Advocates say aggressive marketing aimed at youth underscores the need to ban flavored tobacco in Maine.

Matteo Hardy saw the widespread use of vaping at Coney High School and the new, clever ways tobacco companies are luring teenagers to try the products.

There’s a handheld video game that doubles as a vape pen with designs inspired by the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series, and even children’s clothing designed to hide vaping devices from teachers and staff.

“What we’re seeing now is just crazy,” said Hardy, 16, a student at Coney High School in Augusta and an advocate for a flavored tobacco ban. “There are so many different ways that tobacco gets into children’s bodies that no one knows about. We know that tobacco companies target young people. What we are seeing is an increase in targeting aimed at younger and younger children.”

Some Maine lawmakers and the advocacy group to which Hardy belongs, Flavors Hook Kids Maine, have lobbied for a flavored tobacco ban that would prevent the sale of tobacco products with added flavors such as mint, fruit, candy and menthol.

Hardy said he hasn’t tried vaping, but all of his classmates who have tried it have been drawn to the taste.

However, despite Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate, as well as support from the Mills administration, the bill failed to cross the finish line.

The measure passed the Senate by two votes in 2023, with all Republicans and four Democrats voting no and 18 Democrats voting yes, but it was never brought up for a House vote. Instead, the bill was moved to the 2024 session, when it also failed to receive a vote in the House. Earlier this year, Democratic leaders told the Press Herald there were concerns the measure would split the Democratic caucus.

Because of the House’s inaction, several Maine cities and towns have approved their own bans, including Portland, South Portland, Bar Harbor, Bangor, Brunswick, Freeport and Hallowell.

Despite failed attempts at a statewide ban, another attempt could be made in 2025 to ban flavored tobacco from all tobacco products in Maine. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, flavored tobacco is currently banned or restricted in seven other states, including Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, California, Utah, Maryland and Rhode Island.

“We definitely still see a need to stop the sale of flavored tobacco products,” said Matt Wellington, deputy director of the Maine Public Health Association, a nonprofit advocacy group. “Legislators should consider banning flavored tobacco as a key evidence-based strategy to reduce tobacco use among youth.”

Wellington said it was unclear whether another attempt at a ban would occur.

Some groups lobbied for the ban, including the New England Convenience Store Association and the Energy Marketers Association, which argues that without a nationwide ban, all the Maine ban would do is encourage people to move to New Hampshire to buy the products.

When the ban went into effect in Massachusetts, it “created a huge black market” and also forced people to simply buy them in New Hampshire, said Peter Brennan, executive director of the advocacy group.

“We believe this is bad public policy and will take away sales tax money from the state,” Brennan said, noting that sales tax money goes to smoking cessation and prevention programs. “The best thing to do is to have a regulated market, store them with our retailers so we can map buyers.”

Dan Cashman, a spokesman for Flavors Hook Kids Maine, says flavors are a lure for teens, as are new marketing techniques. Putting them together is a dangerous combination to create “spare smokers.”

“What’s changed in the last two years is how much more aggressive they’ve become in marketing to younger audiences,” Cashman said.

There is some encouraging data on youth vaping. The percentage of high school students who reported vaping in the previous 30 days dropped from 29% in 2019 to 16% in 2023, according to the Maine Integrated Youth Health Study. About 30% of Maine high school students have tried vaping, according to a survey. Combustible cigarette use in Maine remains low at 5.5%.

Flavorings in combustible cigarettes are banned nationally, with the exception of menthol, but children are most often introduced to tobacco through vaping.

Hardy, the Augusta teen, said the danger of getting young people hooked is real.

“There’s a perception that regular tobacco is disgusting and a lot of people don’t want it,” he said. “But they try out flavors and the first two times may be a choice, but after that the addiction takes over.”

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