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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0593.044 2022-2024 p capnciI Dili toe. COUt.%s From: Scott Stensrud Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2023 6:21 PM To: Council Testimony Subject: Testimony for Bill 102 on 12/20 Attachments: 12_20 Bill 102 Testimony.pdf Attached is written testimony for Bill 102 being heard by the Council on 12/20 Thank you Scott Scott Stensrud Statewide Youth Coordinator CD t"3 Hawaii Public Health Institute ` '' C 707 Richards Street,Suite 300 Honolulu,Hawaii 96813 C www.hiphi.org C:--a CO -t-} Ref.To: [(11.UI€'I 1 Ref. Date C 2 0 2023 COUNCIL PUBLIC TESTIMONY PETITION REGARDING: BILL 102 / COMM. 593 Provided below is a list of approximately 9 students submitting testimony in SUPPORT of BILL 102 (COMM. 593). AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 14 OF THE HAW AN COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED),BY ADDING A NEW ARTICLE RELATING TO THE PROHIBITION OF FLAVORED TOBACCO PRODUCTS. Page lofl _No# Name 1 Jensel Merice Jose 2 Lillian Tao. 3 Roxan Barlam 4 Carmine Taetuna-Fautanu 5 Kawek u Aniu 6 Adam Valera 7 Daniel Valera 8 Megan Boaz 9 Oscar Amos Chair Kimball Vice Chair Inaba Members of the County of Hawaii Council My name is Jensel Merice Jose, I am a Junior attending Kohala High School and I am writing to you today to ask you to support bill 102 to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Hawai'i County. I support this bill because of my own personal experiences with watching vapes destroy the people around me. I may live in a small town isolated from others, but that doesn't mean that vaping hasn't affected my school, my community, and even my own home. Vaping in Kohala is destroying our youth and makes me fear for our future. My heart aches knowing that vaping has gotten to the point where the student leaders of Kohala High School have been influenced to vape at such a young age. Our school has a leadership class specifically for our Student Ambassadors. In that class of roughly 25 students, only about '/ of us don't/have never vaped. In that same class last year, I watched one of the ambassadors beg another ambassador for their vape. For a brief moment our teacher walked out of the classroom to use the bathroom, trusting that he could leave us unattended— as soon as he walked out of the door, one of the ambassadors pulled out his vape and started to use it; once the other ambassador saw the vape, she ran up to him and practically begged him for it; saying things like, "Give it to me!", "Please, I need it!". That's how bad their addiction is. One of the other ambassadors in our school, who is seen as the "picture perfect student" who always got a 4.0 GPA, a class officer, a part of clubs, and would volunteer when help was needed, vapes. None of us would have ever expected her to vape. But because of who she was friends with and the flavors available, she tried it and is now addicted. It's now a regular necessity in her life. Strawberry Milk, Blue Raspberry, Watermelon Lime, Vanilla Custard, the list goes on and on. Pm asking that you please support us in banning the sale of flavored tobacco products that are so clearly targeting the youth. If it's the law that you need to be 21 years old to purchase tobacco products, why do the companies get to target the youth with all these flavors that sound and taste like candy? Youth tend to go towards vape because of the luring flavors. Think about it, would you rather be breathing smoke or breathing candy? Vape companies are purposely mimicking these flavors knowing that it attracts the youth; and if you start giving it to them at a young enough age, they'll become addicted by the time they can legally purchase one whenever they want. I understand that adults have the right to vape and tobacco flavors would still be available to them under the bill. But we need to protect the youth. The human brain is still developing until the age of 25, so what happens when an underaged child uses products that contain nicotine? It can disrupt the formation of brain circuits that control attention, learning, and susceptibility to addiction. Not only is nicotine harmful to a developing brain— it's also highly addictive. It only takes 5 mg of nicotine a day to cause a minor to get a nicotine addiction arid a singular Elf Bar can have 650 mg of nicotine or the same as 590 cigarettes. Youth are often asked to "Be the Change". But how can we if so many of us are addicted to nicotine? How can we expect children to withstand the targeting of a huge industry if they are providing brightly colored vapes that fit perfectly into our hands and give us constant access to any flavor we desire? Help protect us from an industry that would profit from our addiction. End the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Hawai'i County. Jensel Merice Jose Hawi, Hawaii Aloha Chair Kimball,Vice Chair Inaba and Members of the Council. My name is Lillian Tao,and on the behalf of the youth of Hawaii, I strongly urge you to support Bill 102 ending the sale of flavored tobacco. As a middle schooler,who has grown up in Hilo and is currently attending one of the few public schools, I