Testimony for Evanston City Council
Monday October 23, 2023
Emma Daisy, MD – President Elect, Illinois Academy of Family Physicians

I’m Dr. Emma Daisy, a resident of Evanston and president-elect of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians. I am voicing our strong support for the proposed ordinance to eliminate the sale of ALL flavored tobacco products within our city.

Nearly a decade ago, Evanston lawmakers voted to make our city the first in Illinois to increase the tobacco sales age from 18 to 21 through the passage of Tobacco 21. Now our city leaders have the chance to again be on the right side of history and science by passing this ordinance that would remove from the market all flavored tobacco products – including menthol cigarettes, fruit-flavored cigars and the e-cigarettes that come in thousands of flavors.

The tobacco industry knows that most tobacco users start in their teens and markets their products to target young people.  In fact, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report found that more than 80% of high school students and nearly 75% of middle school students who reported using a tobacco product in the last 30 days said they used a flavored one.

Menthol cigarettes specifically are a major reason why tobacco use remains the Number 1 cause of preventable death among Black Americans, claiming 45,000 Black lives every year. Flavors, especially menthol, up the ante and disguise the danger. They mask the taste and harshness of the smoke in a cigarette or a cigar or the aerosol in an e-cigarette. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally issued final rules last week to ban menthol, which still must be approved and that could take months.  Big tobacco continues to create obstacles and delay implementation.  We can’t wait for a solution from Washington, DC. 

By exempting flavored cigars, the Human Services Committee ordinance leaves a considerable opening for the industry to adapt and perpetuate their addictive product.  A new report issued by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies documents how tobacco companies have flooded the market with cheap, flavored cigars that appeal to kids and have used a variety of marketing strategies to attract young people.

Sales of all cigars more than doubled between 2000 and 2021, largely driven by increased sales of smaller cigars, many of which are flavored. Flavors from fruit punch and grape to “Berry Fusion,” and “Cherry Dynamite” make up about half the cigar market. These flavored cigars are colorfully packaged, widely available and cheap and have helped make cigars the second most popular tobacco product among youth, after e-cigarettes.

By passing a comprehensive tobacco and nicotine flavors ordinance that removes all flavored tobacco and menthol products from the market, Evanston will take a bold step forward in safeguarding the health and well-being of the people who live, work and go to school here. As a family physician, a mother and a resident of Evanston, I support the ordinance proposed by the Evanston City staff wholeheartedly because our people deserve full protection.  This ordinance sends a clear message that our community prioritizes health and our future above all else.

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