An Epidemic Ignored

While our government has been asleep at the wheel, the use of e-cigarettes is now considered by the Food and Drug Administration to be at an epidemic level among teenagers.

I have never smoked or vaped or inhaled anything in my life expect for oxygen and maybe a little Vick’s Vapo Rub. So I really just don’t understand the fascination with the practice. I think after you reach a certain age----say 21---you have a right to ruin your health. Just don’t blow any smoke my way.

But I look at these statistics and I can’t help but be alarmed about our children and the choices they are making. In Illinois, 13.2 percent of the high school students surveyed, use e-cigarettes. And the numbers are going up.

If you don’t know what an e-cigarette is----it is a machine which is rechargeable with a USB port. Flavored nicotine comes in the form of pods which snap into the machine. Each pod contains the same amount of nicotine found in an entire pack of cigarettes. They are addictive.

Vaping was supposed to be healthier for you than a cigarette, but I think the research shows it is far from healthy to inhale that much nicotine.

Personally, I supported a piece of legislation which made it to the Governor’s desk which would have raised the legal age of tobacco purchase from 18 to 21. But Bruce Rauner, for some odd reason, vetoed it. Didn’t surprise me. Nothing that goes on in Springfield surprises me.

You are an adult and you want to risk your health, you have that right.

You are a sophomore at local high school? I’d like to keep you from becoming addicted to a habit which could shorten your life.

Don’t start, because it might be impossible to stop.