St. Joseph’s Health Tobacco Cessation Experts Join State Department of Health in Support of Governor’s Proposed Ban on the Sale

SYRACUSE, N.Y.— (February 15, 2023) Leaders at the CNY Regional Center for Tobacco Health Systems at St. Joseph’s Health join the State DOH in applauding Governor Hochul’s tobacco reduction strategy, which was unveiled as part of the annual State of the State address. Governor Hochul will introduce legislation that will end the sale of all flavored tobacco products, such as menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars and cigarillos, and flavored smokeless tobacco, expanding upon the State's ban on the sale of flavored vaping products.

If this proposal passes the Legislature, New York would be the third state to do so.

"Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States,” said Kristen Richardson, Director of CNY Regional Center for Tobacco Health Systems. “Tobacco companies specifically target younger people and communities of color with flavored products, which are highly addictive. Banning these products will lead to few people smoking and save lives.”

“I commend Governor Hochul for taking on Big Tobacco, which has exploited flavored tobacco to attract young people and target members of the Black and Hispanic community, increasing their risk of death and disease and a lifelong addiction to nicotine,” Acting State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. “The elimination of flavored tobacco products would safeguard our young people and those who have been addicted at alarmingly high rates as a result of the tobacco industry’s marketing efforts. We know that menthol makes tobacco products easier to start and harder to quit, and we look forward to working with the Legislature to pass this life-saving legislation.”

Making flavored tobacco products widely available is a key marketing strategy of the tobacco industry. According to the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey, 80% of middle and high school tobacco users report using flavored products. Total tobacco use (including smoking, vaping, and other tobacco use) is as high among youth now as it was 20 years ago. This is alarming as nicotine is highly addictive, and particularly harms the developing adolescent brain, affecting attention, learning, mood, and impulse control, increasing the risk for future addiction to other drugs, and worsening mental health outcomes.

The tobacco industry’s influence in New York State continues to drive commercial tobacco-related disparities and inequities; annually, the tobacco industry spends $9.1 billion (almost $1 million every hour) to market and promote their deadly and addictive products nationally and of that total, an estimated $177.3 million is spent in the Empire State each year. For more than 60 years, the tobacco industry has specifically targeted Black communities with menthol tobacco product marketing and promotions. In New York State, menthol cigarettes are used by over half of all adult smokers (52%), while 86% of Black and 72% of Hispanic smokers exclusively smoke menthol cigarettes.

New York State has had tremendous policy accomplishments in tobacco control the past few years. These include in 2019 raising the minimum legal age to purchase tobacco to 21 years of age, and in 2020, ending the sale of all tobacco products in pharmacies, restricting the sale of flavored e-liquids and online sale of all vaping products, restricting the use of coupons and other discounts that that lower the cost of tobacco products, and implementing a tax on vapor products.

Despite these critical policy successes and progress in reducing smoking, tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable death in New York State and the United States. Approximately 1.7 million New Yorkers continue to smoke cigarettes. Every year in New York, smoking kills 28,000 adults and a projected 280,000 children now under the age of 18 and alive in New York State will die prematurely from smoking.

“Ending the sale of all flavored tobacco products including menthol is a critical step to protecting the lives of all New Yorkers,” said Richardson. “It would significantly reduce health care expenditures, disease, and death from tobacco product use, reduce addiction and youth experimentation, increase the number of smokers that quit, and meaningfully advance health equity by addressing tobacco-related health inequities and disparities.”

For help with quitting, including counseling and medication, talk to your healthcare provider. For information on how to quit smoking or vaping tobacco or nicotine, the New York State Smokers' Quitline provides free and confidential services that include information, tools, quit coaching, and support in both English and Spanish. Services are available by calling 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487), texting (716) 309-4688, or visiting www.nysmokefree.com, for information, to chat online with a Quit Coach, or to sign up for Learn2QuitNY, a six-week, step-by-step text messaging program to build the skills you need to quit any tobacco product.

Individuals aged 13 to 24 can text "DropTheVape" to 88709 to receive age-appropriate quit assistance. The Department of Health is running a statewide digital media campaign to promote this confidential texting service.

More information about the Department's Tobacco Control Program is available here.

About St. Joseph’s Health

St. Joseph’s Health is non-profit health care system based in Syracuse, NY. St. Joseph’s has been an innovative leader in health care since our founding in 1869 as the first hospital open to the public in the city of Syracuse. Offering primary, specialty and home care, a Magnet-recognized hospital, and collaboration with community partners, St. Joseph's Health advances the well-being of the communities we serve through an expanding range of services to ensure our patients achieve optimum long-term health. St. Joseph’s is one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery and one of America’s 100 Best for Spine Surgery and Coronary Intervention according to Healthgrades. It is a designated Stroke Center and a U.S. News “Best Regional Hospital.” St. Joseph’s Health is affiliated with St. Joseph’s Physicians, and is a member of Trinity Health. For more information, visit www.sjhsyr.org/legacy.

About Trinity Health

Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, Catholic health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 115,000 colleagues and nearly 26,000 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 25 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 88 hospitals, 131 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 125 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. Based in Livonia, Michigan, its annual operating revenue is $20.2 billion with $1.2 billion returned to its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs.

###