have personally witnessed how the use of tobacco has detrimentally affected our education. Everyday, me and my classmates endure the constant pervasive consequence of tobacco use in our community.Whether it was another peer,teacher,idol, or loved one hooked or killed, it would always result in grief,frustration,or disbelief. Never would it result in the" happiness"advertised by tobacco companies.These discussions often lead to families and classes distracted or troubled by the potential danger they put • themselves,or their children,in for education. It is shocking to learn that a group of my friends plan to move schools solely on the purpose of avoiding these tobacco-related issues despite it meaning leaving family, friends,sports, and their familiar concept of"home" behind.And as I recall,a handful of my classmates had been homeschooled by their relatives.They had to sacrifice their jobs in order to prevent the dangers public school shouldn't possess.Asstated by King Kamehameha III "Mine [Hawaii] is the kingdom of education"which highlights that education is deserved by all in a safe area,uninterrupted by factors such as tobacco. The extent of disruption of tobacco continues in public spaces.Areas created for family and leisure, containing countless youth including infants,are now subject to play in heavy, toxic,fumes involuntary. It is nearly impossible to now find a variety of safe yet enjoyable places,untainted with smoke,where I can bring my friends or simply spend time with my family. Tobacco is responsible for more than 480,000 preventable deaths annually. By passing Bill 102,we can not only save countless lives, but also direct the tobacco funding of$241.4 billion per year towards helping our community and achieving success. Let us achieve a healthy community and genuine happiness tobacco rids of. Thank you for this opportunity to testify, Lillian Tao Hilo, HI Chair Heather Kimball, Vice Chair Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba and Members of the Council I am writing in support of Bill 102 and I wanted to share why I decided to make a statement. From what I've seen amongst my peers, I realized that many users use tobacco as a stress reliever or the curiosity of trying one of the thousands of flavors and quickly become addicted. Recently during class a student was vaping and while the other students snickered, soon enough, he got caught and was in trouble. Disrupting his and everyone else's education. I've hung around individuals who've vaped. Of course,they never coerced me into doing it but I wonder what the reason is that they would smoke. While flavored vapes didn't affect me, I am sure that it affected individuals who made the decision to try it. Among the counties, Hawaii County has the highest rate of teens who use electronic cigarettes. Approximately 21.5%. You might think that it is a small percentage, but I assure you that it is a considerable amount. It is greater than the state, which has 14.8%, and the United States, which has 18%.This can be avoided. If we pass laws to end the sale of flavored tobacco products, it will stop many kids from ever starting and from experiencing major severe health effects later. I acknowledge that it is not easy but if we take this step now we can make a difference. As a student from Hilo, I believe that passing this bill would be the best choice for our community. Thank you for the chance to testify. Roxan Barlam Chair - Heather Kimball Vice Chair - Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba Members of the County of Hawaii Council I support Bill 102 and ending the sale of flavored tobacco products in Hawaii County. It's clear to me that they are targeting kids with these flavored products when we now have a local vape shop in walking distance from my school. Everyday I see people vaping even middle schoolers. This issue is important to me for many reasons. One, it is not cool. Nothing about vaping is cool. Two, what are the benefits from vaping? There are none, all you're getting is messed up lungs, raw throats, unhealthy heart, and slowing down your brain growth. Not to mention that it also can cause anxiety and even more stress, despite promises to be a "stress reliever". Another thing I notice is definitely the addiction, every day I see people in the bathroom, you got one ? you got one? I like try um. The addiction is so bad that people are selling to students for crazy prices. 50-70$ some people are willing to drop just so they can have a temporary device. I have had friends that have gone broke because. that's all they cared about, I have had family members and friends kicked off sports teams and clubs for getting caught vaping because they couldn't resist it. Athletically it kills them, they are unable to run, hurting their lungs and causing them to burn when trying to run. At the end of the day kids are following trends set by people they look up to, and are exposed to in their environment. These become the standards in today's society. If we want the YOUTH to stop, we need to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products, have those we look up to be good role models, change the ENVIRONMENT, and rewrite the STANDARDS to reflect a healthy