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Portland will follow Bangor, who became the first Maine community to issue such a ban last month.

Portland is seeking to join a national campaign to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products on the grounds that marketing to children, African Americans and other marginalized groups would have an adverse effect on public health.

Bangor became the first Maine city government to adopt the ban last month, joining hundreds of communities in the United States that have already done so.

In 2013, a tobacco shop in Albany, New York displayed candy-flavored cigars. The Portland City Council will soon consider banning the sale of flavored tobacco in the city. Associated Press/Hans Penneck

Portland City Councillor Tae Chong leads the City Council’s Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee, which submitted the proposed ban to the entire city council by a 3-0 vote on Tuesday. The city council may vote on it at the end of next month or early next year. Chong said that if it passes, it may take effect in June, about the same time as Bangor’s ban.

He said that issuing such a ban is very important to public health and safety.

"It's very simple," Chong said. "It's happening across the country."

The proposal came after at least two bills that proposed a statewide ban on flavored tobacco products, including menthol, failed to make progress in the Maine legislature.

Portland has long been a leader in passing anti-smoking legislation in the state. The city banned smoking in restaurants in 1998, banned smoking in many public places in 2013, and raised the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21 in 2016.

The proposed ban defines flavored tobacco products as "any tobacco product that imparts a taste or odor other than the taste or smell of tobacco before or during consumption of the tobacco product, including but not limited to, with fruit, menthol, mint, Any taste or smell related to holly, chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, honey or any candy, dessert, alcoholic beverage, vanilla or spice."

It applies to any natural or synthetic tobacco or nicotine product intended to be inhaled, absorbed or ingested by any other means. This includes flavored cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco and snuff. It also includes any smoking accessories, such as filters, paper rolls, blunt or hemp wraps, hookahs or pipes.

Cannabis products will be excluded unless they contain or are made from or derived from tobacco and nicotine.

Violation of this ordinance will result in a fine of US$100 to US$500 per violation.

Bangor’s ban will take effect on June 1, 2022. Portland's proposal has not yet set an effective date.

After three meetings and two public hearings on the subject, the committee recommended support for a total ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products.

Kirsten Goodrich, who is in charge of the city’s tobacco prevention program, said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration failed to issue a nationwide ban last year, banning the use of all products, including menthol. Flavored tobacco, which prompted many municipalities to take action. She said that as of October, more than 330 places have restricted the sales of flavored tobacco, restricting more than 130 mint and menthol flavors.

Goodrich said that since the nationwide ban on flavored cigarettes other than menthol in 2009, the rate of youth smoking has been steadily declining. In Maine, the survey found that since the implementation of the ban, the rate of youth cigarette use has dropped from 17.1% to 7.1%.

But Goodrich said that other flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco and hookahs, have been reversing these gains, especially among young people. Although tobacco sales nationwide are now restricted to people over the age of 21, she said that minors can still use it. In the 2019 Maine Comprehensive Youth Health Survey, 42% of high school students reported that they had recently gotten from someone else. Having borrowed tobacco products, 22% reported that they recently gave others money to buy these products for them.

"This proves that the provision of flavored tobacco products is a major issue," she said. "Joining other places by adopting a comprehensive flavor ban is an additional strategy of a multifaceted public health approach to stop the youth enlightenment here in Portland."

Goodrich said that 85% of African-American smokers and 36% of LGBTQ smokers use mint-flavored products. She said that including menthol and mint-flavored products in the ban is "essential to promoting health equity."

At a public hearing on Tuesday, public health officials competed with local business owners and industry groups. Health officials urged the city to adopt a ban, emphasizing that it is a way to protect youth and marginalized communities. However, business owners stated that the ban would only cause people to buy products in neighboring communities, and industry groups urged the city to wait for the enactment of state or federal regulations.

Retailers have long touted e-cigarettes as a way to help smokers quit cigarette and nicotine addiction, although the long-term effects of e-cigarettes on health are still unknown.

Thomas Briant, executive director of the Minnesota-based National Tobacco Export Association, said that a ban on flavored e-cigarettes may have unintended consequences and push people back to cigarettes. He also stated that the FDA now has a pre-market application process before selling new products, and that only 1 out of 15,000 applications is approved. He said he hopes the FDA will take action against menthol.

"Obviously the FDA is taking action, and we hope that the city council will not do this and let the FDA regulate tobacco products nationwide through its scientific procedures," Bryant said. 

Dr. Phillip Gardiner, the founding member and co-chair of the California-based African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, urged the city to issue a comprehensive ban without exception. He said that menthol is "not just a taste, it is also an anesthetic." Its numbing effect makes users inhale more toxins and become more addicted.

Gardiner said that from 1980 to 2018, menthol cigarettes caused 1.5 million new smokers and 157,000 African Americans to die prematurely due to smoking. He said that waiting for federal action will come at the expense of more lives and disease.

"It will take years for the FDA to make progress in this area," Gardner said. "Even if they exclude the exclusion rules next year, it will take two to three years before anything happens."

The shopkeeper insists that they are very careful not to sell tobacco products to minors. They pointed out that even with the well-known adverse health effects, cigarettes are still legal.

"No one wants to sell tobacco to minors. We do everything we can to prevent it from happening," said Anna Betancourt, a representative of Energy North Group, which operates three stores in Portland and in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Other stores. "The sale of tobacco to minors and the ban on flavors are two different issues. Adults should be able to obtain flavored tobacco if they wish."

Dan Morin, director of communications and government affairs for the Maine Medical Association, the state’s largest medical association, said flavored products are inherently more attractive to children, such as flavored medicines and toothpaste.

"Why do children's medicine and toothpaste smell?" Maureen asked. "Because it works."

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