THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY HAS A KIDS MENU.
The tobacco industry uses fun flavors and tech devices to hook kids on nicotine. Why kids? A developing brain is easier to addict.
RETURN-TO-SCHOOL ALERT: As students return to in-person learning, kids have more opportunities to use vapes. Parents and teachers should watch for warning signs like increased mood swings, anxiety, and even taking a lot of bathroom breaks. Teens who vape are at 5–7x greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19. Explore this site with your teen to learn why vaping is more dangerous than ever.
NICOTINE = BRAIN POISON
The tobacco industry profits by hooking kids on flavored nicotine.
Flavors
- 96% of high school kids in CA who vape use flavors.
- Vapes come in kid-friendly flavors like Blue Razz, Pegasus Milk, Menthol Freeze.
- Flavors mask tobacco’s harshness.
- Flavoring chemicals can damage lungs.
New nicotine
- Many tobacco companies use a highly concentrated form of nicotine called nicotine salts that’s engineered for vaping.
- Tobacco companies often use nicotine salts in vapes instead of regular nicotine.
- Nicotine salts allow higher concentrations to be inhaled more easily, and absorbed more quickly, than regular nicotine.
- Whether it’s regular nicotine or nicotine salts, addiction happens fast, and can lead to further substance abuse.
Poison
- Nicotine is poison for the adolescent brain.
- Nicotine changes the way connections form in the brain.
- Nicotine can interfere with attention and learning.
- Nicotine can increase anxiety, mood swings, and irritability.
Youth and young adult vaping is associated with 5 – 7x greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19.
96% of kids who vape use flavors
Teens are nearly 7x more likely to vape nicotine than adults
Marijuana vaping among youth has increased by 58% in a single year
Teens who vape are 3x more likely than non-vapers to become daily cigarette smokers
The average age of youth and young adults who try smokeless tobacco, like chew or snus, for the first time is 16.
An FDA Policy With a Dangerous Loophole
The youth vaping epidemic finally prompted FDA action. Victory? Not by a long shot. Pressure from the tobacco industry created a dangerous loophole that lets kids continue to get vapes in thousands of flavors, including menthol.
Since the flawed policy was adopted, sales of all menthol vapes have jumped by 52%. Companies that used to sell fruit-flavored or pre-filled flavor pods to kids changed tactics. Now, they push the vapes that remain unregulated, like menthol and disposable. No surprise, those sales are up.
FDA policy does not allow:
- Any pre-filled flavored vape pods that snap into vapes like Juul pods. However, menthol and tobacco flavors are still allowed.
FDA policy continues to allow:
- All refillable flavored vapes, like Suorin and Smok.
- All single-use disposable flavored vapes, like Puff Bar.
- Pre-filled menthol and tobacco-flavored pods.
KIDS CAN STILL GET THESE VAPES
Despite the FDA flavors policy, kids can still buy certain types of vapes. Click each product for details.

HOW THE RULES BEND FOR VAPES
How can the industry still sell flavored disposable vapes?
The FDA restricts pre-filled flavored pods. Single-use disposable vapes don’t have pods. So Puff Bar, Posh, and other disposables sail right through the loophole onto shelves. The tobacco industry is free to market high-potency nicotine in kid-friendly flavors for as little as ten bucks a pop. No surprise that teens have switched to disposable vapes—another concern as campuses reopen post-pandemic.
How did Juul get off easy?
As they phased out the flavors that eventually became restricted, Juul promoted menthol- and tobacco-flavored vapes instead. Now, despite the FDA flavors ban, Juul sells more menthol- and tobacco-flavored e-cigs than ever. In fact, sales of all menthol vapes are up by 52%. So, the company that’s widely considered responsible for the vaping epidemic is doing just fine.
The FDA policy loophole lets thousands of flavored, kid-friendly vapes stay on the market
The tobacco industry got the flavors loophole they lobbied for, so our kids still have plenty of flavored vapes to choose from. It’s time to take action.

US Food and Drug Administration
@US_FDA
@US_FDA You’d think a flavored-vape policy would slow sales for tobacco companies. It hasn’t. Companies like Juul keep on profiting while kids suffer. #flavorshookkids www.flavorshookkids.org
Do Something
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The tobacco industry targets kids with flavors. Reaching out to your local officials can make a difference. Enter your name, choose your location and we’ll direct your email to your city’s mayor or your county supervisors.
The Nasty Truth about Vaping
Hear firsthand from California teens and parents about the dangers of vaping.

Parents & Teens Test Their Vape Knowledge (BuzzFeed)
Watch the BuzzFeed video to see California parents and their teens square off as we test their knowledge about teen vaping and nicotine exposure.
In The News
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Reuters
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NY Times
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