Oroville City Council will meet on October 1 at 6:00 pm to determine whether they will ban or restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products. This is in response to understanding that the use of flavored tobacco products – primarily vaping – is a public health epidemic among our youth. Indeed, a 2018 Dartmouth study finds that, “
for every additional adult who quits smoking using e-cigarettes, there are 80 additional youth who initiate daily tobacco use through e-cigarettes”.
To learn more about flavored tobacco products, please visit:
The Truth About Flavored Tobacco
To: Oroville City Council
From: David Alonso, MD, BGMS President (signed original on file)
Date: September 25, 2019
Re: Flavored Tobacco Products and E-Cigarettes
For the letter of support, please visit:
https://www.bgmsonline.org/site/assets/files/1182/letter_of_support_for_oroville_sept_2019.pdf
To the Oroville City Council,
I’m writing this letter on behalf of the Butte-Glenn Medical Society Board of Directors which has been discussing public health problems associated with e-cigarettes and vaping for many months. The Board continues to be debriefed by our board members which include Dr. Andy Miller, Public Health Officer of Butte County, and Dr. Phillip Filbrandt, Chair of our Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force. The Butte-Glenn Medical Society is closely affiliated with the California Medical Association which continues to publish warnings about the health problems associated with these products.
We encourage the City Council to ban flavored tobacco products and limit sales of e-cigarettes. We understand that state and federal legislation may be in the works the Food and Drug Administration may pull flavored e-cigarettes from the market. Butte County Public Health has issued a strong warning. We shouldn’t wait for what we know is the right thing to do.
With more than a dozen deaths caused by vaping, and hundreds more suffering from possibly permanent lung damage, the risks are real. The youth of Butte County are at risk. Butte-Glenn Medical Society is also part of the Butte Youth Now Coalition and we work hard to prevent use of any tobacco products and misuse of drugs. With a 400% increase in the use of vaping products and e-cigarettes, we are already behind the epidemic and need to act swiftly.
Thank you for caring,
David Alonso, MD, President
