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Michael May is a social studies teacher at Old Town High School who is deeply concerned for the well-being of my students.
In 1964, Bob Dylan warned us “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”
Sixty years later, it’s just as relevant.
In 1964, there was no internet or cable TV. Heck, there was barely television as Maine’s first television station started in 1953.
In 1964, the country’s population was 190 million people. Today? More than 336 million people.
In 1964, the Red Sox finished the season 27 games behind the Yankees. Today? Well, maybe some things don’t change all that much.
Something else that hasn’t changed is the relentless targeting of our youth by tobacco companies.
In the 1950s, celebrities who kids looked up to were used in tobacco advertisements. A-listers like Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez, Bob Hope, and Ted Williams were all pushing cigarettes to a younger audience. “The Phil Silvers Show” was even featured in a comic book-style ad for Camel cigarettes.
In 1964, tobacco companies were banned from using celebrities to endorse their products. The times did appear to be a’ changin’.
But that didn’t stop the industry. An influx of “characters” came along to appeal to the younger audience once again. Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man were two of the most famous. One study conducted in 1991 found Joe Camel was at least as well known as Mickey Mouse to 3- to 6-year-olds.
I offer this history in part because I’m a social studies teacher, but also to paint the picture for you. Tobacco companies targeting kids is nothing new. If they are not targeting youth, their business model fails. They need our kids to replace the nearly half million lives killed by tobacco-related illness each year.
One of their most effective methods has long been flavored tobacco products. Menthol cigarettes, historically, have addicted more kids and killed more adults than any other flavored tobacco product. But now flavored vapes are not only marketed toward youth, but manufactured specifically to appeal to them. The flavors of mint, cotton candy, butterscotch and cupcake are sold in brightly colored packaging, with names and tastes reminiscent of a treat at the circus or a birthday party. Hidden behind that flavor is enough nicotine to get just about anyone hooked instantly, which will likely result in a lifetime of addiction — to nicotine, other tobacco products and other addictive drugs and behaviors.
The tobacco companies know this. And that’s why they are fighting to keep these products on the market.
We are seeing this nationally as the federal government has continued delaying a plan to ban menthol cigarettes. President Joe Biden issued the indefinite delay in April after officials with the Food and Drug Administration drafted the ban, predicting it would prevent hundreds of thousands of smoking-related deaths over 40 years.
Just this summer, the FDA announced it is allowing Juul e-cigarettes back on the market while it considers updated information provided by Juul. The FDA ordered the company to stop selling the products 2 years ago, but they have remained on the shelves, and now they are back at the beginning of the process. Only the tobacco industry benefits from these delays, our kids are the ones who suffer.
Here in Maine, there was a bill before the Legislature to end the sale of flavored tobacco products statewide. This bill had support across two separate polls showing nearly two-thirds of the state supports the policy, and several communities have passed local ordinances. This bill passed in the Senate, but the Maine House of Representatives didn’t even bring the bill up for discussion, let alone vote on it. Newspaper accounts say that’s because House leadership put politics ahead of our kids’ health and safety. If that’s true, that’s despicable.
Kids have been begging for help as flavored tobacco products are infiltrating our schools. Teachers and parents have been doing the same. Doctors and nurses have been providing endless amounts of evidence that kids are using these products, and they are seeing not only addiction seep into their lives, but severe negative health impacts as well.
As one of the teachers seeing all of this happen first hand in our schools, I’m also begging our Legislature to take action as soon as possible. We cannot wait for the federal government. Our kids’ lives are too important.
