Gazette Staff

STEVENS POINT — Portage County officials have sent out a press release regarding a recent tobacco education campaign launched by the state.

Called the “Tobacco is Changing” campaign, it focuses on educating parents about candy flavored tobacco products, and e-cigarettes, which according to state officials, are tempting kids into tobacco addiction.

“The campaign is another step towards attempting to prevent another generation becoming addicted to nicotine,” said Jenna Flynn, of the Central Wisconsin Tobacco Free Coalition. “This campaign is a great resource for parents and youth advocates looking to learn more about these products.”

Stevens Point Area High School resource officers have also chimed in with their concerns. 

“They are seeing a huge increase with vaping amongst youth. The school is dealing with vape issues almost daily and it’s very rare to see tobacco products, such as cigarettes,” said one resource officer. “The change in the trend comes with how easy it is to conceal a vape product and lack of knowledge of the adult to know that it is a vape product versus a USB.”

“However, Our SRO’s have been proactive in education with the kids about the dangers of vaping, by presenting in the classrooms.

Then all of the kids are spoken to during the first week of class of the schools expectations and vaping is addressed. There have been evening sessions that have been specific to the parents to be educated about what vaping is and how to identify it and the dangers of it. Many different types of vapes and juices are brought in for those presentations so that parents can see firsthand what they look like and how they work.”

The re-launch of the campaign follows the release of 2018 data showing meteoric rises in e-cigarette use [in Wisconsin] among both middle and high school youth. From 2014 to 2018, e-cigarette use increased 272 percent among middle school students, and 154 percent among high school students.

Currently, one in five Wisconsin high school students currently use e-cigarettes.

“Tobacco is Changing” originally launched in late fall of 2017. According to officials, one major adjustment the campaign made in its advertising is addressing the rise of new e-cigarettes which more closely resemble flash drives than they do cigarettes or e-cigarettes. In one of the campaign’s new ads, Juul, a flash drive look-a-like e-cigarette product is shown with the text “Not a flash drive, parents”.

By comparison, the 2018 Portage County Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that students who are current vape users jumped from 12.8 percent in 2015 to 26 percent in 2018. These battery powered smoking devices are being widely used among all different types of teens. In addition to the various shapes and sizes, these vape juices that are put into the mechanisms come in 7,700 different flavors; including flavors such as menthol, fruits, candy, desserts, and flavored drinks.

With these concerning numbers, the Wisconsin WINS program works to routinely check retailers on tobacco and nicotine sale compliance to minors.

For the first half of the year, Portage County has completed 14 checks at multiple retailers; 13 of those 14 retailers have not sold any form of nicotine product to a minor during the inspections. Retailers are encouraged to offer free training and education to their employees through WITobaccoCheck.org to help employees remain compliant.

Parents can learn more at www.TobaccoisChanging.com, where they can view different types of tobacco products, read about issues like flavoring, packaging, and menthol, get tips for talking to their kids, and even get connected with their local tobacco prevention and control coalition.

For more information, you may contact Jenna Flynn, Coordinator for the Central Wisconsin Tobacco Free Coalition, at 715-261-1931 or Elizabeth Beck, Community Health Planner at 715-345-5702. The Wisconsin Tobacco Free Coalition also reminds all tobacco users that free help is available by calling the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT NOW (784-8669).