Youth Prevention | Tobacco-Free Jeffco

Youth Tobacco Prevention

Despite gains made in tobacco prevention in years past, tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of preventable death in the United States,¹ and far too many youth are still picking up the deadly habit. This page is intended to raise awareness and educate Jefferson County residents about the problem of youth tobacco use and ways to reduce youth access to and use tobacco products.

Effective Strategies to Reduce Youth Access to Tobacco:

Tobacco Retailer Licensing:
- Licensing tobacco retailers can help prevent illegal sales of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vaping devices, to minors and reduces youth access and use of tobacco.
  - Despite data showing a steady decrease in youth use of cigarettes and some other types of tobacco, the overall rate of youth tobacco use remains steady due to a sharp increase in e-cigarette and cigar use, products that are frequently flavored to attract youth and often illegally sold to minors in the retail setting.
  - 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey² data shows that 46% of Colorado high school students have experimented with vaping, 26% are current e-cigarette users, and 38% are current tobacco (including e-cigarette) users.
  - Youth e-cigarette use has been associated with subsequent marijuana use, especially among young adolescents aged 12 to 14 years. Reducing youth access to e-cigarettes may decrease downstream marijuana use.
- By requiring retailers who sell tobacco products to purchase a license, communities can know exactly where tobacco products are being sold and use licensing as a means to better enforce all tobacco-related laws, including state and federal. This is similar to the licensing laws that apply to alcohol and marijuana retailers.
- In all but ten Colorado communities, tobacco retailers are not required to have a tobacco license, unlike the license required to sell alcohol. This means that tobacco can be sold by anyone anywhere in most Colorado communities.
- The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium states that policies to increase and enforce restrictions on illegal sales to minors, such as licensing of tobacco retailers, are essential in preventing youth from using tobacco.¹¹
- Tobacco retail licensing serves as a means to increase certain youth-specific protections such as prohibiting self-service displays, increasing clerk age to sell tobacco and limiting the number of tobacco retailers located near schools.
- Communities can even choose to include certain drug paraphernalia, such as pipes and rolling papers, to be covered by a tobacco retail licensing law.
- View this fact sheet about tobacco retail licensing.
- Learn more about licensing from the Public Health Law Center, ChangeLab Solutions and The Center for Tobacco Policy and Organizing.

Raising Minimum Age to Sell Tobacco:
- There is no minimum age limit for those who sell tobacco in Colorado.
- A 2001 study indicated that sales clerks under the age of 18 are more likely than clerks 18 or older to sell tobacco to minors.¹²

Raising Minimum Legal Sale Age of Tobacco:
- View this fact sheet to learn more about how raising the minimum legal sale age of tobacco to 21 can decrease tobacco initiation and addiction.

Smoke and Vapor-Free Laws:
- Smoke-free laws have been proven as an effective strategy to reduce youth smoking.¹³

Overview of Tobacco Retail Licensing and Minimum Legal Sale Age Policies in Colorado Communities:

Exposed to Tobacco Marketing:

Tobacco companies spent more than 9 billion on advertising and promotional expenses in the United States in 2014 (that’s nearly $25 million each day). 95% of that budget is spent on tactics in the retail setting.³
- These tactics, such as advertising placement and pricing schemes, are known to influence youth towards smoking, contributing to increased initiation, experimentation and regular smoking.
According to Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, tobacco companies advertise heavily at retail outlets where adolescents shop, such as near schools and playgrounds, with large signs visible from outside the stores.⁴
The Surgeon General has reported that the more young people are exposed to cigarette advertising and promotional activities, the more likely they are to smoke.⁵
The tobacco industry continues to produce and sell products that are appealing to youth such as little cigars, e-cigarettes, and e-juices in kid-friendly flavors such as cotton candy and bubble gum.
A 2014 study published in the journal Pediatrics found that there is a link between exposure to e-cigarette advertisements and the use of e-cigarettes by middle and high school students, concluding that efforts to reduce youth exposure to advertising are critical to prevent youth from using e-cigarettes as well as other tobacco products.⁶
The 2014 Surgeon General’s report states that “the tobacco industry continues to position itself to sustain its sales by recruiting youth and young adults…as consumers of all their nicotine-containing products including cigarettes.”⁷
The National Cancer Institute also reported that tobacco company advertising targets specific populations, such as youth, by using themes that resonate with them such as smoking being able to satisfy adolescents’ need to be popular, feel attractive, take risks, or manage stress.⁸
Learn more from Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids about how aggressive marketing of new tobacco products, such as flavored cigars and e-cigarettes, threaten the health of youth.
- Not Your Grandfather’s Cigar: A New Generation of Sweet and Cheap Cigars Threatens a New Generation of Kids
- The Flavor Trap: How Tobacco Companies Are Luring Kids with Candy-Flavored E-Cigarettes and Cigars
View this resource for local, state, and federal organizations working to counteract tobacco product sales and marketing at the point of sale.
Learn facts about the lies and manipulation tactics of the tobacco industry.

