Deschutes County read a proclamation Monday affirming its support for ending the sale of flavored tobacco products and urging the State to take up the issue again in the 2025 legislative session. A bill advanced in the 2023 session before a lawmaker walk-out curtailed much of the state’s important business.
The proclamation states, in part, “the Surgeon General and the FDA have identified an ‘epidemic’ of e-cigarette use across the nation… Deschutes County strongly encourages the Oregon Legislature to pass legislation ending the sale of flavored tobacco products. This action is necessary to protect our children, students, and other targeted groups from starting or continuing the use of candy-flavored and minty-menthol tobacco products.”
In Oregon, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease, killing more than 8,000 people each year. More than 80% of kids who have used tobacco started with a flavored product, and nearly 90% of youth e-cigarette users report using flavored products.
Monday’s action was lauded by Flavors Hook Oregon Kids, a statewide coalition of more than 60 diverse organizations focused on protecting the health of Oregon kids by ending the sale of flavored tobacco products.
“Our coalition has been working for years in Oregon to protect kids from flavored tobacco products that are fueling our state’s youth nicotine addiction crisis, and we’ve been winning,” said Brittany Grant of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “We succeeded in getting the state’s two most populous counties to pass laws ending the sale of these dangerous products. When the State Legislature reconvenes in 2025, we will fight for a law that protects all of Oregon’s kids from flavored tobacco products.”
In 2021-22, Washington County and Multnomah County passed ordinances ending the sale of flavored tobacco. Deschutes County joins Klamath County and more than a dozen local jurisdictions in Oregon that have called for a statewide law. Nine cities have urged state action, including Siletz, Newport, Depoe Bay, Waldport, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Happy Valley, and Salem. Similar action has been taken by school districts in Parkrose, Tigard-Tualatin, and Klamath Falls City.