(1) The general assembly hereby finds that:
The use of all types of tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco, results in ahigh incidence of addiction, disease, illness, and death;
Persons who begin using and become addicted to tobacco products in their youthoften face a lifetime of struggle and recurring illness in coping with and attempting to overcome addiction to tobacco products;
Experimentation with tobacco products by youth is often a first step toward moreserious drug experimentation and creates a greater likelihood that the youth who experiment with tobacco will at some point be addicted to even more harmful substances;
Implementation of aggressive tobacco and substance abuse prevention, education,and cessation programs for school-age children is necessary to assist young people in avoiding and ending tobacco use;
School districts, schools, and other entities that provide tobacco and substance abuseprevention, education, and cessation programs for school-age children should reach out to parents and encourage them to participate, either as students or role models, in implementing said programs.
The general assembly finds that persons with behavioral or mental health disordersare more likely to abuse tobacco products than any other segment of society. The general assembly further finds that the unusually heavy pattern of tobacco abuse engaged in by persons with behavioral or mental health disorders requires special treatment strategies that are not provided by other alcohol, drug, or tobacco abuse programs or substance use disorder treatment programs. It is therefore the general assembly's intent that the programs funded pursuant to this part 8 include comprehensive programs to prevent and treat tobacco addiction among persons with behavioral or mental health disorders.
The general assembly also finds that:
Each year, thousands of people in this state die from diseases that have been clinically proven to be caused by or directly related to tobacco use;
Once a person starts using tobacco, he or she usually becomes addicted to the nicotine contained in the tobacco, which makes it terribly difficult for the person to quit using tobacco even when the person is aware of the significant health risks that accompany tobacco use;
Studies show that a child is at a substantially greater risk of starting to use tobacco ifthe child's parents or older siblings use tobacco. Therefore, reducing tobacco use by adults may significantly reduce the risk that children will begin using tobacco.
Annual direct medical costs from tobacco use in Colorado currently exceed one billion dollars;
Comprehensive tobacco education, prevention, and cessation programs may result inmillions of dollars in savings to the state and individual residents of the state for generations.
Source: L. 2000: Entire part added, p. 613, § 13, effective May 18. L. 2005: (3)(d) amended, p. 932, § 22, effective June 2. L. 2017: (2) amended, (SB 17-242), ch. 263, p. 1324, § 189, effective May 25.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2005 act amending subsection (3)(d), see section 1 of chapter 241, Session Laws of Colorado 2005. For the legislative declaration in SB 17-242, see section 1 of chapter 263, Session Laws of Colorado 2017.