Veering Off Course

Berry, Nacho Cheese, and Gummy Bears banned from the shelf…

Pardon the diversion from the usual conversation about promotional product safety while we veer over to talk about what one city is doing about the risk of a consumer product—flavored tobacco. This month, San Francisco became the first city in the U.S. to ban menthol cigarettes, other flavored products, and vaping. The passage of San Francisco’s Proposition E enacts an ordinance originally sponsored by Supervisor Malia Cohen last year, who sought to ban flavored nicotine products, including flavored cigars, smokeless tobacco, and flavored vaping liquids, primarily because of their appeal to children. Health advocates, including the American Heart Association and the California Medical Association, endorsed Prop. E.

The ordinance was on the ballot because the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. spent nearly $700,000 on the petition drive to freeze the law until voters had the chance to weigh in. R.J. Reynolds has also contributed the vast majority of the whopping $13 million spent opposing the measure. The nation’s first ban on candy-flavored vaping products was also opposed by groups like the Arab American Grocers Association, who say small businesses depend on the sale of “anchor products” like flavored tobacco and vaping liquids. Others have condemned Proposition E as unnecessary and claim they are, like some other prohibition measures, likely to create black market purchases.

What really caught my eye about all of this was the stance taken by Patrick Reynolds. Yes, THAT Reynolds — his grandfather founded R.J. Reynolds. “The only memory I have of him is a man lying down dying gasping of breath,” Reynolds said. "It is an obscene, outrageous brazen ploy by the tobacco industry and by the vaping industry to ensnare another generation to be addicted,” Reynolds said. “And it's just got to stop."

Reynolds is the executive director of the Foundation for a Smokefree America. “San Franciscans are looking out for our kids, not protecting tobacco profits. The City by the Bay has stepped in to do what the ineffective U.S. Food and Drug Administration should have done when e-cigarettes and candy flavorings first appeared. While the FDA banned candy-flavored tobacco cigarettes in 2009, e-cigarettes were not included.”

From 2011 to 2016, vaping among middle- and high-schoolers increased drastically, from 1.5% to 11.3%. Today, far more kids are vaping than smoking (11.3% vs. 8%). Derek Smith, director of the Tobacco Free Project at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, says flavors and menthol deceptively mask the taste of tobacco and make it easier to inhale nicotine. "Someone who has tried a cigarette for the first time will often turn green and cough," said Smith. "Imagine instead a cereal, milk-flavored inhalation that is considerably less harsh to start with."

One last piece of irony about the San Francisco ban is the fact that the manufacturer of what is arguably the hottest new vaping device with teens is headquartered there. The FDA has announced a crackdown on the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, primarily the very popular Juuls. Teens bedazzle and personalize their Juuls, buying colorful and designer “skins” to cover the electronic-looking devices. They post videos and photos on social media, using Juul hashtags and showing how to sneak hits in class or perform vapor tricks, like “blowing Os.” At parties, Juuls, which light up after a hit, are spun to form illuminated circles in the air. Sound familiar?

Have you thought about similarities between this and products you sell as general use that might have risk because they appeal to children? If you are a parent, have you been surprised by what you thought was a computer flash drive, a phone charger, or a flashlight when it is actually a Juul, or Suorin, or vape pen? There’s a fine line between being overly protective and the right to use or sell potentially dangerous products. That goes as a parent, or as a sales professional.