Tobacco Use and Trends Among High School Students in Colorado, 2017 ²

Ever smoked a whole cigarette	15.9%
Current cigarette use	7.2%
Current e-cigarette use	27%
Current smokeless tobacco use (chewing tobacco, snuff, or dip)	3.1%
Current cigar/little cigar use	5.9%
Tried to quit in the past year (among current smokers)	46.1%
Sort of easy or very easy to get cigarettes	55.5%
Sort of easy or very easy to get e-cigarettes	58.4%

Did you know?

According to the CDC, current e-cigarette use among middle and high school students tripled from 2013-2014.⁹
Additionally, e-cigarettes have become the most commonly used tobacco product among youth in the United States with three million middle and high school students having used e-cigarettes in 2015.¹⁰
2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey² data shows that 46% of Colorado high school students have experimented with vaping, 26% are current e-cigarette users, and 38% are current tobacco (including e-cigarette) users.
Nicotine is a highly addictive and harmful drug, and the Surgeon General’s report highlights that nicotine in e-cigarettes and other tobacco products can prime the adolescent brain for addiction to other drugs.
E-cigarette cartridges may be filled with substances other than nicotine, thus possibly serving as a new and potentially dangerous way to deliver other drugs.
Youth e-cigarette use has been associated with subsequent marijuana use, especially among young adolescents aged 12 to 14 years.

National Data on E-Cigarette Use – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Additional Resources:

General Information about E-Cigarettes / Vaporizing:

Visit TobaccoFreeJeffco.com/vapefacts for more information.
Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes (Report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine)
E-Cigarettes and Vaporizing: Glossary of Terms and Pictures (Jefferson County Public Health)
E-Cigarettes and Vaporizing Fact Sheet (Jefferson County Public Health)
E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults (2016 Surgeon General’s Report)
Get the Facts on Vaping (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)
Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Key Facts (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
CDC E-Cigarette Web Page (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Information on E-Cigarettes (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
E-Cigarettes & Lung Health (American Lung Association)
E-Cigarettes: A Scientific Review (University of California, San Francisco)
E-Cigarette Use Triples Among Middle and High School Students in Just One Year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
E-Cigarette Fact Sheet for Youth (Jefferson County Public Health)
Vaping Myths vs. Facts (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)
Vaping 101: What You Need to Know (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)

Tips for Parents and Other “Askable” Adults:

Website: Know the Facts about Vaping (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)
E-Cigarette Fact Sheet for Parents (Jefferson County Public Health)
Tip Sheet: Talking to Teens about Vaping (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)
FAQs for Parents and Adults Who Work with Youth (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)
Talk with Your Teen about E-cigarettes: A Tip Sheet for Parents (Surgeon General)

Secondhand Vapor / Aerosol:

Secondhand Aerosol Fact Sheet (Jefferson County Public Health)

Nicotine Poisoning:

Nicotine Poisoning Fact Sheet (Jefferson County Public Health)
Increase in E-Cigarette Poisonings Article (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

General Information about JUULs:

JUUL Fact Sheet (Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids)
JUUL Fact Sheet (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Here are some ways YOU can help protect Jeffco youth from tobacco:

Attend a meeting:

Attend the quarterly Tobacco-Free Jeffco Alliance meeting. Check our homepage for details on upcoming meetings.
If you are a high school student you can also get involved with a local youth youth coalition

Be social:

Find the Tobacco-Free Jeffco Alliance on Facebook and Twitter.

Report violations:

If you notice someone under age 18 purchasing tobacco you can report it as a violation. Call the Colorado Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement Division at 303-205-2302 or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at 1-877-287-1373. Complaints can also be submitted to the FDA online.

Get educated:

Check out this website to learn more about various tobacco prevention topics.

Be tobacco-free:

If you don’t use tobacco, don’t start! If you currently use tobacco, quitting is one of the best things you can do for your health. Find free resources and support to help you quit on our Thinking of Quitting page.

Sources:
1. www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/
2. Healthy Kids Colorado Survey 2017
3 U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Cigarette Report for 2014/Smokeless Tobacco Report 2014
4. www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0008.pdf
5. www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/preventing-youth-tobacco-use/index.html
6. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2016/04/21/peds.2015-4155
7. www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/50-years-of-progress/
8. http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/brp/tcrb/monographs/19/m19_complete.pdf
9. www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p0416-e-cigarette-use.html
10. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6514a1.htm
11. McLaughlin I. License to Kill?: Tobacco Retailer Licensing as an Effective Enforcement Tool. Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, 2010.
12. DiFranza JR, Colman M., “Sources of Tobacco for Youths in Communities with Strong Enforcement of Youth Access Laws,” Tobacco Control, 10:323-3328, 2001.
13. www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/protection/reduce_smoking/