Sample Letter to the Editor–COVID-19 and Tobacco

Subject: Topic

The sample call to action is designed for coalition partners and community members. Tobacco tax-funded projects cannot ask decision makers to pass tobacco control policies.

Remember, when adding your personal connection, local ask and recent news stories, the letter should stay under 250 words, or the publisher’s requirements, which may be fewer.

To edit the text below, copy and paste it into your email.

Re: Teen Vaping Epidemic Persists During COVID-19 Pandemic

To the editor:
[Cite recent local news source if appropriate. For example, “Last week you reported that youth are vaping at an alarming rate.”]

As we fight a deadly pandemic, it is important not to lose site of the fact that there is still a teen vaping epidemic in our state.

Over the past few years, teenage vaping has become a rapidly growing issue. More recently, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to confront the growing youth epidemic and health risks linked to vaping.

Did you know that vaping devices are the most used tobacco product in California, and that many teens are not even aware that they are inhaling nicotine and other harmful chemicals when they vape?

A lot of people, including teens, think that vaping is a safe alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes. This is not the case. Vapes are addictive, contain toxic chemicals, and have known health risks.

Whatʼs worse, the tobacco and vaping industry has figured out how to addict teens to these harmful products – through flavors that appeal to kids, like cotton candy and captain crunch! Of the California teens who consume tobacco products, including vape products, 86.4 percent report using a flavored tobacco product.

[Insert personal connection to the issue. For example, “Iʼve taken a stance on this issue because Iʼm concerned my family members will get hooked on these dangerous products.]

To help stop the tobacco and vaping industry from addicting our kids, we must ensure that vape shops and tobacco stores (in the city/county of) are not selling these harmful products to minors. A local tobacco retailer licensing program can help do that and I sure hope that (the city/county of) will step up and do that.

[Insert local call to action. For example, “Thatʼs why we encourage our city to pass a local tobacco retailer license that will also restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products.”]

Sincerely,
[Sign here]