[ad_1]
George Bright, 13, was bent under pressure from his peers at the Sacred Heart School of Jesus and fired his first stroke of a JUUL – the alternative to the fashion to smoke cigarettes in the old.
"My best friend was willing to reject what they call a JUUL, but I was not so strong and I took a shot." I coughed and my throat m & # 39; It hurt for a few minutes, "Bright said. "I never thought I'd get caught."
He was eventually unmasked with a few other students, resulting in his suspension from school. He also invited the seventh year to attend a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Health Committee on a recommendation from the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition to amend the Kansas Act to set the minimum age for the purchase tobacco products at age 21, up from 18 previously. to consume a product with nicotine.
"I am convinced that vaping is too accessible to minors … and too easy to hide from adults," he said. "Some will say that vaping is safer than smoking cigarettes, but I do not think that's true."
Tara Nolen, president of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition, said companies sell electronic cigarette products to young people with candy-like flavors and make products readily available online or in retail stores. Nearly one-third of Kansas high school students said they had been bullied, she said.
"Smoking among young people of all kinds is dangerous," she said. "The data suggests that if a person is not a regular smoker before the age of 25, it is very unlikely that she will become one."
Twenty-two municipalities and four counties in Kansas have pbaded 21-year age limits for cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Senator Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, said at the hearing that the distinction was made between smoking tobacco and consuming tobacco with vaping.
"When you have used the term" tobacco "generically, burning tobacco is very different from vaping tobacco or nicotine from vaping," said Pilcher-Cook. "It would be helpful if you said so clearly in your testimony, so we make decisions based on facts, not just emotions."
Shelby Rebeck, registered nurse and director of health services for the Shawnee Mission School District, said the popularity of JUUL revealed how difficult it was to counter with public policy and education initiatives. She mentioned JUUL as a teenager's dream: easy to obtain, relatively inexpensive, simple to hide and can be used without detection.
A JUUL is a small device that looks like a flash drive, which can be recharged by connecting it to a computer. It is a vaporizer with a controlled temperature control to consume a flavored nicotine "pod". A pod has the equivalent amount of nicotine from a pack of cigarettes, she said.
While most electronic cigarette products produce a lot of vape "smoke" with a pronounced odor, the JUUL devices produce much less steam and quickly dispel odors.
"The flavors of JUUL capsules are sold directly to our kids, with mango being the favorite of teens," said Rebeck. "While other e-cigs produce a lot of" smoke "and smell, JUULs produce much less steam and the scent dissipates quickly."
Rep. John Eplee, a Republican of Atchison and a physician representing the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, said raising the age of electronic tobacco products to 21 years was a priority of the United States. ;organization.
"Although smoking remains a significant threat to health," said Eplee, "the increasing use of electronic cigarettes, vapes and juul – especially among young people – is reaching what many now consider it an epidemic. "
At the Senate hearing, no one testified in support of JUUL or other alternatives to smoking.
Sen. Gene Suellentrop, R-Wichita, said that peer pressure to encourage students to consume tobacco-related products quickly would have long-term consequences.
"It's so good to be cool," said Suellentrop, chairman of the Senate committee. "We will pay a high price in health care costs as a result of these."
Source link
