Big Tobacco is always working behind the scenes to addict the next generation. The industry values profits over people. Rest assured, a bill in the Alabama legislature this session would do the same.
My name is Zeke Aguilera and I live in Madison. I started volunteering with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) to honor my sister who died from cancer. Now, as a dad of two sons who will soon be in middle school, I am advocating on their behalf as well.
The latest attempt by Big Tobacco to addict our kids and make them customers for life comes in the form of a new tobacco product that looks as sleek as an iPhone. But heated tobacco products are unsafe, containing more than 20 toxic chemicals and causing damage to the lungs. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the U.S. These are not the products I want my kids picking up.
House Bill 357 would allow for lower taxes on some of these new tobacco products, which could open the floodgates to addiction. In fact, we know raising taxes on tobacco products is proven to keep people from smoking. Why would we do the opposite?
In a recent piece in this publication, sponsoring State Rep. Rolanda Hollis wrote about “data” that shows heated tobacco is safe. The only problem? That data was provided by Philip Morris International, the infamous tobacco company who lied to the public for decades about the health effects of cigarettes. I have no reason to believe they would do any differently with heated tobacco products.
Let me be clear, the organization for which I volunteer, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, knows heated tobacco products are unsafe and highly addictive to our children.
As an Alabamian and dad, I want to see less people using tobacco, less people getting sick and less people dying. I also don’t want to threaten funding for other state programs like education and business development. That’s why I urge state lawmakers to vote no on HB357, which would lower taxes on heated tobacco products and make them more accessible to kids and teens.