FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Students from around Kentucky visited the capitol for Youth Advocacy Day on Wednesday. Throughout the day, students met with state lawmakers, with many discussions hitting on vaping-related legislation.
One student is Zach Crouch from Taylor County. A junior, Crouch is presentation coordinator for iCANendthetrend. He says vaping is still a major problem.
“We do surveys and we had as low as a third grader smoking an e-cigarette in class,” Crouch shared. “My friend started with nicotine and then actually overdosed on cocaine a few months later. It's definitely something that is a big deal.”
“Kids will go to the bathroom and there's other people vaping and then they're like, ‘Oh, let me try,’” shared Dr. Gelila Dawit, a pediatric resident at UK. “Then they kind of create this spiral of, ‘Okay, I just borrowed it from a friend’ and that can lead into actually requiring it and needing it.”
Students like Crouch spent time speaking with state legislators like Sen. Craig Richardson.
“This is a very important issue for them today,” Richardson said. “They're going to keep coming back, keeping us accountable and responsible to make sure we give them the resources they need to thrive.”
Kentucky is one of 34 states receiving money from a 2022 settlement after a ruling held that an e-cigarette company violated consumer protection laws. Now, Richardson and other lawmakers are working to reallocate those funds. They took another step today with students in attendance.
“Today, we passed out of the Health Services Committee Senate Bill 74, which is a JUUL settlement bill,” Richardson shared. “It sets up a trust fund for whatever remaining money coming through – between $6-7 million dollars – that money to go directly to the Department of Public Health so they can continue their work and help these young adults.”
“It felt like our voice was heard,” Crouch said. “It felt like what we do actually matters, and it was amazing when the committee passed it.”
It’s another step in the right direction for students, sharing their message backed by teachers, pediatricians, and their peers.
“As pediatricians, it's great to see children who want to be involved in their own health and support their community and their peers,” said Hannah Thompson, a resident physician at UK.
"They put a target on our back and they ran up and down the wall with it and they directed it at us,” Crouch said of e-cigarette companies. “It's kind of a shot at every youth in the state that they made a message that, ‘you're our target,’ and we're trying to send a message back that we're not going to fall for it.”
