Peachy mango pineapple, strawberry watermelon, chocolate mint — what sounds like a smoothie menu or shelf of candy are actually some of the flavored tobacco products now on the market, all of which will be outlawed by December 4 in the City of Goleta, a decision a majority of the City Council said they were making to protect young people from predatory marketing and nicotine addiction. The city took the 4-1 vote last Tuesday despite pushback from all three 21-and-over smoke shops in the city and a protest from speakers of Middle Eastern descent, who advocated that the traditional use of hookah pipe tobacco be allowed to continue.
Despite being illegal for purchase by minors, vapes and e-cigarettes had been used or sampled by 18 percent of 9th graders and 27 percent of 11th graders surveyed in Santa Barbara County in 2017-2019. Ninety percent of adults who smoked started in their teens, Goleta’s staff report stated, and once flavored products were introduced, vaping doubled among high schoolers. Newly introduced nicotine salts increased the amount of nicotine enjoyed, the staff report went on, and the byproducts inhaled included formaldehyde, lead, nickel, acetaldehyde, and ultrafine metal and silicate particles.
Renata Valladares, a health educator with County Public Health’s Tobacco Prevention and Cannabis Education program, said the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates packaging, rejected nearly a million proposed vape packages because they targeted young people. She went on to comment that disposable vape devices were designed to look like pens, highlighters, and computer flash drives, which made it harder for teachers and administrators to identify them.