§ 25-3.5-802 — Legislative declaration

Colorado § 25-3.5-802

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 25: Public
• Art.: Emergency Medical and Trauma Services

Text

(1) The general assembly hereby finds
that:

(a) The use of all types of tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco,
results in a high incidence of addiction, disease, illness, and death;

(b) Persons who begin using and become addicted to tobacco products in
their youth often face a lifetime of struggle and recurring illness in coping with and
attempting to overcome addiction to tobacco products;

(c) Experimentation with tobacco products by youth is often a first step
toward more serious 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;

(d) 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;

(e) School districts, schools, and other entities that provide tobacco and
substance abuse prevention, 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.

(2) The general assembly finds that persons with behavioral or mental health
disorders are 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.

(3) The general assembly also finds that:

(a) 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;

(b) 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;

(c) Studies show that a child is at a substantially greater risk of starting to
use tobacco if the 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.

(d) Annual direct medical costs from tobacco use in Colorado currently
exceed one billion dollars;

(e) Comprehensive tobacco education, prevention, and cessation programs
may result in millions of dollars in savings to the state and individual residents of
the state for generations.

Legislative History

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.