I appreciate your "aww shucks, kids gonna be kids" worldview; however, the data is clear, we have dramatically reduced the rate at which young people smoke cigarettes by instituting rules and guidelines concerning advertising targeting adolescents. Further, we have clear data showing that level of education greatly effects the likelihood of an individual using tobacco.
So with all due respect, this is something we can easily tackle. We know for certain the adolescents respond readily to marketing, and we therefore can control tobacco adoption by reducing said marketing to their demographic. This isn't anywhere near as futile as you're making it out to be.
"Marketing" here being entirely incidental is the point, that the products appeal to youth simply by existing. To my knowledge, there aren't any literal advertisements going around to young people like those ridiculous Juul ads 5 or so years ago. Talking about specific types of imagery or colours on packaging, or the types of flavours used in a flavoured product as "marketing" is using an umbrella term to suggest intent to actively market to kids, but that isn't a thing that's happening.
Having worked with my government for school dental programs, I've met my fair share of students age 12 to 17 who smoke because their parents do. You're right that marketing is a huge part of it, but I wanted to share the parents' responsibility also.
I appreciate your "aww shucks, kids gonna be kids" worldview; however, the data is clear, we have dramatically reduced the rate at which young people smoke cigarettes by instituting rules and guidelines concerning advertising targeting adolescents. Further, we have clear data showing that level of education greatly effects the likelihood of an individual using tobacco.
So with all due respect, this is something we can easily tackle. We know for certain the adolescents respond readily to marketing, and we therefore can control tobacco adoption by reducing said marketing to their demographic. This isn't anywhere near as futile as you're making it out to be.
"Marketing" here being entirely incidental is the point, that the products appeal to youth simply by existing. To my knowledge, there aren't any literal advertisements going around to young people like those ridiculous Juul ads 5 or so years ago. Talking about specific types of imagery or colours on packaging, or the types of flavours used in a flavoured product as "marketing" is using an umbrella term to suggest intent to actively market to kids, but that isn't a thing that's happening.
Having worked with my government for school dental programs, I've met my fair share of students age 12 to 17 who smoke because their parents do. You're right that marketing is a huge part of it, but I wanted to share the parents' responsibility also.