About Our Campaign

The KC Flavors Task Force is working on a unified strategy across the metro to restrict the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including mint and menthol in Kansas City.

The use of tobacco by youth has skyrocketed with the popularization of e-cigarettes and flavors like cotton candy, mango, and bubble gum. We can help prevent a generation of addiction but to do that, we need your help.

Please take a minute to contact the Mayor and City Council.

More than 1 in 4 high school students use e-cigarettes and many don't even realize that they contain nicotine. When asked about what’s in their e-cigarette, 66% believed it was just flavoring. We know that exposure to nicotine during adolescence can harm brain development, impacting learning, memory and attention. So why are menthol cigarettes, which are easier to start and harder to quit, intentionally sold at discounted prices near schools with higher percentages of Black and Brown students in attendance? That’s because Big Tobacco companies know that early use of ANY tobacco product makes a long-term addiction to nicotine more likely. It’s no surprise that tobacco products like BERRY chewing tobacco, candy flavored e-cigarettes and fruity cigarillos exist when Big Tobacco spends millions each year on marketing to appeal to kids.

For decades tobacco companies have targeted communities of color, LGBTQ+ people, as well as low-income families. Some Kansas Citians are being targeted more heavily with ads and deals for harmful and addictive tobacco products than others, and that’s not right. Big Tobacco companies are using aggressive marketing for tobacco products like cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes in neighborhoods with more Black and Brown residents and that means more health problems for Black and Brown Kansas Citians. Not only do these communities use flavored tobacco at disproportionately higher rates, but young people who are addicted switch from flavored vapes (when they aren’t available) to menthol tobacco because it isn’t as harsh for them. Until everyone is protected from the harm that Big Tobacco companies inflict on our community, we must keep working for fair policies, because tobacco use kills.

Help us make Kansas City a healthier community for everyone!

We are proud to have the support of and working with many different organizations to help protect a new generation:

Advent Health
African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council
American Lung Association
Bike Walk KC
Black Health Care Coalition
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City
Calvary Community Outreach Network
Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids
Community Health Council of Wyandotte County
Council of Neighborhood Leaders
Councilmember Ryana Parks-Shaw
Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce
Health Forward Foundation
International Association of Fire Fighters Local 42
Jackson County Health Department
Juntos
Kansas Academy of Pediatrics
Kansas City, Missouri Health Commission
Kansas School Nurses Organization
Latino Health for All Coalition
Mid America LGBT Chamber of Commerce
Missouri Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics
National LGBT Cancer Network
NBC Community Development Corporation
Nurture KC
Oral Health Kansas, Inc.
Parents Against Vaping E-Cigarettes
St Luke’s Health System
Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition
Tobacco Free Wyandotte
Tri-County Mental Health Services
Unified Government Public Health Department
University of Kansas Cancer Center
Urban League of Greater Kansas City
Urban Neighborhood Initiative
Vibrant Health
Youth Ambassadors