As a student at Lake Oswego Junior High, I first learned about tobacco, smoking and e-cigarettes. It was viewed as a fun but costly activity to do with friends. Then in the seventh-grade, my health teacher warned us of the dangers of smoking.
I remember looking at my friend and laughing. Who would knowingly poison themselves? Now, as I prepare to become a high school senior, I understand why many young people become addicted to tobacco: It is sold in a wide variety of flavors that appeal to kids. It is promoted as a stress reliever, a recreational activity, and above all, it is the new norm for many my age.
Companies target unsuspecting youth with vibrant packaging and flavors that mask tobacco’s taste, a marketing device designed to downplay the dangers while cultivating the perfect audience for their products. Flavors, especially for youth, are tools to hook us, too often for life. Flavors hide the foul taste of tobacco but also the realism of the damage done every time my friends take a hit.
Whether that be traditional cigarettes or the dangerous e-cigarette, the threat is real. No teen craves the flavor of tobacco. But pineapple ice? Birthday cake? It’s simple.
What’s thought of as a one-time activity very quickly cascades into a spiral of addiction. Kids and teens don’t understand the depth of what they’re getting themselves into when they take their first hit. It’s time for a future in which Oregonian youth can reach adulthood without the pressures of tobacc.