7-Eleven has agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve claims the convenience store violated the D.C. ban on the sale of vape devices and e-cigarettes within a quarter-mile of schools.
7-Eleven has agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve allegations that the convenience store giant violated the District’s ban on the sale of vaping devices and e-cigarettes within a quarter-mile of middle and high schools, according to Attorney General Brian Schwalb.
In a news release, the attorney general’s office said that since the District’s ban went into effect in October 2022, a total of 16 7-Eleven stores near schools sold thousands of electronic smoking devices.
Electronic smoking devices include vaping devices, e-cigarettes and other instruments that generate vapor or aerosol that can be inhaled by the user.
In addition to paying a monetary penalty, the chain must now permanently stop all sales and marketing of the devices at its stores near D.C. schools as part of a settlement. 7-Eleven is also required to train staff and monitor franchise stores to ensure compliance with D.C. law.
“Selling vapes and e-cigarettes near schools is illegal because, particularly for young people, these nicotine products are addictive and unhealthy,” Schwalb said.
According to Schwalb’s office, in August 2022, before the ban went into effect, 7-Eleven notified 16 stores — including 10 stores owned by the chair and six franchises — of the upcoming ban.
“OAG’s investigation revealed that despite this direct notification, all sixteen stores near D.C. middle and high schools continued to sell electronic smoking devices after the ban took effect.”
Now, as part of the agreement, if a franchise store receives four notices of violations within a two-year period, 7-Eleven must terminate its franchise agreement with the store and provide notice of the termination to Office of the Attorney General.
“7-Eleven’s illegal sales threatened to reverse the progress we’ve made reducing tobacco use amongst youth,” Schwalb said. “Protecting the safety of our community is our top priority at the Office of the Attorney General, and that includes enforcing local laws designed to protect the health of our children.”
WTOP is seeking comment from 7-Eleven about the settlement.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
The Denver City Council is poised to revisit one of its most high-profile debates of recent years, with a new proposal to ban the sale of flavored tobacco.
A group of city council members held a one-hour virtual community conversation Wednesday evening to discuss the impacts of flavored tobacco on Denver kids and a proposal to end its sale in Denver.
Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, Shontel M. Lewis and the office of Darrell Watson hosted the event. A briefing on the issue is on the agenda for the council’s budget and policy committee meeting on Monday.
The proposal will call for an end to the sale of all flavored tobacco products in the city “to protect our kids and advance health equity,” as one slide presented stated.
It would prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Denver, including fruit and candy flavored e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, flavored hookah tobacco and flavored chew and pouches. If passed by the council, the measure would go into effect on April 1, 2026, to allow retail shops to come into compliance, Gonzales-Gutierrez said.
A man vapes on the 16th Street Mall. Jan. 4, 2020. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Another community conversation is planned for Thursday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center at 3880 Newport St. in Denver.
Flavored tobacco is marketed toward and appeals to kids, said Gonzales-Gutierrez, who holds an at-large seat. “We are seeing how this is negatively impacting kids in our communities,” she said. “For me, this is a no brainer.”
Councilmember Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez.Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
“The tobacco industry knows that those are starter products that kids like and that they get them hooked on tobacco at a very young age, creating lasting addictions and lifetimes of health issues,” said Lewis, who noted she’s an ex-smoker.
“I actually became addicted to smoking because of the flavors. The product that I was ingesting was mint. And I love the scent of mint,” said Lewis, who represents District 8. “So I have real-life experience when it comes to this.”
“I’m very much in favor of ending the sales of flavored tobacco. I think it disproportionately impacts African-Americans,” Councilmember Watson, who represents District 9, told CPR News in a recent interview.
City Councilmember Shontel Lewis.The office of Councilmember Shontel Lewis
A panel of experts made the case that nicotine is a highly addictive drug, one to which adolescents and the teen brain are especially vulnerable.
They said menthol cigarettes, which taste like mint, and other flavored tobacco are key to youth initiation.
“They come in flavors from banana split and root beer float to menthol flavored cigarettes,” said Jodi Radke, who directs advocacy for the Rocky Mountains/Great Plains for the non-profit Campaign for Tobacco Free kids. “And banana flavored cigars.”
She noted about 9 percent of Colorado high school students and about 7 percent of Denver high schoolers are current e-cigarette users, with flavors driving consumption.
Radke cited data showing menthol’s “devastating” impact on a variety of diverse groups, including the Black, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander communities, with “cancer being a leading cause of death and disease in these communities. And this is why this makes this so critically important that we work on these prevention strategies.”
