After hearing disturbing information about the use of vaping by very young teens, the Hastings City Council will develop an ordinance to control its use by the city’s young people.
Police Chief Jeff Pratt and City Attorney Stephanie Fekkes will use an Eaton Rapids ordinance on vaping as a model and bring a draft to the council for consideration at its next meeting.
“The ordinance prohibits possession and/or use of a vaping device for anyone under the age of 18,” Pratt said.
Liz Lenz, coordinator of Barry County Substance Task Force, along with officials from the Barry Eaton District Health Department, Community Mental Health, Hastings Area School System and Pratt spoke to the council Monday.
Their major observations were:
*Vaping has doubled in teen users in two years, probably a low estimate
*Two bags full of various vaping products were confiscated in Hastings schools this school year
*one vaping cartridge can contain the amount of nicotine in 20 cigarettes and interferes with brain development.
*thirty eight Hastings school students were caught vaping this year; the majority were 6th graders
*parents reactions when their child is caught vaping varies from shock, disbelief, to “I buy it for them.”
*schools need help from the council to find alternatives to suspension for vaping
*employers of teens find vaping by the majority of their young employees
Lenz asked the council to develop an ordinance to, “send a message to the community…data doesn’t lie and we need to pay attention to it.”
Vaping: An electronic cigarette or e-cigarette is a handheld electronic device that simulates the experience of smoking a cigarette by heating a liquid which generates an aerosol, or "vapor" inhaled by the user. It is commonly called vaping.
Among youth, e-cigarettes are more popular than any traditional tobacco product. In 2015, the U.S. surgeon general reported that e-cigarette use among high school students had increased by 900 percent, and 40 percent of young e-cigarette users had never smoked regular tobacco, according to a report by Michael Blaha, M.D. director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease.
Nicotine is the primary agent in both regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and it is highly addictive, causing a craving to smoke and causing withdrawal symptoms if the craving is ignored. Nicotine also raises blood pressure and spikes adrenaline, increasing the heart rate, the report said.
The report said e-cigarettes may be particularly enticing to teens because many believe that vaping is less harmful than smoking, cost less than traditional cigarettes and have flavors that appeal to younger user like apple pie and watermelon.
With the lack of smoke and no smell, e-cigarettes reduce the stigma of smoking.
