Kansas is having a tough time combating vaping among the youth. It is making an effort in using education to curtail teenage appetite for vaping. Age limits are also being placed to tackle the issue. As students look for help to get rid of vaping, educators play a huge role in helping students deal with underlying issues.
Why Do Teens Vape?
The main question that needs to be understood is why teens are resorting to vaping juices like chill’d tobacco by Cosmic Fog in the first place. The truth is that many students have a tough time transitioning to high school or college and end up getting in the habit of vaping to deal with the stress. Whenever students feel depressed, they take out their vaping device.
What Is Being Done In Kansas?
Since most teens tend to be in school or college, high schools and colleges are implementing a tobacco-free policy to ban visitors, students, staff, and faculty from consuming any type of tobacco product on campus. It applies to electronic cigarettes as well. However, the measures are not as effective as they sound on paper. Students are still breaking the rules to continue vaping on campus. Since the devices are very easy to conceal, it is tough for educators to prevent students from vaping in between classes and breaks.
Need for Uniform Standards Regarding Vaping
There is a need to develop uniform standards to highlight the implications of vaping. It is not easy to break through the vaping industry and prevent teens from getting hold of vaping products. Since there is plenty of pro-vaping information that downplays the risks associated with vaping, many teens do not realize the potential consequences of vaping until it is too late. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as much as 40 percent of illnesses related to vaping have affected people under the age of 21.
Need To Limit the Availability of Vaping Products
The need of the hour is to limit the availability of vaping products. Various researches reveal that vaping has a serious impact on the lungs and heart. President Trump had signed legislation back in 2019 which increased the age for purchasing tobacco products to 21 from 18 federally. For the state of Kansas to keep up, it needs to also increase the minimum age to match with the federal threshold.
Republican John Barker has collaborated on a bill that will make it a requirement for only people of the age of 21 to purchase tobacco products. As more and more states adopt the 21 age limit, the government of Kansas needs to catch up.
House Bill 2563 had been introduced back in February. It compromises the increase of legal age for purchasing vaping products. Although the bill managed to pass through the committee, it stalled out in the end.
Conclusion
As more students are drawn to electronic cigarettes, Kansas has a lot more to do to curb vaping among teens. Vaping is a serious issue that cannot be mishandled.
