99c for tobacco in Concord? Yes, and teenagers can get it. Sign our petition!

CONCORD, CA (Nov. 17, 2021) — If you think kids can’t get tobacco and vape products, think again. One third of the Concord stores visited in 2018 sold tobacco to an underage decoy. Half of Mount Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD) juniors say it’s “easy” to get cigarettes and nearly two out of three say it’s “easy” to get electronic cigarettes (vapes).

Tobacco is also incredibly cheap. Cigarillos can be bought in Concord for as little as 99c for a pack of six, and single cigars are sold for even less! Cigarillos are the most popular tobacco product among teens after vapes. They smoke them as is, or they use the tobacco leaf wrapper to roll a marijuana cigarette. Either way, they are getting nicotine into their system and risking addiction.

Big Tobacco spends over $6 billion a year to deliberately keep prices low because they know over 100 studies have shown that higher prices reduce smoking among teens and inspire adults to quit.

Bay Area cities are addressing the problem of cheap, flavored, tobacco and vapes. Click on our ad on this page or visit bit.ly/petition-concord to let the Concord City Council know you are concerned.

LGBTQ Minus Tobacco is working to help all youth stay free from tobacco. MDUSD students who are LGBTQ are twice as likely to vape than their straight peers because of homophobia and transphobia. Find out more at LGBTQMinusTobacco.org.