Hawaii. Carmine Taetuna-Fautanu Kealakekua, Hawaii Chair Kimball, Vice Chair Inaba and Members of the Council. • I am writing in support of bill 102. Flavored tobacco products have negatively impacted my community. Some examples I have seen is that my friends are always smoking it and it seems like they can't go one day without it . All you see is smoke or them hitting their vapes. I have also seen it affect my family. It's important that menthol be included because it's a flavor found in most vapes. The high levels of nicotine in vapes is affecting my friends academics big time. They can't think because of all that nicotine. In P.E or any type of physical activity they have hard time breathing & don't last as long as they did before.It has impacted my friends and family members. They don't act like how they used to before they started vaping. I tried it once and it made me sick and my mindset changed. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the world. Ending the sale of flavored tobacco products would help change this. Please support bill 102 Kawekiu Aniu Keaau Chair Kimball,Vice Chair Inaba and Members of the Hawaii County Council. Hi, thank you for taking the time to read my testimony for Bill 102. I strongly support Bill 102. I am a 8th grader attending Honoka'a High & intermediate. Every day I see so many of my peers vaping. It seems so normal like its legal for them to be walking down the street puffing away on these pods. They think it is safer then cigarettes because it smells and taste like candy. They are so addicted to vaping they end up taking hits right in the middle of class. I see friends of mine struggling to focus on school and sports because they are so addicted. I believe if we ban flavors in the state of Hawaii our youth would not be interested in vaping. Mahalo, Adam Valera Chair Heather Kimball Vice Chair Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba Members of the County of Hawaii Council I strongly support Bill 102, The peer pressure we get when in school is intense and I got caught up in vaping when I was in 11th grade. Vaping was something I tried due to peer pressure and needing stress relief. As a high schooler it is the social norm to see your peers vaping. The flavor made it easy to use like it was another candy product. My first flavor was Blue Razberry. I ended up buying a vaping device from a classmate. The smell and the flavors made it easy to take a hit. The nicotine causes the addiction and that addiction is what scared me and made me realize it is a drug. The hard part was dealing with the withdrawals when I was not able to vape. It made me very moody and unable to focus at school. My grades declined. I am happy to announce I am now vape free, it was really hard to quit and the easy access to the vaping devices made it a struggle. Daily I am still faced with the challenge of walking away from peers that are offering me a hit of their vape with the latest flavor. But I made the choice to quit and stay nicotine free.. I feel healthier and my grades are much better. I now help with educating other youth about the dangers of tobacco use and know we need to keep it away from them. I want to ban flavors in our state so no kid feels pressured into vaping. Protect our future and the younger children from falling victim to these flavored drugs like I did. Thank you for your time. Daniel Valera Senior at Honoka'a High Chair Heather Kimball,Vice Chair Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba and Members of the Council I support Bill 102 and want the County Council to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Hawaii County. Megan Boaz Hilo Chair Heather Kimball, Vice Chair Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba and Members of the County of Hawai'i Council. I support Bill 102 to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Hawaii. I constantly see bright & colorful packaging aimed to target the younger generations. These include fruity flavors and brighten packaging that appeal to kids--resembling candy. It is important to include menthol in the bill because menthol flavors act as a significant contributor to the teen vaping epidemic. They lure in the younger generation, broadening their teen audience . When the younger generation is targeted, under-developed body parts are damaged, making the effects of vaping worse for teens than adults. As I've grown up, I have experienced many issues within the teen-vaping epidemic. As I have entered high school, this issue has become prominent. I constantly see friendships collapse, even having the means of my friendships tested. Nicotine addiction hurts relationships; when someone is dependent on something, and they don't have it. it becomes irritating for them--creating aggression and hurting friendships. Secondly, I see the effects of nicotine addiction in other sectors. People become addicted, hurting their lungs and body. When this happens, I consistently notice loss of hobbies, and especially sports. Ending the sale of flavored tobacco products that attract kids is a step Hawaii County should take. We can set an example—hopefully making a statement large enough to create statewide action. Oscar Amos Kamuela HI