Flavored tobacco for sale at a Sheridan Boulevard gas station. Oct. 27, 2021.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The industry has also targeted LGBTQ+ youth and women, she said. “We know that the use rates are higher in these populations. But also correlated to that is that we have higher numbers of those who suffer from chronic disease related to their use within these specific populations that have been marketed to,” Radke said.
“It’s a social justice issue because of the predatory marketing to not only the Black population, not only to youth, but also other marginalized communities,” said Dr. Terri Richardson, a retired primary care physician who has worked on the issue for decades. “We can’t wait for the feds to ban menthol. There’s a slow churn of justice while people are dying.”
Three years ago the Council passed a similar proposal, which was vetoed by then-mayor Michael Hancock. He said he thought a statewide or metro area ban would be a better approach. A few months after his veto, Colorado lawmakers considered such a measure, before it failed.
An estimated 5,000 Colorado adults die from smoking-related illnesses each year. It also costs the state more than $2 billion annually on health care costs for illnesses caused by smoking.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described cigarette smoking as the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the U.S.
Over many decades, the tobacco industry targeted Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Denver with extensive advertising and other efforts to encourage consumption of its products. A CPR News report last year uncovered numerous documents establishing the link.
Mayor Mike Johnston. July 24, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Denver’s Mayor Mike Johnston could be more willing than his predecessor to back a flavor ban.
“I had said before [that] I’d be willing to support it if the council wants to do it,” Johnston told CPR News in December. “I think that things that we can do to reduce usage, particularly to reduce adolescent usage, we know has a major impact. We know often people start smoking early in life. That’s how you develop a habit that’s hard to kick.”
The last time the proposal came up, it sparked a spirited debate with education, public health, and anti-tobacco groups and other advocates facing off with businesses like vape shops and convenience stores and the industry that makes and sells flavored tobacco products.
Grier Bailey, executive director of the Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association, which represents 2,200 retailers, including convenience stores, told CPR News last month that his group opposes flavor bans.
He said many flavored products, like some chewing tobaccos, are mostly used by adults, not young people.
“The presence of flavors themselves aren’t necessarily the problem. It’s how you market it. And are you generally trying to entice adult consumers or kids?” he said.
While it is popular, easy to use and seen everywhere, vaping could have this effect on men.
It is seen everywhere and is viewed as a much easier option than smoking. Indulging in cigarettes, cigars and joints in general public spaces have been banned since the early 2000s. Prior to the ban it was a Wild West. Up until the late 80s smoking was permitted at work, hospitals, grocery stories, schools, bars, restaurants, and planes. When it began being banned from smoking inside, smoking decreased. After the ban, vaping technology emerged and went public in 2003. By 2011 about 7 million vaped globally, with over 82 million vaping in 2021. The number has only reason. When cannabis become legal, vaping marijuana become popular and is in a tight race with smoking and gummies for ways people consume. But there is a warning, vaping could have this effect on men…erectile dysfunction.
While they have lower levels of chemicals, vapes may still damage endothelial cells. It may cause oxidative stress on the endothelial cells lining blood vessels. This can affect nitric oxide (NO) levels and their signaling in the body. This can be an issue as sufficient NO is necessary to produce an erection.
Photo by Dmitry_Tishchenko/Getty Images
One study suggests men who vape nicotine are twice as likely to experience erectile dysfunction when compared to men who don’t vape. And cannabinoid receptors at the level of both the brain and penis may negatively impact erectile function.
The first study, published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, looked into deeper understanding of vaping and sexual health regarding men. They analyzed self-reported data from over 13,000 men over the age of 20. Among the findings: Men who used e-cigarettes were found to be 2.2 times more likely to have erectile dysfunction.
Some caveats in the study include that the data was self-reported, with there being the possibility of bias. Another thing to be mindful of is the fact that the survey didn’t ask any questions on whether or not the men were taking medications which increased the risks of erectile dysfunction, like antidepressants.
Nicotine has long been linked with a variety of sexual dysfunctions, including erectile dysfunction and decreased arousal. Researchers believe this link exists due to smoking and the damage it imparts on circulation, which can also increase the odds of heart disease and strokes. When circulation is impacted, it makes it more difficult for erections to occur naturally.
Cannabis has long been used as an aphrodisiac, light use can relax the body and increase sensational. But, some research has shown heavy consumption may cause problems. So it may be important not only how much you consume but how you consume. If you have issues, talk to a health professional.
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized menthol-flavored electronic cigarettes for adult smokers, the first time the agency has opened the door for vaping companies to sell non-tobacco flavored products.
