Letter about too many lanterns…
To the Editor,
Relay for Life 2023 was held in Fountain on July 28. Around here we show up and offer support after diagnoses of cancer. Most of us have connections to the uncertainties, suffering, and pain of cancer.
Looking around the long oval walking track that was lit by lanterns on both sides, my friend said, “Too many lanterns.”
Yes, too many preventable deaths from cancer, especially the 1/3 caused by tobacco use.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Minnesota. If used as intended, cigarettes will kill more than 1/2 of their users.
To replace those dying customers, the tobacco industry continues to aggressively market flavored vapes that are appealing to kids, with sky-high nicotine levels in order to hook the users.
Those flavored products are a key reason Minnesota is facing a youth epidemic of addiction. Four in five Minnesota students (78.4%) reported that the first tobacco product they ever tried was flavored.
We adults can do more than shake our heads or “be concerned.”
We can restrict sales of flavored tobacco products in our towns to show that we care about our kids and their chances for a healthy future.
For a change, we can show up to prevent cancer.
Bonita A. Underbakke
Lanesboro, Minn.
Donna Halvorsen says
Bonita ie right. Ban flavored vaping. Send the tobacco industry packing. Give children their futures. Save other lives. Reduce health care costs and the number of lanterns. Convenience stores will lose profits. Let them sell something that doesn’t kill people.
Donna Halvorsen says
Bonita is right about the dangers of cancer from tobacco use, and especially the dangers to children of flavored vaping. Flavored vaping — menthol, mint, candy, fruit and dessert flavors — is designed by the tobacco industry to be attractive to kids, creating new customers to replace adults who have died of cancer from tobacco use. Portland, the largest city in Maine, my city, South Portland, and several others have banned the sale of vaping products, and the state is now on the verge of doing so. Opponents say convenience stores will lose profits (so sell something that doesn’t kill people!); legislators say Maine will lose $24 million in tax revenue. How much cancer do we get for $24 million? How many legislators will lose campaign contributions? This is not a difficult issue. Send the tobacco industry packing. Save people’s lives; Reduce health care costs — and the number of lanterns.