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| Fillmore Reality Check members Therren Beckhorn and Aurora Kraft |
FILLMORE – Students from Fillmore’s Reality Check program
marked yesterday’s Great American Smokeout (GASO) by painting windows of the
local Shop and Save to with the message: “E-cig vapor contains cancer-causing
chemicals.” The mural also showed a face with a cloud of vape that included
known carcinogens.
E-cigarette use among teens is on the rise, creating an
emerging public health concern. Since New York State health officials began
tracking e-cigarette use in 2014, use by high school students increased from
10.5 percent to 27.4 percent in 2018. New national data shows that vaping among
high schoolers jumped 78% from last year, with middle school vaping increasing
by 48 percent.
While smoking among youth is declining, New York State’s
overall high school smoking rate is 7 percent and Allegany County’s is over 16
percent. Tobacco control experts attribute these high rates to the fact that
tobacco industry marketing deliberately targets youth.
“Tobacco marketing influences youth smoking and vaping more
than peer pressure,” said Jonathan Chaffee, Reality Check Youth Coordinator at
Tobacco-Free Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany (TF-CCA).
According to Chaffee, 75 percent of New York youth visit a
convenience store at least once a week. “If a store sells tobacco or
e-cigarettes, no matter what that person goes into buy, they are exposed to
luring marketing messages,” he said. Chaffee also notes that the tobacco
industry spends over half a million dollars a day to market their products in
New York State.
The Shop And Save window vape messaging comes on the cusp of
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) announcement that they will curb
sales of most flavored e-cigarettes so that they can only be sold in retail
stores that a) already prohibit entry for people under the age of 18 or b) have
a section of the store that doesn’t allow minors in. That move will essentially
ban most flavored e-cig products from convenience stores and gas station.
Chaffee is encouraged by the FDA proposal noting that, “It
will help protect a generation of children from getting addicted to nicotine
through e-cigarettes.”
This year’s GASO event, which also encouraged smokers to use
the day to make a plan to quit, was a partnership with the Allegany Council on
Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Inc.(ACASA) That agency noted that by
quitting—even for one day—smokers will take an important step towards a
healthier life, one that can lead to reducing cancer risk.
GASO was established in 1976 to get smokers to quit for one
day and make a plan to quit for good. To help make this goal a reality for
Allegany County residents, Reality Check wants like to the community know that
free cessation services and support are available through the New York State
Quitline at 1-866-NY-Quits or by visiting www.nysmokefree.com. If they would
like to speak to someone locally, ACASA offers free cessation services to help
people quit. Call 585-593-1920 ext.713 to schedule a meeting.
Reality Check, a teen-led, adult-run program, educates the
community on youth smoking and vaping, the deceptive marketing tactics of the
tobacco industry, and how policies can change social norms around tobacco sales
and use.
