Visualize the check-out area at your favorite store. What do you see? Most likely a variety of candy, snacks, but also tobacco and e-cigarettes. It’s not out of the ordinary for these products to be in areas that are at eye-level for youth, and easily accessible. This a topic that we should talk about and talk about often. More and more companies are introducing new flavors of e-cigarettes with delightful smells such as cotton candy or blue raspberry, which makes it more inviting for youth to try.
Lake County General Health District (LCGHD) completes tobacco retailer compliance checks once a year, using the Rewards and Reminders program. LCGHD receives a list of retailers from the Ohio Department of Health, and trains underage purchasers how to properly enter a store, and attempt to purchase a tobacco product. LCGHD staff escorts the underage purchaser to each location. Following the attempted purchase, LCGHD notifies the retailer of the result, and provides necessary educational materials to those who may have sold to the underage purchaser.
Compliance checks were most recently conducted in the spring of 2024, and of the 76 Lake County retailers visited, 14 stores, or 18% sold a tobacco product to the underage purchasable of the stores that sold had proper signage about the age requirement. The underage purchasers used their own identification, which included their own birthday and has a vertical presentation to indicate that they are under 21 years of age. The underage purchasers did not do anything to make themselves appear older, and if asked their age, were required to tell the truth. Only 11 retailers asked the ages of the purchaser. The people selling had all the information needed to prevent the sale, but 14 purchases were still made. Of the 14 stores that sold products, four retailers looked at the identification, two used verification equipment, and eight did not ask for identification at all.
We reached out to a youth in the community to ask how they feel knowing how easily accessible nicotine products are in the community. Kaylee, age 18, stated “It is a little bit concerning because a lot of kids my age is doing that stuff and knowing how easily I could get it concerns me that other kids my age are able to get vape products too. I feel like it was kind of harder for me to get cigarettes during the compliance checks but the vape products for me were very easy to get. I felt like as soon as I walked in any vape store it was like the employees were ready to sell me a vape product.”
In the US, 2.8 million middle and high school students use tobacco and e-cigarette products. Nicotine is found in cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and this addiction can increase the risks of behavioral health and substance abuse disorders and worsen feelings of anxiety and depression. The health effects of smoking cigarettes are well known, the physical impacts of e-cigarettes and vape products are not.
If your business sells tobacco-cigarettes, or vape products, please don’t sell to underage kids. If you have kids, talk to them about the dangers of smoking and vaping. Raise awareness about how tobacco and nicotine can hurt youth. Their futures depend on it.
For more information or resources to talk with your children about e-cigarettes, check out the websites below.
https://mylifemyquit.org//en-us/
https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/youth-and-tobacco/results-annual-national-youth-tobacco-survey
https://www.parentsagainstvaping.org/parents-accordion
