By Cheryl Mattox Berry
I usually don’t watch commercials, but the graphic image on my TV screen stopped me dead in my tracks. It was an elderly woman with wisps of hair and a gravelly voice demonstrating how she gets ready for the day. She puts in false teeth, dons a long blond wig, inserts a small speaker into the hole in her throat and ties a scarf around her neck.
As it turns out, the woman is only 51 years old. Head and neck cancer have stolen her looks and ravaged her body. A former smoker, she is featured in an anti-smoking campaign launched last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The campaign is aimed at getting smokers aged 18-54 to kick the habit. Why not younger? If teens see what they may look like 35 years from now if stricken by cancer, perhaps they would be scared straight.
Teens also need to be warned about the danger of flavored chewing tobacco and sweet, cigarette-size little cigars or cigarillos sold in ice cream flavors, such as chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and watermelon. The cigars cost about $1 each, compared with $5 for a pack of cigarettes. Teens like them because they think the mini-cigars are less addictive than cigarettes.
Reality check: The little cigars contain the same cancer-causing chemicals found in cigarettes. The sweet flavors mask the harsh taste of tobacco but not the side effects.
In 2009, federal law banned the sale of candy-flavored cigarettes, but stores began selling more flavored chewable tobacco and flavored cigars. Government officials in New York City, Providence, R.I., and Santa Clara, Calif., didn’t think the measure went far enough and passed laws that prohibit selling flavored tobacco products to teens.
On Tuesday, the Miami-Dade Commission joined the ranks with preliminary approval of a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products to teens. Under the proposal, retailers would be subject to a $500 fine for violating the ordinance. A public hearing is scheduled July 10.
The commissioners were urged to take action by three Miami high school students who belong to a statewide organization called SWAT, or Students Working Against Tobacco. Lawmakers heard their concerns and did something about it. Hopefully, fellow students will start listening, too.
Photo: Star Democrat