SOUTH PORTLAND — Students and other residents plan to hold a demonstration Monday outside the South Portland Community Center urging the City Council to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products.
The council is considering an ordinance, discussed at its Oct. 11 workshop, that would end the sale of cigarettes, vaping paraphernalia and other tobacco products with flavors such as menthol, mint, bubble gum and banana. Portland, Brunswick and Bangor have passed similar ordinances.
Opponents of flavored tobacco products say they are marketed to kids and others, hooking them on harmful and addictive substances, according to the Flavors Hook Kids Maine campaign.
Some South Portland business owners have said the ordinance is unnecessary because they already prevent flavored tobacco sales to minors, and that a ban would drive business out of the city.
Every year in Maine, smoking results in $811 million in direct health care costs; 2,400 people die from smoking-related illness; and the tobacco industry spends $45 million on product marketing, said Rebecca Boulos, a South Portland resident who is executive director of the Maine Public Health Association.
The demonstration will start around 2:30 p.m.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.