Ohio law says a person cannot buy tobacco until he’s 21, but my son is 20, and he’s been addicted for years.
My boy is smart, talented and kind, and I believe that he has a happy life ahead of him.
Our view:Our view: City must spoil sinister ploy. Ban flavored vaping tobacco, menthol cigarettes.
But it torments me to know that life may not be as healthy or as long as it could be because of his frequent tobacco use.
My son became addicted to nicotine four years ago, at the age of 16, when he first tried flavored vape products.
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Despite the law, retailers sold to him, without ever asking for ID. I once called one of the stores I knew he frequented and asked the owner to stop selling to underage kids. Nothing changed, and my son has been purchasing these products ever since.
As frustrated and scared as I am for my child, I realize that many other parents are in the same boat. Not only our high schools, but our middle schools are overrun with flavored vaping products.
A Columbus middle school principal testified at city hall this month that flavored e-cigarettes are being used on the playgrounds, inside the restrooms and even in the classrooms. I wonder if the corner stores that sold flavored tobacco to my teen are now selling to kids as young as 11 and 12.
Just this fall, JUUL reached a $438 million settlement with Ohio and 32 other states as a result of an investigation that found that kids were targeted with youth-friendly flavors and misleading claims.
But there are plenty of other vape brands happy to target our kids.
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There’s only one real solution for this health crisis, and that’s to take this poison off the shelves and out of our community.
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Thankfully, the City of Columbus has boldly proposed a new law that would do just that — but well-funded tobacco lobbyists are fighting it tooth and nail, and I worry they’re gaining traction.
Owners of vape shops and other retailers have testified that vaping isn’t really harmful — and that it’s actually a smoking cessation tool.
Tell that to my boy.
He did not start using flavored vape products as a means of quitting cigarette smoking, which the tobacco industry suggests is the intent of these products.
His addiction started with flavored vape products.
It is time that we call out Big Tobacco for why they really market and sell flavored e-cigarettes and other tobacco products – to target our youth without any regard to their health or the length of their lives.
These products are not designed to help adults quit cigarette smoking. Flavored products were created to attract kids, like my son.
These products are highly visible and easily accessible to young people. Columbus tobacco retailers have strategically located themselves near our schools, especially in poorer and minority communities. Our kids walk by — and walk into — these shops every day.
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The more I learn about how harmful nicotine exposure is for kids, the more helpless I feel as a mother by not being able to protect my son.
Columbus needs to prioritize the health of our kids over tobacco profits. I ask that our city’s leaders do the right thing, the only thing, and end the sale of flavored tobacco in Columbus.
There should be no exemptions and no exceptions. Whether it’s a major grocery store or a small vape shop, none of our retailers should be profiting from selling flavored tobacco products that hook our children on nicotine.
My son was targeted, and I know quitting is difficult for him.
But we can help protect the next generation of children from getting hooked on tobacco if we get these flavored products out of our neighborhoods.
