SWAMPSCOTT — Swampscott is one step closer to making it harder for kids to vape.
Following many of its neighboring communities, the town proposed a restriction on the sale of flavored vape and e-cigarette products from retail establishments. The Board of Health department held a public hearing on the proposal Monday evening and, out of the handful of residents who attended, the only opposition was from Amit and Vinny Patel, the owners of Richdale Food Store on Humphrey Street.
“What about the people who are already 21 and smoking?” Amit Patel asked. “Teenagers can’t buy any tobacco products because the law is 21 and over. This ban would hurt our sales big time. Now, people are going to go to other communities where they can get the products.”
Patel said 20 percent of the store’s sales come from flavored tobacco products, such as JUUL pods, one of the more popular e-cigarette products. While Patel is worried about the sales for the town’s retail convenience stores, Marianne Speranza-Hartmann, chair of the Board of Health, said her concern is the large numbers of kids vaping.
“Vaping is such a big issue,” said Speranza-Hartmann. “Two of the Board of Health members are school nurses and they say they’ve seen such a rise in kids vaping in schools.”
Speranza-Hartmann said in the past year, there was a 78 percent increase nationwide in high school students and a 48 percent increase in middle school students who are vaping. The astronomical numbers are hard to wrap her head around, she said.
“We have generations of kids finally off cigarettes and now they are using nicotine delivery devices and getting addicted all over again,” she said.
As the proposal stands right now, according to Speranza-Hartmann, it would ban all tobacco product flavors except winter green, menthol, and mint. If it’s approved, the only way a resident could buy a flavored tobacco product in town is if someone opened up an over-21 tobacco shop.
“To me, I don’t see a negative to this,” Speranza-Hartmann said. “I hate to hurt any business but the majority of people using these flavored products are kids under 21 and that is how it’s being marketed by tobacco companies.”
Speranza-Hartmann said JUUL pods are smooth, concealable, and leave no smell behind, which can make it easier for kids to use during school hours. One JUUL pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of 20 regular cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dennis Kohut, Swampscott High School’s current assistant principal and soon-to-be principal, said the school is very aware of the problem. The campus monitors, and the school staff make efforts to check student bathrooms for vaping students and move them along.
While the school is aware of the issue, Kohut said the numbers of students vaping during school hours has gone down since last year. Now that the school has a better sense of what these flavored tobacco products are, they have been able to educate kids on the risks, he said.
“Obviously a ban is not the only way to solve the problems, but I think it is a good idea,” said Kohut. “We have a gas station that sells JUUL pods across the street and it does seem like the tobacco company markets toward kids.”
At the Board of Health meeting on April 23, the ban proposal will be held to a vote. With only three board members, it will only need two votes to pass.
“There is a volume of public health information about the concerns and impacts of vape products,” said Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald. “I realize some folks have found this to be a product they find convenient, but the concerns of all the candied flavors and attraction of youth to these products is really troubling, and we want to make sure we get information out as readily as possible to make sure people are making safe and healthy choices, especially the youngest of our citizens.”
