Midnight Berry. Mocha Taboo. Cherry Cheesecake. Mandarin Mint.
How yummy. Sounds like the local ice-cream truck man has upgraded and expanded his collection of lip-smackin’ flavors for all the neighborhood offspring.
Right? Please tell me I’m right.
OK, no, I was wrong.
These ultra-tasty new flavors are actually part of a new cigarette line unveiled this spring by Kool tobacco company.
As if battling the existence of candy cigarettes was not enough, I’ll still never forget the sight of my five -year-old cousin stooped over our back deck, “smoking” a bubble gum cigarette he had somehow obtained. Tobacco companies have taken it 10 steps further and flavored their cigarettes with kid-friendly flavors.
Additionally, the cigarettes are then packaged and marketed in themes such as fantasy and hip hop.
By now, there should be red lights flashing brightly in your head. The reason being, there are a number of elements in the above situation that are inherently disturbing and arguably wrong.
In 1998, tobacco companies signed a multibillion-dollar settlement with 46 states. Under the stipulations of the settlement, tobacco companies would be prohibited from targeting marketing both directly and indirectly to youth.
The unveiling of the new Kool’s line unabashedly violates the standards signed into law by the settlement. The new cigarette line – with its kid-friendly flavors and youth-themed packaging and ads – directly, blatantly and obnoxiously targets youth.
Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Christine Ferguson states, “It smells like this stuff is candy. They are going to really push the envelope to see how close they can come to marketing kids.”
At the forefront of the battle, Massachusetts health officials are asking tobacco companies to halt the sales and marketing of the product. Additionally, the National Association of Attorneys Generals has been asked to look into whether the cigarettes in question are in violation of the 1998 settlement.
Furthermore, Democratic U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy is expected to introduce a new piece of legislation this week that would give the power of regulating cigarettes to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In an effort to refuel the crusade for more tightly controlled tobacco, the FDA would then impose a national ban on the flavored varieties of cigarettes.
I once had a part-time stint at a hospital gift shop that enabled me to have much interaction with patients, families and hospital staff. And let me tell you, it really did open up my eyes to the realities and consequences of such a nasty habit. Smoking causes pain. Lots of it, on all kinds of levels. If smokers aren’t feeling it yet, either physically or internally, people who care for them are feeling it emotionally. Is this what individuals desire for our youth?
And then there are the big, evil tobacco companies. What do they have to say for themselves? Although tobacco industry spokespeople are trying, they have yet to succeed in convincing everyone – including themselves – with a straight face, that the new cigarettes are, in fact, aimed at adults. The same goes for the skateboards, bicycles and leather jackets, among many other nifty items that can be earned with the right accumulation of cigarette box proof of purchases.
With the willingness to sacrifice the health of America and its youth in turn for money, how can the tobacco companies’ executives sleep at night? I suppose they would have to be pretty soulless to continue to really push and test their limits in intoxicating America’s youth with nicotine, asbestos, ammonia rat poisoning and who knows what else.
And for what? To drive a shiny new Benz and drink martinis next to their new pool behind their gigantic house?
Shame on you, Kool and the rest of the tobacco industry. You disgust me.
Jennifer Choi is a senior in English. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].
