Board of Aldermen 04-09-2019 Page 10
And | am going to tell you as a person who is 18 years of age or older, you can buy a shotgun, you can buy
a rifle, you become a pilot at the age of 16. So! don’t want to hear this idea that 18 year olds somehow
don’t have what they need up here in their minds to make the right decisions. They can make the right
decisions on their own especially if they have good parents leading them. That’s all | have to say, thank
you for your time.
Dotty Oden Thank you, | am here to support the ordinance. Dotty Oden, 16 Cathedral Circle, | am here to
support the ordinance tonight, | am a member of the Board of Education but | am not speaking on behalf of
the Board | am speaking as an individual. We have a serious vaping problem at our two high schools as
just about every other high school in the country is dealing with. Within the past few years our high schools
had reduced the number of smoking offenses to only a handful of students. Unfortunately things have
changed. Now we have students who have never smoked a cigarette but are vaping throughout the day.
Our schools are being overwhelmed by the growing number of students vaping. We also have a smaller
number of students vaping at our middle schools, but if the national trend continues, that number will grow
quickly. It wouldn’t be a surprise if we had elementary school students vaping also.
JUUL is the most popular vaping device, it is used by almost 80% of those who vape and so popular that
vaping is often referred to as “JUULING”. Just this past December, Altria the parent company of Philip
Morris invested $12.8 billion dollars to purchase a 35% stake in JUUL Labs whose value was placed at $38
million dollars at that time. It certainly appears that the big tobacco companies are looking to ensure that
they will have a new and younger generation to buy their cigarettes to their profits will continue to roll in.
Ironically the first line of JUUL Lab Website reads “JUUL’s Lab’s Mission is to eliminate cigarettes”.
Our administrators and teachers are spending much valuable time and effort in dealing with the vaping
epidemic. Our Health Teachers have incorporated the dangers of vaping into their curriculum, but sadly
peer pressure and the allure of vaping are strong and difficult to combat. Many parents think that vaping is
harmless because of the sweet smelling flavor and the fact that it is not a cigarette. Of course this is not
true as a JUUL pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. Recently | read an article that
stated, I’m sorry | had to cut some of this, “the long term effects of vaping are unknown but the long term
effects of nicotine are not”. And | think that’s part of my concern about this is what past people have
spoken to is how it changes the brain of these young kids who don’t realize that for the rest of their life, they
could be looking at a strong susceptibility to addiction.
Our schools need help and they need it now. | am asking for your help. We have a great many needs in
educating our students which are not being met due to budget constraints. | ask that you support this
ordinance as there is no money being asked for; only your vote. It will not eradicate the problem but will
send a strong message that vaping is harmful for our kids. It might also free up more time for our
administrators and teachers to ensure our schools are safe and students many needs are being met. We
need help in many areas and this is one. Again this is not a money issue; | am asking for your vote to send
a strong message that this community is supportive of doing what is right and best for our children and their
future. Thank you.
Louis Alciere Hello I’m Louis Alciere of 28 Mobile Drive and | am against. It doesn’t really make sense that
most of my friends under this new bill would not be able to purchase tobacco or whatever else they may be
or like everyone else has alluded go over state elsewhere. Massachusetts has already implemented this
State-Wide and | would like, I’m sorry I’m a little nervous. New Hampshire is supposed to be about Live
Free or Die. And you are trying to take away some of my friend’s freedoms. That doesn’t make any sense.
And | am speaking for those friends are already in Massachusetts schools that have to drive up an hour to
get their products because of the law that has been implemented in Massachusetts. | had a lot to say and
then Justin O’Donnell literally said word for word everything | had. So thank you. That is all | have to say.
Sue Newman Yes good evening, Sue Newman, 25 Charlotte Avenue, Ward 2. | support this ordinance.
We all have the responsibility | believe to make good health decisions in the best interest of our families,
our children, our community and especially for our young people. We all know how dangerous nicotine is.