The FDA cleared Njoy, a vaping brand recently acquired by tobacco giant Altria, to market four menthol e-cigarettes. But regulators also said it would review applications for authorization of flavored e-cigarettes on a case-by-case basis and that its actions apply on to Njoy’s four products.
In announcing its decision, the FDA said it found that menthol-flavored e-cigarettes can reduce the harms of traditional tobacco smoking. But the agency emphasized that it is not approving menthol vaping products, which would mean the FDA had determined a drug is safe and effective for its intended use. Instead, authorization by the agency only means Njoy has received regulatory approval to market its products to the public.
“We are a data driven agency and will continue to follow the science to inform our review of premarket tobacco applications,” Matthew Farrelly, director for the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement. “Based upon our rigorous scientific review, in this instance, the strength of evidence of benefits to adult smokers from completely switching to a less harmful product was sufficient to outweigh the risks to youth.”
The decision lends new credibility to vaping companies’ long-standing claim that their products can help blunt the toll of smoking, which is blamed for 480,000 U.S. deaths annually due to cancer, lung disease and heart disease.
Parent groups and anti-tobacco advocates immediately criticized the decision, which comes after years of pushing regulators to keep menthol and other flavors that can appeal to teens off the market.
“This decision could mean we’ll never be able to close the Pandora’s box of the youth vaping epidemic,” said Meredith Berkman, co-founder of Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes. “FDA has once again failed American families by allowing a predatory industry to source its next generation of lifetime customers — America’s children.”
Youth vaping has declined from all-time highs in recent years, with about 10% of high schoolers reporting e-cigarette use last year. Of those who vaped, 90% used flavors, including menthol.
All the e-cigarettes previously authorized by the FDA have been tobacco, which isn’t widely used by young people who vape.
Njoy is one of only three companies that previously received the FDA’s OK for vaping products. Like those products, the menthol varieties come as cartridges that plug into a reusable device that heats liquid nicotine, turning it into an inhalable aerosol.
Njoy’s products accounted for less than 3% of U.S. e-cigarette sales in the past year, according to retail data from Nielsen. Vuse, owned by Reynolds American, and Juul control about 60% of the market, while hundreds of disposable brands account for the rest.
Most teens who vape use disposable e-cigarettes, including brands like Elf Bar, which come in flavors such as watermelon and blueberry ice.
The Njoy approval is part of a sweeping FDA review intended to bring scientific scrutiny to the multibillion-dollar vaping market after years of regulatory delays. Currently the U.S. market includes thousands of fruit- and candy-flavored vapes that are technically illegal but are widely available in convenience stores, gas stations and vape shops.
Twenty-year-old Alex Morrin says an unexpected danger of vaping is it is easy to hide.
“You can do it in the same room as them,” Morrin told CBS News of vaping around his parents.
“It vaporizes,” Winna Morrin, Alex’s mother, added. “So you don’t see any smoke.”
A new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Friday — based on 2021 data from a National Health Interview Survey — found that 11% of 18- to 24-year-olds define themselves as current e-cigarette users, more than any other age group of adults.
The report also found that White non-Hispanic Americans between 18 and 24 vape more than Latino, Asian or Black youth in the same age group.
Overall, the survey found that 4.5% of adults ages 18 and over vape. The survey defined current e-cigarette use as respondents who say they vape “every day” or “some days.”
It’s not just young adults who vape. About 14% of high schoolers do as well, according to an October 2022 survey conducted by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration.
Earlier this week, the American Heart Association reported that researchers are finding that e-cigarettes with nicotine are associated with increased blood pressure and heart rate, but more research is needed on the long-term effects. Some e-cigarettes may contain additional chemicals which may also be dangerous, the AMA said.
The need for more research on the topic was reiterated by Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, director of the Tobacco Treatment Clinic at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
“The effects of vaping on kids and adolescents is an addiction that can come about from the chronic exposure to nicotine,” Galiatsatos said.
Galiatsatos told CBS News that vaping may cause a wide range of severe outcomes, but admitted that “we don’t know the long-term consequences of electronic cigarettes.”
Complicating the issue is that while the FDA allows the marketing of tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes, it has not authorized the other flavored products which have flooded the market.
Alex said his health issues started when he became addicted to e-cigarettes at 16.
“While I did it, I felt fine, but in between I would get nauseous,” Alex said.
He also started experiencing seizures.
“I thought I was watching my son die,” Winna said.
The Morrins believe that the key to stopping vaping is to do it together.
