Dover Youth to Youth held a rally last week at Henry Law Park to bring attention to the nicotine vape industry, which they believe targets youth with flavored nicotine vapes.
More than 40 members of Dover Youth to Youth’s Summer Training Program held signs and chanted at Henry Law Park on July 13 before holding a press conference on the program’s new “Lab Rat Campaign.”
“We are concerned about the high use of e-cigarettes and vape devices among our peers,” said 11-year-old Eleanor Gorman, noting that more than one-third of Dover High School students had reported using the devices within the past 30 days in a 2019 survey. “Vapes contain more than just water vapor,” Gorman continued. In addition to nicotine, they contain chemicals and additives that give them flavor. Many of these chemicals have not been studied on the lungs, and we don’t’ know all the long-term health consequences.”
Colin Rippett, 11, said the vape industry attracts teens with candy flavorings. “Once you start using, they trap them with high levels of nicotine, which is a very addictive substance.”
Louis Murphy, 11, said the actions Dover Youth to Youth are taking in their new campaign “hope to make our peers and the community aware of the harmful effects of vaping and the industry’s tactics to attract teens.
The minimum age to buy tobacco in the United States is 21. Federal law raised the age to 21 in 2019, followed by state law in 2020. The minimum age to buy tobacco in Dover has been 21 since 2018, after Dover Youth to Youth members successfully petitioned the City Council to raise the age.
Dover Youth to Youth is an after school drug prevention effort coordinated by the Dover Police Department with the support of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. For more information, visit www.DoverY2Y.org, or call 603-516-3274.
Original source can be found here.
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