Vaping 'Crisis' Or Youth Access Issues?
Joan Irvine
Joan Irvine for Mayor 2025 FPPC # 1477907, Keep the Esplanade Beautiful: RB Chamber 2024 Nonprofit of the Year, Radio Host of "Your BEST Life."
Vaping 'Crisis' Or Youth Access Issues?
The vaping crisis has several components:
- Illness and deaths from vaping nicotine and THC from as yet unknown sources, but it at least appears to be from counterfeit products (mainly from China).
- The ‘epidemic’ of youth vaping that is really feeding the current frenzy.
- Media/government/schools/parents are not distinguishing between vaping nicotine and THC.
What I am most qualified to address is reducing youth access to buy THC products online. In the last few months, I’ve written a few articles about what can you do NOW to protect your business and help keep youth away:
- https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/vaping-online-youth-safety-joan-irvine/
- https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/online-youth-access-cannabis-imminent-danger-ahead-joan-irvine/
- https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/online-youth-safety-risk-mitigation-time-lead-joan-irvine/
After attending California Assembly member Muratsuchi’s town hall on the Vaping Epidemic at a school in Manhattan Beach, I believe it is VERY important to discuss online youth safety, age gates, and age verification since the teens who presented said it was so easy to buy online and this is how they obtain most of the nicotine and THC. I believe that we as business people are somewhat removed from the everyday reality, so I am sharing the link to this meeting
Yesterday I listened to the California Joint Hearing on 'Vaping Tobacco and Cannabis Products: Health Effects and Deficiencies in Regulation and Current Law' – another eye-opening for the industry to learn legislators and regulators perspective.
Also I want to commend the Drug Policy Alliance for its Drug Education Resources on how to talk with youth about drugs. I suggest that you use these to talk with your children, community, and legislators - https://www.drugpolicy.org/resources/drug-education-resources .
If as an industry we do all we can to reduce youth access and promote this narrative, hopefully, government will focus their attention on the real issues; e.g. counterfeit products that are making people sick and the real illicit market which is probably organized crime.
Co-Founder and Executive Director of PAgCASA (Precision Ag Connectivity & Accuracy Stakeholder Alliance)
5 年When are you next in Washington?