“We’re a team, and he knows we’ve got his back,” Winna said.
Cigarettes were once prominently displayed in Hollywood films and glossy magazines. But decades of evidence that smoking kills has caused consumption to plummet.
The tobacco industry sold fewer than 11 billion packs of cigarettes in the U.S. in 2020, down from more than 21 billion packs two decades earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris USA and the nation’s largest tobacco company, reported an almost 10% drop in cigarette sales last year compared with the year prior. The maker of Marlboro says it wants to help smokers transition away from cigarettes to what it calls “reduced harm alternatives” such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn products.
But Altria’s pivot has raised eyebrows among its critics. Cigarettes and cigars made up about 89% of sales last year.
So, are e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn products less harmful than traditional cigarettes? What effect will those devices have on kids?
Nov. 14, 2022 — More than 3 million middle and high school students said they used tobacco products in the last 30 days, the CDC reports.
That’s 11.3% of students surveyed. Overall, 16.5% of high school students and 4.5% of middle schoolers reported current tobacco use, the CDC said in its Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report.
The most commonly used products were e-cigarettes, followed by cigars, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, hookahs, nicotine pouches, heated tobacco products, and pipe tobacco. The findings come from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, which was conducted January 18, 2022, to May 31, 2022.
“Commercial tobacco product use continues to threaten the health of our nation’s youth, and disparities in youth tobacco product use persist,” Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a statement. “By addressing the factors that lead to youth tobacco product use and helping youth to quit, we can give our nation’s young people the best opportunity to live their healthiest lives.”
Broken down by groups, tobacco products had been used in the last 30 days by 12.3% of female students; 10.3% of males; 13.5% of non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Natives; 12.4% of Whites; 11.5% of Blacks; 11.1% of Hispanics or Latinos; and 3.1% of Asian students.
Tobacco use was reported by 16% who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual; 16.6% who identified as transgender; 18.3% who reported severe psychological distress; 12.5% with low family affluence; and 27.2% who reported getting mostly F grades.
Favors, marketing, and misperceptions of harm are major factors contributing to youths’ use of tobacco. Most youth who use tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, want to quit, the CDC’s statement said.
“Youth use of tobacco products – in any form – is unsafe,” said the report. “Such products contain nicotine, which is highly addictive and can harm the developing adolescent brain. Using nicotine during adolescence might also increase risk for future addiction to other drugs.”
The report said the ability to compare the 2022 survey findings to previous years is “limited” because of differences in data collection procedures.
Oct. 7, 2022 — More than 2.5 million middle school and high school students in the U.S. use e-cigarettes, according to a new study from the CDC and FDA.
The 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, conducted between January and May, showed that 14% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students used nicotine devices at least once during the past 30 days. A year ago, the survey showed that 11.3% of high school students and 2.8% of middle school students reported vaping in the past month.
The numbers remain below 2019 data, which showed that more than 25% of high school students vaped. Even still, anti-tobacco and anti-vaping groups have urged federal regulators to eliminate flavored vaping products that are popular among teens.
In this year’s survey, 85% of teens who vaped said they used flavored e-cigarettes. The most used flavors were fruit (69%); candy, desserts, or sweets (38%); mint (29%); and menthol (27%).
“It is unacceptable that over 2.5 million kids still use e-cigarettes when there is a clear solution to the problem — eliminate all flavored e-cigarettes,” Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, told USA Today.
The FDA has banned flavored vaping products derived from tobacco. However, users have increasingly turned to synthetic nicotine products, which are often disposable and sold in a variety of flavors, the newspaper reported.
In 2022, teens reported several different favorite brands, in contrast to 2019, when JUUL was the most recognized brand. Among those who currently vape, 14.5% said their usual brand was Puff Bar, followed by 12.5% for Vuse, 5.5% for Hyde, and 4% for SMOK. In addition, nearly 22% said their usual brand wasn’t among the 13 listed in the survey.
About 28% of youth reported using e-cigarettes daily, and 42% reported using them on 20 or more days during the past 30 days.
In addition, about 55% of teen vapers said they use disposable e-cigarettes. About 25% use prefilled or refillable pods, and 7% use tanks or mod systems. Another 23% said they didn’t know what type of device they used.
“This study shows that our nation’s youth continue to be enticed and hooked by an expanding variety of e-cigarette brands delivering flavored nicotine,” Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a statement.
“Our work is far from over,” she said. “It’s critical that we work together to prevent youth from starting to use any tobacco product — including e-cigarettes — and help all youth who do use them, to quit.”
