Tracy J. Chappelle 
There is an epidemic beyond COVID growing among our young people – tobacco and nicotine addiction. The use of flavored electronic cigarettes has dramatically increased among college and high school students. Yet Connecticut is shirking its responsibility not to ban flavored e-cigarettes. All states surrounding Connecticut have already adopted these protections for their children. When are we going?
As executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, I think it’s time to ban them. Although e-cigarettes (or vapes) are newer to the market, they may have already harmed the ability to learn and thrive for countless students. Each dose delivers a potent dose of nicotine, a dangerous and highly addictive neurotoxin. Nicotine may impair adolescent brain development, which continues until around age 25, and may impair learning, attention, memory and control, says US Surgeon General impulses.
The use of flavored electronic cigarettes by middle and high school students is increasing dramatically. The kid-friendly flavors available – like “gummy bear”, “bubble gum” and “cotton candy” – are attracting more and more young people, leading them to become addicted. In a study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, 3% of middle school students said they had used e-cigarettes in 2019 – and 15.2% in 2020. Among high school students, cigarette use electronics was reported at 2.4% in 2019 and 26.5% in 2020.
Of all current e-cigarette users, 82.9% used flavored e-cigarettes, including 84.7% high school users (2.53 million) and 73.9% of college users (400,000). The use of these products has become commonplace among our students. National health officials have called e-cigarette use among young people an “epidemic”. In Connecticut, 27% of high school students use e-cigarettes — well above the national average.
We cannot allow e-cigarettes to undo the incredible progress we have made in reducing smoking and tobacco use over the past few decades. We can – and must – do better to protect our children so that another generation does not suffer the harmful effects of tobacco products.
Massachusetts has ended the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island have all blocked the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. What is Connecticut waiting for?
There is no honest reason for Connecticut to allow this to continue. It’s time for us to do good for our young people by ending the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. We must eliminate the availability of these products for the health of our young people. I call on Governor Lamont to move to ban the sale of all flavored e-cigarettes in this year’s budget and on the legislature to enact this legislation.
Fran Rabinowitz is the executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.
