From Classrooms to Courtrooms: How Tobacco and School Policies Push Black Youth Toward the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Youth tobacco use in Colorado is shifting, but not evenly across communities. While the 2023 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS) shows encouraging declines in vaping and cigarette use overall, the data also highlight a persistent truth: Black youth are still disproportionately exposed to menthol products and disproportionately punished for tobacco-related behaviors.

These disparities reflect the intersection of targeted tobacco marketing, unequal access to support, and school discipline practices that criminalize rather than care for Black students. As the Colorado Black Health Collaborative (CBHC) advances its Tackling Menthol in the Black Community (TMBC) initiative, the connection between tobacco use and the school-to-prison pipeline becomes impossible to ignore.

What HKCS 2023 Reveals About Black Youth and Menthol

Menthol use remains significantly higher among Black youth. More than a third of Black students who smoked in the past month used menthol products—far higher than the statewide average. Black students also reported greater access to tobacco through stores, vending machines, and online platforms.

Importantly, Black youth show a high desire to quit, with quit-attempt rates exceeding those of their peers. The issue isn’t willingness - it’s access to culturally relevant, youth-centered support that actually meets their needs.

When a Health Issue Becomes a Discipline Issue

Instead of receiving help, Black youth who use or possess tobacco in school are often met with disciplinary consequences that widen existing inequities. In Colorado, Black students are suspended at three to five times the rate of White students. In Denver specifically, the vast majority of discipline cases involve Black or Hispanic youth.

Suspension doesn’t correct behavior—it adds fuel to the pipeline. Research shows a single suspension can double a student’s likelihood of arrest.

The rise of AI surveillance cameras and vape-detection systems in schools only intensifies this reality. These tools heighten monitoring and stigmatization, increase contact with school police, and reinforce perceptions that certain students—particularly Black students—are perpetual suspects.

Although youth vaping is declining, punishment is escalating. And Black youth feel the impact most.

How CBHC Interrupts the Pipeline

CBHC is reshaping how schools respond to tobacco use by centering education, cultural relevance, and healing instead of punishment.

In-School Cessation Support

Through TMBC, CBHC brings tobacco education and quitting support directly into classrooms. Students learn how menthol products are targeted toward Black communities, gain skills to quit or resist nicotine, and receive tools to manage stress and peer pressure. This approach keeps students in school and reframes tobacco use as the health issue it is—not a behavioral infraction deserving suspension.

Youth Advocacy and Empowerment

CBHC also equips young people with the knowledge and confidence to advocate for healthier school environments. Through workshops and presentations, students learn to recognize harmful industry practices and build leadership skills that empower them to create change within their own communities.

Restorative Alternatives Through the Second Chance Program

CBHC plays a key role in helping schools implement the Second Chance Program, a restorative, education-first response to tobacco and vaping violations. Instead of exclusion from school, students receive guided lessons on addiction, marketing tactics, and healthier decision-making.

This program helps schools shift from punitive discipline to supportive intervention—keeping students connected to their education and out of the justice system.

Community Approaches Show What’s Possible

CBHC’s efforts align with a broader network of Colorado organizations working to reduce youth criminalization and promote healing-centered support. Programs led by groups such as Denver Healing Generations, Life-Line Colorado, and Mirror Image Arts demonstrate that culturally rooted, community-driven approaches can reduce substance use, strengthen belonging, and prevent justice involvement. These models exemplify what it looks like to replace discipline with care.

Menthol Is a Health Issue—and a Justice Issue

Black youth in Colorado face greater exposure to menthol products, greater discipline for tobacco-related behaviors, and greater risk of entering the justice system because of school policies.

CBHC is changing that trajectory. Through cessation programming, youth advocacy, and restorative school partnerships, CBHC is creating environments where Black students are supported rather than punished, uplifted rather than criminalized.

To truly tackle menthol, we must also tackle the systems that penalize Black youth for behaviors rooted in targeted marketing, stress, and structural inequity.

CBHC is leading that work—ensuring Colorado’s schools become places of healing, empowerment, and opportunity for every Black student.

info@cololoradoblackhealth.org | Phone: 720.579.2126

www.coloradoblackhealth.org