Washington, D.C.- November 20, 2019 – The Society for Public Health Education along with 65 other Public Health organizations are calling on the president to follow through on his promise to remove non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes, including mint and menthol flavors, from the market.

More than two months have passed since the president announced his commitment to address the youth e-cigarette epidemic and yet no action has been taken.

Increased urgency has been brought to this issue as there have been reports that the White House may retreat from enacting a ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, thus breaking their promise to protect youth from nicotine addiction.

The youth e-cigarette epidemic is rapidly growing, and flavors play a vital role in their popularity among youth. E-cigarette use is on the rise as more than 5 million children now use e-cigarettes, including 1 in 4 high school students. Nearly 97% of youth e-cigarette users use flavored e-cigarettes and 70% cite flavors as their main reason for using.

SOPHE is a longtime advocate for tobacco cessation and control policies, increasing the minimum age for tobacco sales, and supporting policies to remove flavored e-cigarette products to curb the epidemic.

SOPHE issued a resolution to raise the minimum age of tobacco and nicotine delivery products to 21 years of age and crafted a resolution to address the public health concerns of electronic nicotine delivery systems.

For nearly 70 years, SOPHE has provided its members with the most credible and up-to-date information and tools on public health, health education and health promotion-what’s needed, what’s new and what works. SOPHE recognizes the need to remove e-cigarette flavors from the market as a necessary step to combat the youth e-cigarette epidemic.

Now is the time to hold the White House accountable for following through on their commitment to implement policies that combat the e-cigarette epidemic and ensure the health and well-being of youth in America.

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