SLO County cities get ‘F’ in American Lung Association report for not banning flavored tobacco

Four out of the county’s seven cities received a “F” rating from the American Lung Association in a report issued this week, San Luis Obispo County Public Health announced Wednesday.

Atascadero, Grover Beach, Paso Robles and Pismo Beach all received failing grades in the American Lung Association’s annual scorecard for their failure to restrict the sale of flavored tobacco in local jurisdictions

“Tobacco use is a primary cause of preventable death and disease in this country,” County Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said in the release.

The restriction on flavored products category is a new addition to the American Lung Association’s annual report, according to the release. It is designed to highlight the role of flavors in attracting youth to tobacco use.

Local data shows 7% of San Luis Obispo County 11th graders smoke, according to the Tobacco Free SLO website. Additionally, state data shows that 96% of children who use tobacco use flavored tobacco, according to the release.

“This report underscores a local need to protect our youth from fun-sounding tobacco flavors—like ‘bubble gum’ and ‘blue razz’,” Tobacco Control Coalition Chair Julia Alber said in the Wednesday release. “Adding flavors masks the natural harshness, making it easier to smoke and easier to become addicted.”

The report specifically called out those four SLO County cities because unlike their local counterparts, those jurisdictions have not passed any ordinances limiting the sale of flavored tobacco products.

In 2020, California passed a state law that banned the sale of flavored tobacco products, noting that the tobacco industry should not be permitted to market fruit, candy and menthol-flavored electronic cigarette products to children.

That ban is on hold, however, after enough signatures were gathered to put the issue in front of California voters on the November 2022 ballot.

Failing scores for SLO County cities had to be recalculated

The cities of Arroyo Grande, Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo, as well as the county’s unincorporated areas, received a “D” in the flavored tobacco sales category — but some of those initially received lower scores.

Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo and the county at first were given “F” scores in the same category, but on Wednesday, the SLO County Tobacco Control Program alerted the American Lung Association about policies enacted in those jurisdictions that banned the sale of electronic smoking devices, according to a spokesperson for the American Lung Association in California.

In November 2019, Arroyo Grande became the first SLO County city to ban the sale of e-cigarettes and vaping-related products, followed by San Luis Obispo and the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, which banned the sale of e-cigarettes in unincorporated areas of the county.

Both Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo’s bans prohibited the sale of flavored and non-flavored vaping products, but did not ban the sale of flavored tobacco products as a whole.

“It was assumed that those policies were either not reported to us, or we simply missed them on the books,” the spokesperson said.

There is a difference between flavored tobacco products and electronic smoking devices, some of which are flavored. Some electronic smoking devices contain nicotine but do not typically contain tobacco, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Despite this caveat, the American Lung Association classifies any product that contains nicotine, which comes from tobacco, a “tobacco product” which is why electronic cigarettes and related products that deliver nicotine are classified by the ALA, according to the association spokesman.

As a result, the American Lung Association recalculated the scores for the restrictions on the flavored products category to be a “D” instead of an “F” for those locations, according to the spokesperson.

“Many tobacco control programs use this report to urge action in their communities, so we take communication with each jurisdiction very seriously and engage with cities and municipalities throughout the year to understand, and sometimes advise on, policies that support strong public health,” the spokesperson said.

Morro Bay received a “D” because despite passing a restriction on the sale of flavors, the city exempted menthol-flavored products, according to the release.