette users use flavored products, and over half a million middle and high school smokers use menthol cigarettes. Despite the common misassumption that these products just contain flavors, they are incredibly detrimental to our kids’ health. The highly addictive nicotine harms the development of parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood and impulse control. Teens who use nicotine show lower cognitive function, shorter attention spans, and increased impulsivity, depression and anxiety in adulthood. Research has shown that teens who begin smoking by using e-cigarettes or other flavored products are more likely to become cigarette smokers, leading to a lifetime of addiction.
Legislation such as the bill introduced by Senators Fields and Priola and others is an essential step in addressing youth vaping and smoking in Colorado. It takes comprehensive policies such as this one to truly shift the deeply concerning trends and I stand with and applaud Senators Fields and Priola for their leadership.
— Monica Federico, MD, via letters@sentinelcolorado.com