Flavored tobacco ban poor public policy

In response to the editorial, “Ban on flavored tobacco is worth revenue loss” (April 6).

A state ban on tobacco sales by licensed retailers is not binary — not money vs. health or big tobacco versus communities of color — as anti-tobacco advocates and the Day's Editorial Board would have you believe.

Instead, it is matter of appropriate policymaking and examining the realistic consequences that would result. The truth is, all tobacco products, including flavored tobacco, are safest when sold through the current regulated and taxed system. Banning legal adult products like menthol cigarettes and smokeless tobacco will not eliminate demand but will only transfer it to unregulated and out of state markets. This is exactly what is happening in Massachusetts since it banned flavored tobacco on June 1, 2020.

In 2019, anti-tobacco advocates, capitalizing on alarming youth vaping rates and a black-market THC vape scare, managed to conflate the issue by also targeting traditional flavored tobacco products preferred by adults. But in 2021, with drastic federal action against flavored vape and dropping youth usage numbers, that story no longer works so they have flipped to racism and revenue. Let's hope our elected leaders see through this charade and reject this misguided proposal. Jonathan Shaer Executive Director, New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association Chris Herb

President of Connecticut Energy Marketers Association