A Connecticut state lawmaker says public education is the key to reversing an increase in the use of vaping products by teenagers.
State Senator Mary Daugherty Abrams of Meriden is co-chair of the Public Health Committee. She’s concerned a number of illnesses and deaths have been linked to vaping at a time when teenage use of vaping products is growing.
“So getting the word out, letting parents know that this is not a benign activity, that this can harm their child not only in the long run, but in their brain development, I think will do a lot.”
Abrams says she’s drafting a bill to help educate the public. It will be introduced next session.
“I think the education and understanding amongst our parents and our students is really what’s going to change the tide.”
Abrams held a forum on vaping in Cheshire last week.
Communities are already trying different methods to stop underage and teen vaping.
Cheshire offered teenagers a one-day trade-in of their vaping equipment for free food at area businesses. Another vape-for-food swap is planned in the town later this month. And as part of a pilot program at Greenwich High School, vaping detectors were installed in bathrooms earlier this year.
There are 31 cases of a vaping-related illness under investigation in Connecticut.
Two-thirds of them are in Fairfield and New Haven Counties. Half of the patients are under the age of 34, and nearly all of them were hospitalized over the summer.
At least one Connecticut resident has died from vaping-related illness.
On Thursday, Connecticut and New York officials will meet to discuss common regulations on vaping and the legalization of the adult use of marijuana.
